Sad I actually am indeed that she didn't win the Singapore Literary Prize, because I feel such a strong connection to Lions in Winter (as you will understand if you read this).
Friday, December 12, 2008
Art Chose Wena
Shirley also sent me scan of this article written by Wena Poon from the local edition of Marie Claire. Do read it because there are some lovely words of encouragment for local writers! (Click to full size.)
Sad I actually am indeed that she didn't win the Singapore Literary Prize, because I feel such a strong connection to Lions in Winter (as you will understand if you read this).
Sad I actually am indeed that she didn't win the Singapore Literary Prize, because I feel such a strong connection to Lions in Winter (as you will understand if you read this).
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15 comments:
Thanks for this -- I loved reading it and could SO relate!
-- Preeta
Nice! But why didnt she try australia? its so frustrating down here - having a healthy publishing industry and academics and agents always seeking new talent - not to be thought useful in this regard.
A very nice article and a healthy message too.
What an inspiration!
matt - (sorry i rewrote this realising you were talking about wena's book and not preeta's - i am confused this morning1) i don't know if wena tried australian publishers or not, and Wena is certainly trying to get overseas publishing deals so the door is not closed. (who would you recommend?)
australia has more than its fair share of great authors and a very healthy publishing industry.
i would love to see asian and australian publishers working together, and if i ever have money i will set up a bookshop selling australian titles because we never get them in our shops here (due to book agreements with the UK and US)
*hugs Sharon*
Thank you for posting that up.
Great post and inpsiring too-from Singapore to Harvard, from MPH to readings in Ireland! Loved it! There's hope for the rest of us if we learn to set our goals higher and follow up with great work!
Sharon - I think that the new Perth based Oz-Asian literary prize Nuri Vittachi helped judge, and that you covered, would make this kind of venture more likely. Oz publishers are of course going to think 'this might go' due to the publicity that such a prize can generate. And lit crit pages in newspapers would lap it up. Why don't you ask her to try. The major houses have arms here. But there's also Text Publishing in Melbourne that does interesting things.
one hopes, matt. this book was entered for it but not nominated and i don't expect anything much to come out of it. maybe the prize will help to create some interest in asian writing longer term.
a greater hope is via literary festivals e.g. the ubud festival and then in australia byron bay etc. let's hope for more links, more communication and more joint ventures
While I agree with you Sharon that Literary festivals seem the way to go, not all of us can afford to actually go to them.
yusof - depends where they are, right? did you make it to the last one in KL?
singapore fest is on in dec and that hardly costs a fortune if you have a friend's floor to sleep on (*sob* i haven't)
That's the sad part isn't it? it chooses you. You can't NOT write. It eats you, it takes over your life. It says you have to write, and you have to do it. Even if you die in front of your PC, or with a pen in your hand, you have to write. Others will try to stop you. They will censor (and censure) you, spit at you, call you a fool.
And they would be right. Because others can make great advances in technology, and perhaps one day find a cure for AIDS or cancer, but not you. You have to write.
You are a writer.
Anonymous, oh Anonymous -- if you think writers are fools, why are you here? If you cannot see the point of literature -- if you think great advances in technology and medicine are the only things that contribute to humanity -- why are you here? Aren't you the biggest fool of all, to be wasting your time reading a BLOG about something you think is worthless?!?
-- Preeta
I'm not sure, Anonymous, if you're bashing writers and writing or saying something akin to 'I may be called a foolish writer but I'm still gonna be a fool and a writer cause it's a vocation that leaves me no choice but to get on with it'?
anyway, i don't see why writers cannot make great advances in technology and one day find a cure for AIDS or cancer... especially when most writers usually wear more than one hat... there are a lot of writers our there who are also wearing the hats of technology or medicine...
Whitearrow
Preeta -
Yes. Tragic, isn't it ? :P
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