Episode 1346: Halved My Pending Reviews At Last!

Finally wrote the chapbook review this afternoon, so I'm down to four pending reviews. Could probably write another one tomorrow of Phil Jourdan's book, but I'd quite like to crack on with some degree-related work for a change. Have made small steps by reading three collections of AIDS elegies this week, i.e. Mark Doty's My Alexandria, Thom Gunn's The Man With Night Sweats, and Paul Monette's Love Alone: 18 Elegies For Rog. The most moving was the Monette, but at the same time, I also came away with the sense that the collections were addressing themselves to different points in the process of grieving/mourning. Monette's is the pain of acute loss, while Gunn's rage and grief has gone through more processing. Doty's collection is interesting in that if I hadn't seen it mentioned in an article about AIDS and elegy, I wouldn't have considered it to be in the same category as the other two volumes. Wonder if these differences can be reworded into something more academically rigorous? Would definitely make for an interesting argument, considering my essay is trying to contrast strategies of approaching poetry as consolation. I don't necessarily want to conclude that one poet does it better than the other, between Gunn and Monette, so phrasing the argument in terms of certain ways of writing speaking better to certain points in the mourning process seems like a more neutral form of comparison. Also, Edwin Thumboo did get back to me after all! Was heartened to learn that he thinks the research I'm doing will make an important contribution to the study of local literature and that he would like to see a copy of the dissertation when it's done.

Episode 1345: Some Things I Really Like Right Now

An album, a book, a film. So Kris Allen (aka the guy who beat Adam Lambert to be crowned winner of Season 8 of American Idol) has finally released a sophomore album Thank You Camellia, and it's amazing. The production is crisp but not overly glossy, and Allen's vocals are brilliant. Given the music industry these days, you really have to respect a guy who can nail his falsetto on an acoustic track. Anyway, it's really refreshing to encounter a pop album that's not about sex, drugs or clubbing. When Allen sings about love, it's so earnest that should the album fail to find success, it's more an indictment of what our cultural norms are than the album's quality. (In fact, the only misstep in the album is the inclusion of a club remix as one of the bonus tracks. The remix has its moments, but on the whole is a perplexingly anaemic affair for a club track.) Another thing I'm appreciating at the moment is Phil Jourdan's Praise Of Motherhood. I got this from a Goodreads giveaway, and Scott's agreed to my reviewing it for The Cadaverine, but it was only today, while agonising over what book to take with me for my MRT ride to HarbourFront, that I impulsively picked it up from the pile of books on my table. It is beautiful and heartbreaking and powerful writing. Expect a link to a review soon! Finally, I met Ben Woon to catch The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, or the film that Thomas Docherty told us made him cry when he saw it. I can see why though, definitely caught myself starting to tear up during some scenes. There's just something about the mix of dry British humour and heartwarming storylines that makes for a very charming film. I don't mean that in the slightly condescending sense that 'charming' can be used these days (like 'quaint'); I just genuinely feel it's very appealing. Also nice to see a film that doesn't blatantly rely on the sex appeal of a youthful cast to sell itself (but the roguish Ronald Pickup was excellent), although I did enjoy Dev Patel's character. (Is he in danger of getting typecast though?) Definitely a film worth seeing if you haven't!

Episode 1344: Another Eunoia Review Milestone!

Still haven't written the review, but I did start reading for my EN954 essay. Have read Mark Doty's My Alexandria, which I enjoyed but don't think I'll be able to fit into my essay. Am now reading Paul Monette's West Of Yesterday, East Of Summer, but that doesn't contain the full sequence of Love Alone: 18 Elegies For Rog, so I've ordered a second-hand copy of that, which should hopefully be waiting for me when I get back to Warwick. (Many thanks to Hasan for helping to collect my post these past few weeks!) Once I finish the Monette, I'm going to read Thom Gunn's The Man With Night Sweats for the third time. In other news, Eunoia Review reached another milestone today, as I accepted a submission that takes the journal's queue of work till its second anniversary! It's been an interesting ride so far, the most recent incident being my realisation that prior to sending an e-mail submission, one writer apparently thought it was okay to send her submission as a Facebook message because she claimed she couldn't find how to submit to the journal on the WordPress site. It's a bit hard to believe, given that the site's navigation bar is uncluttered and happens to have a link labelled 'Submissions'. The irony? This writer must have put on her glasses or something, as she subsequently 'liked' the Submissions page. Was left genuinely perplexed by this one, not to mention that even in her e-mail, she seemed to assume that I was going to click to her blog to find other poems that I might want to publish, besides the single one that she pasted in the body of her e-mail. Sometimes, I do not understand what goes through the minds of writers.

Episode 1343: Semi-procrastination?

Haven't written the review, but I have finally done the synopsis to submit together with my novel extract to this competition I'm entering just for a lark, since there's no contest fee. Probably not the best of reasons to commit to potentially having to write a whole novel, but then again, why not, right? Anyway, in light of having done the synopsis, I might cut myself some slack and just do the review tomorrow instead. Have started reading Ryan Frawley's Scar as well, which I'm enjoying so far, although I'll try to get through a bit more before letting Craig know about planning a giveaway. It feels a bit like House Of Leaves and I'm basically a sucker for anything that's even vaguely like that novel. (Side note: I'm really excited that The Fifty Year Sword is finally being reissued by Pantheon. I think that novella was originally published in the Netherlands, hence extremely difficult to find, and prohibitively expensive to purchase once found anyway. Have already placed a pre-order through The Book Depository.) Next I'm going to start reading for my EN954 essay, the title of which I had to scroll through my Facebook Timeline to find. At least that's finally proved useful for something...

