Call for submissions for ASYMPTOTE: a new international journal of literary translation

My friend's setting up a new journal of translation called Asymptote! (Yeah, I was originally drama editor, but I couldn't commit the time. It's still an important effort.)

It's founded by multi-genre polyglot Singaporean writer Lee Yew Leong, but we've got other editors based in Germany and the USA. Our first issue is coming out in Jan 2011.

If you're a writer in a non-English language or a translator of non-English literature into English, we'd love to see your work. The deadline for submissions is 20 December 2010 and the guidelines are here.

Ooh, and get a load of our landing page, here: http://asymptotejournal.com

Some very cool international writers have already agreed to be featured in the Jan 2011 edition. We'll be featuring:

- a dispatch from Afghanistan about the plight of women in the context of the ongoing war
- an essay from Japan comparing "Literature and Mathematics" (which we thought apropos for the launch issue of a magazine called Asymptote)
- a group of poems by Melih Cevdet Anday, writing in the manner of a famous 17th century folk poet, translated from the Turkish by Sidney Wade and Efe Murad
- an interview with the award-winning lyricist who not only brought the 2010 World Cup song into Mandarin but has done some amazing (literary) things across Mandarin and Cantonese as well.
-excerpts from Singaporean playwright Alfian Sa'at's "Nadirah", last year's prizewinning script at the Life! Theatre Awards.

Hope to read your stuff on the site soon!

@ School in Bengaluru!!!

As promised, here are photos from my workshop at Widia Poorna Pragna School:







And a few from Jnana Vijnana Vidyapeetha:










Sadly, no shots from the last school, whose name escapes me for the time being (though it was terribly posh). Camera breakdown, doncha know. The assistant teacher said she might mail me some, but don't hold your breath.

UPDATE: The last school's name was MES Kishore Kendra Public School. Wrote 'em all down in my notebook.

I'm going to India!

Should've blogged about this before. Was featured in the Straits Times yesterday, in fact.

Basically, I'll be participating in the Bengaluru Habba and the Chennai Local. Here are my dates so far:

Tuesday, 15 December:
Literary Reading (with Felix Cheong and Adeline Foo)
Time Out Reliance book store
Bengaluru
6:30-8:00 pm.

Tuesday, 22 December,
Poetry reading
Spaces,
#1 Elliots Beach Road, Besant Nagar,
Chennai
7pm

I'll be back on Xmas eve if you all want to kacau me. Don't call my handphone, can?

So what the hell happened with the CAP Mentorship?

I'll talk about it in due course. But as of now, the most comprehensive place to talk about it is over at Yawning Bread.

Right now, I'm rushing journalism deadlines and running off for the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival. I'm doing three panels!

I still miss having a mentee though. Sigh. Probably selfish. Made me feel like a grown-up.

Why I've been silent.

I don't have a CAP mentee anymore. More will be explained in the days to follow.

Garden Affair 013: Bird Call

Next Thursday and Friday, I'm involved in a contemporary dance performance called Bird Call, produced by ARTS Fission group and choreographed by Elysa Wendi. It's centred around the theme of birds, so I might have to do some dressing up in feathers. :)




Garden Affair 013 - Bird Call
Thursday 25 & Friday 26 June 2009, 8.30 pm
Garden Studio, Cairnhill Arts Center
126 Cairnhill Road #01-07/09
Within (tedious) walking distance from Newton MRT

Actually, on a more serious note

Irwan says he's met a guy on Gayromeo who's doing a similar project to mine. WTF? He didn't even note down his username (though he chatted a bit, and both sides wished each other well, etc).

Hopefully he's only investigating the rentboys of Zurich as an academic exercise rather than as a commercial one (because this is a commercial venture: I think this is a book that would sell).

But who knows? Am troubled.

Life! Theatre Awards Nominations 2009

I've been nominated for Best Script for "The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles"!



It's also got noms for Best actor (Rehaan Engineer), Best set (Ng Tze Wei) and best costume (Moe Kasim, with later modifications by directors Christina Sergeant and Ivan Heng). "Reservoir" is also nominated for Production of the Year and Best Sound Design (Chong Li-Chuan) and Best Multimedia (Choy Ka Fai).

This time I'm sure I won't get the award myself: hot favourites for both Best Script and Best Production are the fabulous "Gemuk Girls" and "Temple". We might win some technical stuff, though.

The article came out on Sat 19 March, when I was in Italy; that's why I didn't know the news was released yet. (I knew about the noms ages ago, though.)

Here's the full list for your perusal, with productions I was involved in italicised. Prize presentation ceremony on Monday.

