Aztec Chili Hot Chocolate with Michele Koh

Michele Koh

Interview by Femke Tewari

That Michele Koh was meant for stardom become clear in her teens when she worked as a TV show presenter. Subsequently she worked as an editor and wrote and published her memoir Rotten Jellybeans in 2007. We particularly love the twisted endings of her stories in the Love and Lust in Singapore anthology.

FT            Can you tell us a little about your background?

MK            I’ve been writing and editing for lifestyle, travel and trade magazines for 14 years and was a TV show presenter with TCS and SBC as a teen. My last full-time job was as an editor for I-S and Where Singapore magazine. I am currently freelancing in Boston and working on my second book, an anthology of short urban fiction. My first book “Rotten Jellybeans” is a 200-page memoir that was published by London publishing house, Chipmunkapublishing in 2007.

FT            When/how did you start to write?

MK            I was working as an assistant to a well-known caricaturist in Singapore back in 1997. We did a very unusual revamp of the office which included painting the shelves, computer monitor, cabinets and walls with bright colours and animal motifs. An interior design magazine wanted to feature the office and I offered to write-up the piece.  That was my first published article. I was 18 at the time and I’ve been working as a writer every since. In 2004, I went to London to do a journalism degree. I set up a blog which caught the eye of Jason Pegler, the CEO of Chipmunkpublishing. He sent me a contract and in 8 months, I produced a manuscript of short essays that poetry that I had begun working on in 1996.

FT            Where do you find inspiration?

MK            In the people I meet and especially those who I don’t like or don’t understand. And from some of the ridiculous situations I get myself into.

FT            Who are your favorite writers?

MK            John Fowles, Charles Bukowski, Kim Edwards, Charles Baxter, Philip Roth, Carol Joyce Oates, John Irving, Haruki Murakami, Ben Okri.

FT What is your favorite book?

MK            The Magus by John Fowles

FT            Can you give us a little teaser about your story in the anthology?

MK            In “Shoebox” soon-to-be divorcee Rick takes an honest look at how he truly feels about women. “Swans Out of Water” is a story about an elderly couple who come to terms with the trappings of marriage, infidelity and death.

Long, Chilled White Wine Spritzer with Dawn Farnham

Dawn Farnham

Interview by Femke Tewari

Globetrotter Dawn Farnham took Singapore by storm with her historical novel ‘The Red Thread’. She has since published a sequel, and is working on her third to complete her trilogy. Her short stories are different and hilarious.

FT            Can you tell us a little about your background?

DF            I grew up in Perth as a ‘sandgroper’, as Western Australians are called by the rest of Oz. We were lucky, the kids of my generation, loads of sunshine and freedom. Went off to London to work at barely seventeen. Seems unthinkable today but quite normal in the Sixties. Met and married Roger, a journalist, and did tons of travelling in Europe. Through his job with Reuters we lived in France for a long time and all over Asia. I taught English at the French School in China, and the British Council in Seoul, Korea, learned Japanese in Tokyo and raised two daughters.

FT            When/how did you start to write?

DF            Seriously, in Singapore.  Children grown up so had free time. I became a guide with the Friends of the Museums and wrote articles for their magazine.  My first book, The Red Thread, a historical novel, grew out of guiding the wonderful Peranakan Museum here in Singapore.

FT            Where do you find inspiration?

DF            Places are inspirational I find. Obviously, for the historical fiction, the inspiration was the museums and the streets and stories of Singapore. An Asian-inspired children’s book will be out very soon too. I have finished a detective novel set in Perth and loved writing that.

But people can challenge and inspire you too.  I need challenges and am currently working on a horror/suspense novelette set on a remote Australian island for an indie publisher in Perth.  And I was inspired to write for this anthology, and in a totally different genre – erotica – by Caz Goodwin.

FT            Who are your favourite writers?

DF            Perenially hard question.  Joseph Conrad is a great favourite, especially in this region. I love his flow, his prose, his sheer greatness in storytelling. But I like a huge variety of writing from Ed McBain and Raymond Chandler, the ‘Noir’ American detective writers, via Shakespeare and Jane Austen, to Chinese Tang poets!

FT            What is your favourite book?

DF            Another really difficult question. I like too many books. How can I pick one?

FT            Can you give us a little teaser about your story in the anthology?

DF            There are three stories in the anthology. One of them, ‘I Got You Babe’ is definitely inspired by the ‘noir’ genre and in this and in ‘Breaking Glass’, the heroines are pretty ‘hard-boiled’. ‘Filial Piety’, however, tells a story of a completely different woman who has sacrificed her life to duty until someone unexpected turns up on her doorstep and changes her life forever.

