Fresh Fiction from Singapore
The British Council widened our partnership with the NLB via the publication of Fresh Fiction from Singapore in support of local writing.
"Over the last two years, from the nurturing surrounds of our quiet room at Toa Payoh library, I’ve watched the members of Writing the City’s monthly writing group wrestle with their inner book.
An inner book becomes an outer book by a process that involves closing the door on everything else for long swathes of time to draft, shape, polish, cut and redraft. Writers put themselves through this often painful process because the urge to write is strong, unfathomable and relentless.
As a place to workshop drafts of new writing and discuss elements of the craft, our monthly meet-ups are all about helping that process along. But ultimately, credit for the striking new pieces that fill this anthology is due to the hard work and perseverance of the writers themselves.
So what can you expect from the stories and poems they’ve produced?"
The 17 works in this anthology take you on a tour of human strengths and weaknesses. Tales of obsession, greed and grief sit alongside stories of reconciliation, love and the redemptive power of art. There is light and shade, wit and warmth: the millionaire trash collector with a secret weapon, an unbeatable char kway teow recipe; a fierce attraction that surges into life during the disorientating days of ‘the Haze.’
With tales spanning every walk of life in the city of Singapore, this is a cosmopolitan collection packed with bold characters and brave voices – an unmissable read.