UNION : 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing From Singapore
UNION traces the intertwining trajectories of two dynamic communities: the cosmopolitan Southeast Asian city-state of Singapore, commemorating 50 years of national independence and writing, to celebrated literary journal Drunken Boat, marking 15 years as one of the most innovative and inclusive literary platforms in the US and the world. This groundbreaking anthology brings together for the very first time a spectrum of diverse voices at play with language and its inventive possibilities — from prominent Singaporean authors such as Alfian bin Sa’at, Suchen Christine Lim and Edwin Thumboo to American Pulitzer Prize winners Norman Mailer, Franz Wright, Kay Ryan, and Vijay Seshadri.
In math, union is a shared set and in textiles union is a yarn made of two fabrics. In proof and stitch, this anthology invites connection and conversation on matters of timeless interest and global concern.
UNION : 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing From Singapore
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Reviews
“In the essay 'In Praise of Error', gathered in Union: 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing from Singapore, Cole Swensen writes, '[D]on’t look to translations to bridge cultural gaps.' Well, where translation fails, this anthology succeeds. What a marvel its editors, Alvin Pang and Ravi Shankar, have produced. What resonances, what juxtapositions, (what peaches, what penumbras)—what bridges! At one hundred twenty-nine entries, spread over six hundred pages, Union bridges oceans, genres, poetics, and eras in fresh, vital ways. To wit: dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson’s eulogy for Bernie Grant, Singaporean poet Alfian bin Sa’at’s howl, “Singapore You Are Not My Country”; Paul Stephens’s assessment of Billy Collins, Jee Leong Koh’s reinvention of The Pillow Book. The entries from Drunken Boat showcase the journal’s cutting edge aesthetics. The entries from Singapore demonstrate the nation’s place, to paraphrase Somerset Maugham, in the theater of first-rate writing: the very front row. Together, they form an essential volume that successfully translates the global moment, and provides a bridge readers will delight in crossing.” —Tim Tomlinson, President of New York Writers Workshop
“While geographically themed anthologies often suffer from a lack of cohesion between texts beyond their place of origin, Union interrogates this model by situating Singaporean writing in a wider yet ultimately more intricate framework of cultural polyphony across hemispheres and borders. ... It is preferable to read the likes of Kim Cheng Boey, Catherine Lim, and Mohamed Latiff Mohamed in a global context, and particularly alongside Drunken Boat ’s far-reaching collection of works, from Ko Un and Vijay Seshadri to Kay Ryan and Norman Mailer. ... The anthology can also be commended for its inclusion of experimental texts, like the visual poetics of Rachel Blau DuPlessis, as well as a vast number of translated works. It is testament to Union’s editorial curation that, despite the diplomatic arrangement of its contents (alphabetically by author), it is replete with meaningful juxtapositions that could otherwise seem intentional. ... Union acknowledges the intricacies of identity – infinitely fluid across borders and not simply defined, even by diasporic lines. It is this innate recognition of the many and varied loci of identity by which we can define ourselves that renders the anthology such a success.” —Sara Savage, Australian Book Review
Poetry
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womb song
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Patient History
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dragon.paper.wind. (龙卷风)
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The Orchid Folios
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parsetreeforestfire
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Intruder
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Giving Ground
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Floating Clouds Beyond The Elastic Limit
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A Flying Crystal
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A Walk With My Pig
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A Bad Girl's Book of Animals
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GAZE BACK
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(Imperfect) Unhomed
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Picking off new shoots will not stop the spring: Witness poems and essays from Burma/Myanmar (1988-2021)
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Some Say, A Tapir
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Farquhar
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Poetry Moves: An Anthology of Poetry
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Contour: A Lyric Cartography of Singapore
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To Gather Your Leaving: Asian Diaspora Poetry from America, Australia, UK and Europe
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A Gathering of Themes
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a tiny space
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Right of the Soil
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Common Life: Drawings and Poems
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UnFree Verse
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Lost Bodies: Poems between Portugal and Home
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This Is Not A Safety Barrier: An Anthology of Poetry & Photography
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I Found A Bone and Other Poems
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Me Migrant
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Phedra
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Spomenik
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Bitter Punch
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Singapore Notebook & Blessed Isle
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UNION : 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing From Singapore
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Ars Poetica for the Day
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Do You Live In?
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The Wrong/Wrung Side of Love
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Babel Via Negativa
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Teaching Poetry To Adolescents: A Teacher's Guide to Little Things
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Never Before—50 Essential Poems / 不可预期—诗精50首
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SG Poems 2017-2018
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Love at the Gallery
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SG Poems 2015-2016
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Pilgrimage
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Unhomed
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Crossing Universes
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一首诗的时间 2015
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Right of the Soil (Chapbook)
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Finding Francis: A Poetic Adventure
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Footfalls in the Rain
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Light is like water
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Attunement
Is life hustling you out of tune? As the week roars by, we invite you to a slice of attunement penned lovingly by our authors, friends, and yours truly. Freshly delivered weekly with care. Intimacy guaranteed. Read selected letters below.
Magical, luminous things
Feb 19, 2022
I have flown across an ocean this week. This still sounds surreal to say.
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No negotiation for blood debt
Feb 14, 2022
The Burmese language resistance poetry is deeply embedded in the country’s colonial past. When mo...
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Burning holes in the darkness
Feb 7, 2022
Poets killed in broad daylight, writers tortured and maimed. I wonder if their ghosts watch on fr...
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