A Cuppa Coffee with Felix Cheong

Felix Cheong

Interview by Femke Tewari

A literary multi-talent, Felix has written poetry, detectives, short stories, plays and essays. His most recent volume of verse Sudden Youth: New and Selected Poems, was published in 2009. We are naturally very proud to have him as one of the contributors to our Love and Lust in Singapore anthology.

FT Can you tell us a little about your background?

FC   I was born in Singapore, almost at the same time as Singapore. I’m a late bloomer as a writer in that my first book of poetry was only published in 1998. I’ve since played catch-up and published another seven books! I was in the television industry for 11 years and currently earn my keep as a freelance reporter and adjunct lecturer.

FT When/how did you start to write?

FC   I wrote my first poem, as with most poets, to impress a classmate in junior college on whom I had a crush. It was a painfully pathetic poem that didn’t manage to woo her (“poetry makes nothing happen”, as W.H. Auden once advised us)!

FT Where do you find inspiration?

FC   That’s the most misunderstood thing about writers, that we’ve one identifiable ‘inspiration’. I draw my inspiration everywhere, within and without. It can be observing two teens playing with a lighter on the MRT, which eventually saw light as a poem, “Father and Son”. It could be a rhythm that runs through my head, such as the poem “Tick Tock”. But certain themes obsess me – writing, love and God, and how they find resonance and reasons in each other.

FT Who are your favorite writers?

FC   I’m promiscuous in that at different stages of my life, I owe my allegiance to different writers. I’ve run the gamut from Shakespeare to John Donne, from Mario Vargas Llosa to Gabriel Garcia Marquez, from Haruki Murakami to Chuck Palahniuk. They’re all my literary ancestors.

FT What is your favorite book?

FC   I’ll be dishonest if I didn’t say “Sudden in Youth: New and Selected Poems” by Felix Cheong!

FT Can you give us a little teaser about your story in the anthology?

FC   It’s a story about loss, about looking back and wondering where and when did you lose your way.

A Hot Barley Drink with O Thiam Chin

O Thiam Chin

Interview by Femke Tewari

Many literary magazines and anthologies have published O Thiam Chin’s stories. He also just published his second book of short stories called Never Been Better, and still he remains humble and had time to write a story for the Love and Lust in Singapore anthology.

FT Can you tell us a little about your background?

OTC I live in Ang Mo Kio where I set most, if not all, of my stories. I know every part of its geography like the back of my hand, and one day, in the vein of Sherwood Anderson’s classic story-collection ‘Winesburg, Ohio’, I want to write a book that pays tribute to the housing estate that I was born in and grew to love, and the people who live there that give it vibrant life.

FT When/how did you start to write?

OTC I’m a late bloomer when it comes to writing. I only started writing fiction in 2005. I didn’t attend any writing workshop or pick up any book about fiction writing. All the learning and knowledge I needed for my writing came from all the good books that I had read. Thinking back, I’m not sure how I came to the decision to be a fiction writer; I just felt the compulsion to write, and I did. The rest is history.

FT Where do you find inspiration?

OTC Usually I draw inspiration from good stories that I read, one that shows a new way to say something that has been said so many times before, bringing new eyes, new understanding, to the complexities of human existence, of love.

FT Who are your favorite writers?

OTC Raymond Carver, Mary Gaitskill, George Saunders, Michael Cunningham, Haruki Murakami, just to list a few of my literary heroes. I pick up a new bunchful of favorite writers every year, so my list goes on and on.

FT What is your favorite book?

OTC None. Too many to pick a favorite. But any book from the aforementioned writers is a favorite of mine.

FT Can you give us a little teaser about your story in the anthology?

OTC I bring a fresh, new perspective to the meaning of ‘desperate housewife’ with my own rendition of a lonely housewife who comes to term with her sexuality through her observations, maybe obsession, of a new tenant.

Crushed Mint and Lime Mojitos with Marc Checkley

Marc Checkley

Interview by Femke Tewari

A real adventurer, Marc’s bio reads like anyone’s dream life, and it’s hard to think of something in media he hasn’t done. We’re glad that despite his busy schedule, he’s been able to write a story for our collection.

FT Can you tell us a little about your background?

MC    I’m 33, a writer, media producer and performer, from New Zealand. I first came to work in Singapore ten years ago. Was here till 2004, then returned to Auckland. Worked as a travel writer and radio journalist for a while, then went to Beijing and lead the China Daily’s online Olympic media team. After that stint I returned to Singapore in late 2008. I’m currently working as an editor and freelance writer/photographer – amongst other things.

FT When/how did you start to write?

