#YISHREADS October 2022

For Halloween, Ng Yi-Sheng investigates speculative literary takes on the paranormal from four continents.

ReviewJee KohOctober 28, 2022Ng Yi-ShengComment

“BRUSHING MY TEETH AT THE EDGE OF ELIZABETH PLACE” and Other Poems

“You smell like the sun, we say to a person/ carrying the loosened backpack of a long day.” —from “BRUSHING MY TEETH AT THE EDGE OF ELIZABETH PLACE”

PoetryJee KohOctober 21, 2022Gian LaoComment

A Lesson in Vision

Lydia Wei reviews Anything but Human by Daryl Lim Wei Jie (Singapore: Landmark Books, 2021).

ReviewJee KohOctober 14, 2022Lydia Wei, Daryl Lim Wei JieComment

“my oppa is a virgin” and Other Poems

Three poems by Sal that play with tropes in NSFW K-pop fanfiction and borrow language from real YouTube comments left on 'focus cams' or jigcams.

PoetryJee KohOctober 7, 2022SalComment

is it a curse or is it the day

Was she just a subservient woman although she tried so hard to be self-aware and smart? The unnamed protagonist in Suhasini Patni’s new story “is it a curse or is it the day” wondered.

FictionJee KohSeptember 30, 2022Suhasini PatniComment

#YISHREADS September 2022

Ground-breaking in their time, but are these Southeast Asian books good reads? This month, Ng Yi-Sheng gives the low-down, and one thumbs-up.

ReviewJee KohSeptember 30, 2022Ng Yi-ShengComment

In Praise of Radical Slowness

“I wanted to live to tree time.” Shalini Sengupta reviews How I Became a Tree (India: Aleph Books, 2017) and VIP: Very Important Plant (London: Shearsman, 2022) by Sumana Roy.

Review, PoetryJee KohSeptember 23, 2022Dr. Shalini SenguptaComment

Dear Pluto

In “Dear Pluto,” Susan L. Lin writes to the Death Planet about her plans to visit it in the distant future.

EssayJee KohSeptember 16, 2022Susan L. LinComment

“Soundproof Counseling Room for Middle Schoolers (2009)” and Other Poems

In these attentive poems, Jackson Minjoon Wright shines a light on, as he puts it, “the particularities of adoption and secluded life in the Midwest.”

PoetryJee KohSeptember 9, 2022Jackson Minjoon WrightComment

“An “Oriental” Jane Doe” and Other Poems

In these exacting poems, Joey S. Kim considers the impact of empire on identity and writing.

PoetryJee KohSeptember 2, 2022Joey S. KimComment

She Was There

Miranda Jeyaretnam reviews Where I Was: A Memoir About Forgetting and Remembering by Constance Singam, which tells the history of Singapore from the perspective of a courageous woman activist.

ReviewJee KohAugust 26, 2022Miranda Jeyaretnam, Constance SingamComment

#YISHREADS August 2022

Care to read fantasy and science fiction novels inspired by Chinese history? Ng Yi-Sheng gives you the lowdown on five recent books.

ReviewJee KohAugust 26, 2022Ng Yi-ShengComment

“Early and Late” and “Every Poet Wants to Be Your Dog”

What if dogs can read? Chris Huntington ponders this and other questions in these new poems.

PoetryJee KohAugust 19, 2022Chris HuntingtonComment

Escalating a Nation

“Singapore's climb from a Third World country to a First World nation was made easier, thanks to the escalator.”

EssayJee KohAugust 12, 2022Justin ZhuangComment

A Cosmopolitan Kinship?

“To what extent should Singlit speak to global cultures and the threat of the climate crisis, and how should it do so?” Zining Mok reviews Red Earth by Esther Vincent Xueming (USA: Blue Cactus Press, 2021).

Review, PoetryJee KohAugust 12, 2022Mok ZiningComment

Dreamlapse

“When you dream, how do you know you’re in your own body?” the narrator of Monica Kim’s story “Dreamlapse” asks.

FictionJee KohAugust 5, 2022Monica KimComment

#YISHREADS July 2022

To impose a bit of sanity on himself, Ng Yi-Sheng returns this month to the original theme of #YISHREADS. These five books are all Southeast Asian works.

ReviewJee KohJuly 29, 2022Ng Yi-ShengComment