#YISHREADS August 2024

“In Southeast Asia, poetry is power.” Ng Yi-Sheng reviews five recent collections of Southeast Asian poetry.

ReviewJee KohAugust 30, 2024Ng Yi-ShengComment

Against Such Odds

A.C.S. Bird explores the many aspects of concealment and revelation in the poetry of Rooja Mohassessy.

ReviewJee KohAugust 30, 2024Amanda BirdComment

He Who Knows Himself

What does one do with one’s loneliness? Ratu Yousei finds an answer in this tender story.

FictionJee KohAugust 23, 2024Ratu Yousei Comment

Family Recipes

Reviewer Samara Choudhury discovers the Bene Israel community in India through Zilka Joseph’s poetry collection Sweet Malida.

ReviewJee KohAugust 16, 2024Samara ChoudhuryComment

Walking My Way through Grief

In this poignant essay, Monisha Raman finds her way in the maze of grief by walking.

EssayJee KohAugust 9, 2024Monisha RamanComment

Winners of the 10th Singapore Poetry Contest

Read and listen to the winners of our 10th Singapore Poetry Contest!

PoetryJee KohAugust 9, 2024Jie Cohen, Dawn Angelicca Barcelona, Ashish Kumar SinghComment

Island Inheritance, Mother Material

Judith Huang reviews Dinner on Monster Island: Essays, by Tania De Rozario (USA: HarperCollins, 2024).

ReviewJee KohAugust 2, 2024Judith HuangComment

Chiak Kantang [1]

He is so sure, and she is full of doubts, in this new story, “Chiak Kantang,” by Emilia Ong.

FictionJee KohAugust 2, 2024Emilia OngComment

“Now You Are Like That Dry Stone” and Other Poems

With this set of three watery poems, Jessie Raymundo meditates on what it means to return—to a place, a loved one, or a promise.

PoetryJee KohJuly 26, 2024Jessie RaymundoComment

#YISHREADS July 2024

For this month’s column, Ng Yi-Sheng explores the short story from different parts of the world.

ReviewJee KohJuly 26, 2024Ng Yi-ShengComment

Returning from America to India

According to reviewer Suhasini Patni, Usha Priyamvada’s novel Won’t You Stay, Radhika?, translated by Daisy Rockwell, “opens the possibility of inhabiting multiple lives and feeling unhappy in all of them.”

ReviewJee KohJuly 19, 2024Suhasini PatniComment

“Tomato Garden” and Other Poems

Can we bear to consume beauty in a world seemingly intent on consuming it too? Ananya Shah shows us how she makes peace with her dead.

PoetryJee KohJuly 12, 2024Ananya Kanai ShahComment

Becoming Singapore

Ann Ang reviews Becoming Global Asia: Contemporary Genres of Postcolonial Capitalism in Singapore by Cheryl Naruse (Oakland, California: University of California Press, 2023).

ReviewJee KohJuly 5, 2024Ann AngComment

#YISHREADS June 2024

To celebrate Pride month, let’s speculate about queer Asian futures with Ng Yi-Sheng as our guide.

ReviewJee KohJune 28, 2024Ng Yi-ShengComment

“Spotify Playlist” and Other Poems

What do dating apps, border control, and HRT documentation have in common? Find out in Winter Chen’s explosive movement between the forms and functions that draw a life’s rawest borders.

PoetryJee KohJune 28, 2024Winter A. ChenComment

The Weight of Their Truths

Anna Tan reviews Bone Weight and Other Stories, by Shih-Li Kow, and finds the stories in the collection weighted down by losses familiar to Malaysians.

ReviewJee KohJune 21, 2024Anna TanComment

“Fabric from Kashmir” and Other Poems

Have you ever been late to an appointment, or haunted by someone’s late arrival? Sayan Aich Bhowmik’s poems present us with seasons and people who have taken their time.

PoetryJee KohJune 14, 2024Sayan Aich BhowmikComment