MC    When I was about six years old my parents got me a tape recorder. This began a period of me writing my own radio plays, which I would then perform. I wasn’t a consistent writer, but when a thought jumped into my head I’d write it down. Screen-writing ended up as one of my majors at film school. Then, a few years ago, I became a journalist and made writing/reporting my life. I currently have three story ideas ticking over, two of them are dark kids tales and the other one is so graphically horrific even a teaser would give you nightmares!

FT    Where do you find inspiration?

MC    I’m quite a visual and aural person and many of my ideas come from situations I see, hear and experience everyday. Listening to music can also ignite inspiration – if you ever need to get melancholy, play Thomas Newman! I’m also a photographer and I use some of my photos to ground a scene or situation, I tend to see my stories through a lens. The story in the anthology is actually a collection of experiences from my ‘first life’ in Singapore.

FT            Who are your favourite writers?

MC    Like my interests, my fav writers are also quite eclectic. I enjoy the stories of New Zealand writer Maurice Gee (an amazing man and writer who I was fortunate enough to interview a few years back), and also the dark tales weaved by Christopher Rice. I’m also a fan of Roald Dahl, Michael Crichton and David Mitchell.

FT What is your favourite book?

MC    Just one? I’ll give you three favs: The B.F.G, A Density of Souls and Night Race to Kawau.

FT Can you give us a little teaser about your story in the anthology?

MC    Sometimes our secrets are never secret at all, if only time allowed us to retrace our steps.

English Breakfast Tea with Claire Ellis

Claire Ellis

Interview by Femke Tewari

Claire’s contribution to the anthology is a beautiful, heartfelt story that almost moved me to tears. Here’s more on the person behind the writing…

FT      Can you tell us a little about your background?

CE      I was born in Lincolnshire on the East coast of England and had a wonderfully free outdoors lifestyle in the countryside.  My family moved to Aberdeen on the East Coast of Scotland when I was 7 and it was there that I went to school and later worked as a model and in the health sector.  In 2000 I moved to Singapore, got engaged, got married and flew long haul 14 times that year!  We spent one year of cheese, ham, bread and wine heaven in Paris, France and have been back in Singapore for the past 6 years. “This is my home, truly,…”as the song goes.

FT            When/how did you start to write?

CE      I learnt to read at a young age and when I was 8 I told my teacher that I wanted to write a book.  I then penned “Willie the Worm”, since lost.  My poems and short stories appeared in my School’s yearbooks and I took part in poetry writing/recitals in my early teens.  I have been attempting to write a novel on and off for the past 10 years.  My Auntie tells me I’ve always written great thank you letters!

FT            Where do you find inspiration?

CE      Definitely in the people I meet.  I have had a varied life and being an expat here gives me the opportunity to meet a very wide range of people – expats from many countries and all sorts of backgrounds and the mix of local races that make up Singapore.

FT            Who are your favorite writers?

My reading takes me everywhere.  Right now I’m reading Dan Brown’s Lost Symbol, a quick paced thriller, and re-reading India Knight’s Life on a Plate for its humour and resonance.  I love The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns as Khaled Hosseini was able to make me feel such emotion for the characters.  I do like a bit of chicklit and have enjoyed Wendy Holden, Sophie Kinsella, Kathy Lette and Tasmina Perry.

FT      What is your favorite book?

CE      I don’t have a favourite book that stands head and shoulders above the rest but I like Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert as it is a book full of hope and I have a soft spot for the humourous About a Boy by Nick Hornby.

FT      Can you give us a little teaser about your story in the anthology?

My story is on the theme of love.  It is part of a woman’s journey desperately wanting something she can’t have and continuing that journey despite the pain and risk it entails.

Chai Latte with Jacyntha England

Jacyntha England

Interview by Femke Tewari

After teaching adventures in exotic places, Jacyntha flocked to Singapore to inspire students of the city state. She is also the creative coordinator of the ANZA writers group, and we’re lucky enough to include her writing in our anthology. Here’s some insight into the person behind the myth.

FT            Can you tell us a little about your background?

JE            I come from Vancouver, Canada, and have been teaching overseas for several years.  I have taught in Thailand, Tanzania and Kazakhstan before Singapore.  Teaching is my true calling, as I still believe it has the power to change lives and make a difference, no matter how small.  I hope I never stop believing this, as my inspiring students from around the world have kept me young and healthy!  I am also an active writer and theater practitioner.  I have published poems and short stories in Canadian magazines and journals, and have performed and directed community theater in every country I’ve lived in – this is a great way to meet people and contribute something positive!

FT            When/how did you start to write?

JE            I have been writing since I was a child, as I always had crazy ideas about what I saw around me.  I used to tell these to my mother, but I think I quite exhausted her so she bought me a small journal to write in.  I’ve kept a journal with me ever since!

FT            Where do you find inspiration?