Production of the Year:

* Gemuk Girls (The Necessary Stage)
* House of Sins (Dramabox)
* Reservoir (Theatreworks)
* Temple (Cake)
* The King Lear Trilogy (Ho Tzu Nyen)

Best Director:

* Natalie Hennedige (Temple)
* Li Xie (House of Sins)
* Christina Sergeant (The Hypochondriac)
* Alvin Tan (Gemuk Girls)
* Wong May Lan (The Soldier & His Virtuous Wife)

Best Script:

* Natalie Hennedige (Temple)
* Li Xie (House of Sins)
* Ng Yi-Sheng (The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles)
* Jean Tay (Boom)
* Haresh Sharma (Gemuk Girls)

Best Actor:

* Rehaan Engineer (The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles)
* Najib Soiman (Gemuk Girls)
* Noor Effendy Ibrahim (National Language Class)
* Peter Sau (House of Sins)
* Tay Kong Hui (House of Sins)

Best Supporting Actor:

* Oliver Chong (Flare)
* Najib Soiman (Temple)
* K. Rajagopal (The King Lear Project)
* Darius Tan (The Soldier & His Virtuous Wife)
* Sebastian Tan (Snow White & The Seven Dwarves)

Best Actress:

* Fanny Kee (Boom)
* Jo Kwek (Moon Story)
* Noorlinah Mohamed (Gemuk Girls)
* Yeo Yann Yann (National Language Class)

Best Supporting Actress:

* Goh Guat Xian (Flare)
* Li Xie (Temple)
* Judy Ngo (The Vagina Monologues)
* Susan Tordoff (The Office Party)
* Emma Yong (Shanghai Blues)

Best Ensemble:

* Bilik Ahmad (Teater Ekamatra)
* Drift (Dramabox)
* First Light (Toy Factory)
* Own Time Own Target (Wild Rice)
* The Hypochondriac (young & Wild)

Best Sound Design:

* Bang Wenfu (The Hypochondriac)
* Chong Li-Chuan (Reservoir)
* Philip Tan (Temple)
* Zing O Drum Group (Death of a Hero)
* Zizi Azah (Above us only sky)

Best Lighting Design:

* Fita Helmi (Above us only sky)
* Andy Lim (House of Sins)
* Lim Woan Wen (Pinocchio’s Complex)
* Suven Chan (Temple)
* Yo Shao Ann (Shanghai Blues)

Best Multimedia Design:

* Choy Ka Fai (Reservoir)
* Loo Zihan (Gemuk Girls)
* Brian Gothong Tan (Temple)
* Tan Kai Syng (The Vagina Monologues)

Best Set Design:

* Eucien Chia (Shanghai Blues)
* Claudio Girardi (Das Experiment)
* Wong Chee Wai (House of Sins, Apocalypse Live!, The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles)

Best Costume Design:

* Moe Kasim (Beauty World, The Enchantment of Sangkuriang, The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles, Snow White and The Seven Dwarves)
* Natalie Hennedige (Temple)

BUY MY T-SHIRTS.

I've made a few, available on order at Ministry of Press. Here's one!



MOP itself is a little shop at #04-31, Far East Plaza, and the owner, Arnold Wee, has commissioned local poets to create 14-word T-shirt slogans for Valentine's Day. The shirts themselves are American Apparel, so they're very comfy. Regular shirts cost $39; the poets series is $69.

Awww.

The boss of the kids' newspaper I write for just sent me a Christmas card with a cyanide-squirting millipede on the front.


Yeah, my boss is Cherian George. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to advertise my involvement in this newspaper too much, lest schools believe that I'm programming the kids to turn gay and tear down the government.

My sister's come back home!

Also, the Singapore Literature Prize announcement ceremony takes place tomorrow.

Sent to Shu Hoong 23-11-08 18:58
Hey. Two years ago you knew in advance that you’d won the sing lit prize, right?

Received from Shu Hoong 23-11-08 20:50
Yes. They’ll tell u a few wks b4, n tell u not to tell.

Mmmmm.

I has a new part-time job.

Doing oral history transcription for the National Archives of Singapore! It's boring grunt work, but it's still pretty fascinating.

(Wait, that's completely contradictory, while also being true.)

I'll also be finding out whether the results of the Singapore Literature Prize (why not just call it SLiP?) on the evening 3 December. I already have my evening dress picked out.

Apparently I've been shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize.

My money's on Wena Poon winning ofr "Lions in Winter", but I've only just started on her book so I can't be sure. Also, why the hell didn't Cyril Wong get nominated for "Tilting the Plates to Catch the Light"? (Did he not enter his book?)