Episode 1342: WP Keeps Hougang

Haven't written the chapbook review and I'm watching Mirrors on TV now, so it's highly unlikely I'll be writing it tonight. Well, there's always tomorrow, right? My dad finally hooked the VCR back up to the TV yesterday, so I managed to finish watching the remaining episodes of Perfect Deception. I was right! Rebecca Lim's character was a clone! What I didn't expect was the second twist of her mother going nuts and trying to kill her. Anyway, today was the Hougang by-election, and boy were my friends and I wrong when we were predicting the WP's winning margin! I was personally expecting 55% or less for the WP, but I guess the PAP characteristically went for overkill in attempting to discredit the opposition candidate and it backfired, since he won with 62.09% of the vote. Now the really interesting question is whether this new guy will stand in Hougang again for GE 2016. I mean, I doubt it was his compelling personality that gave him such a big win this time. (By extension, I'll be waiting to see if the PAP guy stands for election again too.)

Episode 1341: Old Empire & Boon Tong Kee

Went for cell, and then met up with Claudia and Derrick for drinks at Old Empire, which was really easy to get to from church. Would've made it there sooner, except a 970 pulled away from the bus stop just as I was about to reach it, so I had to wait for the next one. (Could have taken 186 and walked a bit further, but that bus didn't turn up while I was waiting.) Tried this cider at Old Empire that tasted like mildly alcoholic apple juice, so I quite enjoyed that. Tsz San and Yvonne joined us as well, and we pretty much stayed till the place closed, and then walked a couple of minutes down the road for chicken rice. Think it might've been the first time that I've tried Boon Tong Kee. (I'm actually very unsavvy when it comes to major food places in Singapore.) The outlet was pretty upmarket on the inside, with quirky touches like construction paper for placemats and utensil wrappers. Was good to meet up with everyone again and catch up! Kind of hard to believe that it's been seven years since we graduated from RJC and that we're all in our mid-20s now.

Episode 1340: And Then Full Steam Ahead!

Have just finished the review for Rolli's God's Autobio and sent it off to James. This means that I'll definitely be able to get the chapbook review to Lindsey by Sunday, and it's about time I did that. I've had this chapbook since before Christmas! While procrastinating in the afternoon, I finally started reading The Hunger Games, since I realised that Natalie has the boxed set. I can definitely see why the trilogy's enjoying such wild success and being hailed as the new Twilight or the new Harry Potter. Not sure if I'm going to read it all before I go back to the UK though (only read the first chapter), just because I don't really feel like it would be the best use of my leisure reading time. Not trying to be snobbish here, just being practical. I'm sure if I wanted to find the trilogy back in the UK, all the local libraries would have it anyway, so I might as well spend my time on stuff I can't find as easily. Like all my issues of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, the latest of which arrived in the post yesterday. I'm still missing a few of the earliest issues of that because they're out of print, obviously.

Episode 1339: A Pause For Breath

So I finished reading God's Autobio before heading to my cousin's wedding dinner, and with one exception, I like all the stories in the collection. That exception is crucial though, as it's going to keep my review from being just effusive praise for Rolli's stories. Will probably aim to finish that review tomorrow, and then do the one for Nathan Thompson's chapbook on Friday. Ideally, that'll be the plan anyway. I'm giving myself till Sunday night to finish both reviews, and then I'm switching to focus on my academic work for a week. I'll still be reading stuff for reviews, probably Ryan Frawley's Scar since I need to let Craig know about doing a book giveaway for that, but I won't be trying to get any more reviews written until I've added more words to my dissertation. Have also offered to be part of the Submission Bombers Facebook experiment, but have sensibly specified that 'bombing' should only take place from September onwards. Knowing me, I'd be way too tempted to clear submissions to maintain my turnaround time, at the expense of doing any sort of academic work!

Episode 1338: Maintaining Momentum...

Finished Nathan Thompson's chapbook last night, and I think I've got the angle for my review figured out now, partly inspired by Rupert Loydell's blurb on the back cover. Am now alternating between reading God's Autobio and an issue of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern. Rolli's stories definitely read to me like stuff that would appear in McSweeney's, and I'm loving it so far. Definitely won't have problems writing the review for this one! (As for McSweeney's, I'm reading No. 11, a gorgeous black hardback with gold embossing, which feels like a very persuasive case for the continued existence of physical books.) Speaking of reviews, after I posted the link for yesterday's review to Facebook, Nick Sweeney, fellow Unthank Books' author, offered to print off a copy and send it along to Alan Brownjohn, as they know each other and Brownjohn's 'non-web-friendly', so to speak. That was a pleasant surprise, and I guess it would be sort of fun to hear back from Brownjohn and to find out his reaction to the review.

Episode 1337: Finally Wrote Another Review

Have written the review for Alan Brownjohn's The Saner Places: Selected Poems, and I'll post a link once Chloe's put the review up on The Cadaverine. I think it's the longest I've written so far, clocking in just shy of 1100 words. It went smoother than I was expecting though (see yesterday's post), so that was nice. Next review to write is probably Nathan Thompson's the day maybe died (tributes and torch songs) Imagining China, once I've reread it, or Rolli's God's Autobio, which I haven't read yet but have told James I'll review by the end of the month. I figure that if I can get some reviewing out of the way this week, I can do some academic work next week, before heading back to the UK. Think it'll have to be dissertation writing, just so that I can have some fresh material to show my supervisor the week after I get back. Edwin Thumboo hasn't replied to my e-mail of questions, but I kind of learnt what I wanted to find out about the anthology's genesis from quizzing one of the featured poets and one of the ladies involved in collating poems from the CAP participants, so I guess that's good enough. For me anyway, if not for my supervisor. Have to keep reminding myself that the point of my dissertation is not to get the anthology poets to dissect their poems!