A local author friend alerted me to a Singapore Speculative Fiction Event at the Book Bar, in Outram Park (actually it is close to Maxwell MRT). So I booked a free ticket and headed over on Friday last. The event was called Home, Truly & Beyond and featured Elaine Boey, Megan Chee and Joyce Chng with moderator Meihan Boey (fangirl squee!).
Duxton Road walking down from the Maxwell MRT station was a lovely experience. There are a mass of old ‘shophouses’ which are now fancy restaurants and exclusive bars.
I discovered a bookstore, called Littered with Books. Great name. I was early so went in to check it out. Bought a special book and then headed out. Littered with Books has lots of books, a lot of international SF and fantasy among the usual collection. The Book Bar was something else all together. It was full of South East Asian books and Singapore books and had a little bar, with food at reasonable prices. I did a quick survey of the books and bought my first round It was all set up for the talk too. I grabbed a drink and found a seat.
The view walking up/down Duxton Road.
Meihan talked about why she had organised this talk because while some Singapore writers were known outside Singapore they were sort of overlooked at home. The three writers talked about how they got published, when they started writing, the complexities of being Singaporean and trying to be noticed, particularly with agents and publishers. They talked about crickets when writing to agents. What a great term for the awful experience of querying agents and hearing nothing at all.
The picture of pretalk get together as they waited for the audience.
This picture is one of the panel underway.
They also read from various of their books. Elaine’s Small Bites had me drooling. It’s a body horror collection I believe but the food descriptions were so precise and real. Which is available for preorder. Next on my to do list along with ordering Megan Chee’s Archaeology of Falling Worlds. I bought Wolf Path by Joyce Chng and will do a little review below.
A picture of my book haul.
As for Meihan Boey, I have read her Miss Cassidy Trilogy, having bought them on previous visits. Recommended by my friend Dev J. They are now published internationally and you should definitely read them. So good. A blend of Victorian capitalism and Singapore blend of culture, myths and legends with a splash Scottish faerie.
The Wolf’s Path by Joyce Chng
The Wolf’s Path has made the British Fantasy Awards Shortlist for best collection and I can see why. It is part memoir and part story collection from older stories to newer ones. I find it quite intriguing as many of the fears and concerns Joyce writes about echo in me. Apocalypse, post-apocalyse, war, belonging, gender, aging. I am three quarters of the way through the collection. Joyce has a unique voice and at times uses lyrical prose. One story in particular stood out for me. “A Basketful of Figs”, featuring a fig tree in a courtyard, a symbol of permanence and also food. In the far future, families of Chinese immigrants return to China as ‘returnees’ after generations living in South East Asia. War comes and Joyce’s tale speaks to the impact on her family, her neighbours, distant cousins and even the defenders. I found it a bitter sweet tale. Exquisite even.
Other stories resonate with anger, with questioning, with alien invaders and the sharp strike of talons. Of bravery and difference. Another standout for me was “I found love in an urn full of ashes”–a story flavoured with the essence of myths and legends. I was amused and fascinated by this tale. “Lotus” was poignant, reminding me of the movie Waterworld, but not. It is more reflective on human nature, on greed and the things that make humans fight and I think optimistic after global warming floods most of the world. I loved the detail of the lotus flower, the roots, the seeds. Things I did not know. “Yao Jin” too, spooked me and fascinated me. What is this world that Joyce writes about? Very cool stuff.
Wolf’s Path is published by a US small press and should be available if you order it in or in ebook.
Donna Maree Hanson, Author, Phd in Creative Writing 