Full list (minus Chinese) here, courtesy of Sharon Bakar:

English category :

1. Last Boy Ng Yi-Sheng
2. The Lies that Build a Marriage - Suchen Christine Lim
3. Lions in Winter: Stories - Wena Poon
4. Rainbows in Braille - Elmo Jayawardena
5. Five Right Angles - Aaron Lee Soon Yong

Malay category :
1. Bila Rama-Rama Patah Sayapnya - Mohamed Latiff Mohamed
2. Anugerah Bulan Buat Bonda - Muhammad Salihin Sulaiman
3. Langau Menyerang Masjid dan Cerita-cerita Lainnya - Suratman Markasan
4. Cetusan Kalbu Seorang Penyair Peter Augustine Goh
5. Perahu Melayu Di Lautan Khulzum Johar Buang
6. Sekeras Waja Selembut Sutera Manaf Hamzah

Tamil books :
1. Pin Seat Sankar Jayanthi
2. Aayul Thandanai J M Sali
3. Naan Kolai Seyum Penkal K Kanagalatha
4. Ouyir Ourugum Sabtham Palanisamy Subramanian

Mediawhore re-redux

Not only was I in the papers yesterday (to publicise the Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles), as well as in the papers today (as part of Life!'s 30 Under 30 series); I'll be in the papers tomorrow for with my National Day poem.

Chrise.

HALP.

I has too many blogz. Ka5 haz made me start Reservoir Blog, u see.

Dis lolpanda maik me feel bettr.

I'm also a Trevvy columnist now.

Just did an article for Father's Day.

Launch of Over There @ South Perth Poetry Park!

Basically, if you wanna come, it's on:

Thursday, 15 May

5:30pm

Neil McDougall Park, Como

Perth, WA

Australia

Oceania

The World

RSPV [sic] essential. Invitation & map attached.

Please email library@southperth.wa.gov.au or call 9474 0800.

From NAC:

A Poetry Park will be launched at the Neil McDougall Park in South Perth, Australia to celebrate the outstanding work and achievements of Western Australia’s poets. The opening also marks the launch of Over There: Poems from Singapore & Australia, an anthology of Singaporean and Australian poets, edited by Alvin Pang and John Kinsella.

The event to be held on Thursday, 15 May 2008 will be officiated by the Honourable Sheila McHale MLA, Australian Minister for Disability Services, Tourism, Culture & the Arts.

The Singapore contingent for the launch led by Lee Suan Hiang, Chief Executive Officer, National Arts Council, will comprise Meritorious Service Medal recipient, Professor Edwin Thumboo, distinguished poet and literary scholar, Professor Kirpal Singh, as well as acclaimed Singapore poets, Alvin Pang and Ng Yi-Sheng, and publisher Ethos Books for Over There, Fong Hoe Fang.

Whee!  I've got recognition from NAC!  (Now if they'd only start including me in their brochures of notable Singapore writers...)

And then after that, WordStorm in Darwin!  Seeya there!)

Varför, Gud, varför???

I'm confused. Why do I have a Wikipedia entry in Swedish?

In fact, the only other sv.wikipedia seem to be politicians. Even Annabel Chong doesn't have an entry. I've never slept with a Swedish person, and while I do know a Swedish lesbian in China and a Canadian lesbian in Sweden, the former hasn't spoken to me for ages and I don't think the latter speaks Swedish. Mån mystär!

(I don't actually speak Swedish, but I just love the umlauts.)

Hong Kong. (And Macau)

It'd take way too much time to describe the trip in detail, but I will eventually. For the moment, I've maxed out my Flickr account uploading stuff from the Festival (not including my own readings, which should take up another post).

Wanna see my pics (with comments)? Go here.

Here's a foretaste:


My hosts, the ex-British military officer Nigel Collett and his partner Austin Aloysius Tay from Singapore. They run a company managing the employment of Gurkhas in East Asia and have a home full of books and artefacts, boasting alphabetised collections of gay biography and South Asian studies. Nigel, who didn't come out till his 40s, has written a grammar of Baluchi and once laid a table for a formal army luncheon in the middle of Hong Kong rush hour traffic.


Y'know, just look at the damn photoset. Incomplete though it may be. (The real reason it's not on blogger is because the site keeps giving me so many damn errors when I upload multiple shots.)

Sixth day in Hong Kong

..been having Internet trouble. Day after I landed my tush in the house of my hosts, their connection went kaput, kablooey, kattam-shud.

I obviously have far too much to tell, but for the moment I'll reveal that I'm in this spanking new mall that's sprung up where I used to live in HK from 1986 to 1988. I tried to track back the footsteps of old to little avail (my father gave very unhelpful advice for finding the place), so I ducked into the Pacfifc Coffee Club and googled the name of my condo.

And get this: Willow Mansion, Taikoo Shing is not only mentioned in Wikipedia. The area has entries in English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Wenyuanwen.

Will log off presently and try to find the condo in meatspace. In other news, last night's reading at Joyce Is Not Here went rather well, except for the fact that I hadn't realised we had to bring our own books to sell (I'd already turned over all of mine to the Festival), and due to miscalculations I sold my only reading copy to someone at less than cost price.

Tonight should go more smoothly. Also, I'm spendin' two nights at the Excelsior. Viva el bling!!!