i'm alive! (but busy)

i've been much remiss in updating this website over the past months, but a quick peek at the 'events' tab on the right should show that i've been running around quite a bit this year (and yes, it's only updated till june.)

bits of updates: first, up i had a ball at the recently concluded APWriters' Conference 2014 - "Bridging Cultures - Creative Writing and Literary Translation in Asia Today", held at the Arts House with the aid of the NBDCS.

thanks to the National Arts Council, i was introduced to APWriters last year via their Bangkok conference, where i met many lovely writers from around the region, and was able to share a bit of my work at the closing reading. this year, i was able to moderate a quintuple book launch and a reading with a collection of diverse talent, and read a bit of my latest work at three different occasions, so was quite pleased to represent Singapore, in Singapore. [here's a sample poem - "elitist writers", of mild entertainment value, relevant to the events and online commentary of the past week.]

after the event, the inimitable Alvin Pang played host as we brought a few overseas writers around to sample the joys of East Coast Food Village, and the view from One-Altitude. looking forward to keeping up the connections I made with various writers, translators and publishers during the conference, and hopefully (if work allows) to returning for the Manila edition of the conference next October.

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that aside, some minor project updates:

1. TEN STORIES BELOW / AFTER THE FLOOD - the graphic novel!

the amazing team of Adam Jay (pencils), Tim Wang (colors) has been joined by the talented graphic design firm Sarah and Schooling (letters) and the immensely experienced comics editor, Joyce Sim (editor). We've put in our first grant submission, and hopefully that should power us ahead to releasing this very exciting graphic novel by the end of this year.

check this space for more updates on the graphic novel project, because we're looking into releasing into two very interesting bits of promotional material very soon - the first episode from the graphic novel, hopefully in time for STGCC 14, and a separate 20-page mini-comic... featuring PENGUINS. wait for it!

2. POETRY COLLECTIONS

"making love with scrabble tiles" was launched late last year, and is available in bookstores near you now. as alluded to previously, my first collection, "sonnets from the singlish" has sold out its initial print run, and is now back in print with a saucy new RED cover. 

thanks to the ceaseless efforts of my publisher, sonnets now has its own facebook discussion group - so feel free to pop over to make rude comments, leave nasty reviews, or ask questions about stuff that you didn't get or are curious about. i haven't ramped up my gigantic self-promotion machine yet, but i'll definitely try my best to answer questions on the text, especially from teachers/students in need of some local lovin'...

3. NEW STUFF?

i haven't decided yet whether my next collection will be short stories, novel, or another poetry collection. currently i'm at 4.5 stories, 25,000 unedited words, and 15 poems respectively -- so at least a good month or two of intensive labor from completion. but let's see how that goes.