JE            I love to observe people in their daily actions, to overhear tidbits of conversation – and to create new stories or situations from what I see.  My favorite way to spend a few hours is to sit quietly in a café or busy public space and write about the people and incidents happening around me.  As I travel constantly, the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of new places is also a huge inspiration for me, as I want to write in a way to make these places familiar to others.

FT            Who are your favorite writers?

JE            I love contemporary writers who really challenge my ideas about content, form or style.  Great Canadian writers like Michael Ondaatje, Alice Munro, Anne Michaels do this, as do Junot Diaz, Jay McIrney and David Eggars.  My good friend from Vancouver, Rhonda Waterfall, has just published a collection of short stories called “All That I Have” – I am so proud of her and love her writing too!

FT            What is your favorite book?

JE            A book I always return to for inspiration is Anne Michaels’s Fugitive Pieces.  As I am interested in writing about collective memory and cultural dislocation, this book never fails to give me a new perspective or appreciation of how to do this.  Of course, Anne Michaels does it much better than I could ever hope to!

FT            Can you give us a little teaser about your story in the anthology?

JE            The story is an exploration of two unalike characters, from opposite ends of the world and life, meeting in unusual circumstances.  What “baggage” do we all carry with us, no matter how far we travel?  What can be said or unsaid between people, and how can a stolen moment between strangers be something both meaningful and beautiful?  I think my story tries to explore these questions through the interactions between its characters.

Oolong Tea with Damyanti Ghosh

Damyanti Ghosh

Interview by Femke Tewari

We are grateful that Damyanti will contribute two of her stories to the Love and Lust anthology. Here’s a little insight into her background and interests.

FT            Can you tell us a little about your background?

DG      I’ve been writing as a freelance writer for various magazines and journals for the past few years. I’m also the editor of the fashion section of lifeinitaly.com.

FT            When/how did you start to write?

DG      As a teen, I started writing letters to my family, which grew long and detailed with descriptions of places I’d been to, people I met and stuff I’d done. I went on to do a graduation with Honours in English literature, but then lost touch with writing. When I first came to KL and Singapore about ten years later, my husband encouraged me to write for journals. I also attended the Silverfish Writing Program. Then, I came across Sharon Bakar’s writing course in 2008, which really set me off writing fiction in earnest.

FT            Where do you find inspiration?

DG      Simple physical activities like walking down the road, cooking, gardening, or doing the laundry often trigger a fully-formed line in my head. It usually sticks, and then I take a notebook and worry that line and tug at it, till a story emerges, like a yarn coming undone from knitting.

FT            Who are your favorite writers?

DG      Too many to name, I think, also since I read across genres. My favorite writers change with the seasons, with the years. Names that come to mind, in no particular order:  Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Margaret Atwood, Gao Xinjian, Ishiguro, Haruki Murakami, Jhumpa Lahiri, Rabindranath Tagore, Emile Zola, Dostoyevsky, Tolstoy, Roald Dahl, Tolkien, Virginia Woolf, Franz Kafka, Jean-Paul Sartre, Earnest Hemingway, Steven King, Toni Morrison. But these are only a few.

FT            What is your favorite book?

DG      My favorite book at the moment is Sashi Warrier’s “The Hangman’s Journal”. As a teen, I loved “The Tale of Two Cities”. Anna Karenina, Nana, Lolita, The Idiot have been other favorites over the years.

FT            Can you give us a little teaser about your story in the anthology?

DG      An excerpt from one of my stories in Love and Lust Singapore:

Melvin does not like to be touched. Everyone in his office knows that and keeps away. He shies away from shaking hands with others. Even the software firm’s burly project manager, Patrick, or Pat as he likes to be called, with a pony tail and a tendency to slap people on the back, holds back from Melvin. So Melvin is startled when a soft hand, softer than his mother’s, touches his shoulder. He swivels his chair around.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year and a belated Merry Christmas.

Many people will be happy to say goodbye to 2009, for many reasons. I’d just like to dwell on two things that I’m grateful for that occurred last year. First, I found love and married an incredible woman in December. Second, Femke, Caz and I began collating this short story anthology. Two great reasons to celebrate.

2010 will be an amazing year.

This Love and Lust anthology will be published. We’re really close now to completing the first stage of the editing process. I think all three of us have been surprised at how long it has taken but our various flight paths in and out of Singapore have meant we’ve had to reschedule a lot of our meetings.

So, look for some new features over the next few weeks. We’ll be putting up more details and interviews with our writers. We’ll even be putting up snippets from stories that we hope will whet your appetite., so stay tuned and keep the faith.

Joseph Hoye.

GUEST BLOG – Damyanti Ghosh

Big thanks to guest blogger Damyanti for her contribution. Read on…

All libraries in the world have a few sections dedicated to love. If not a few sections, then a few shelves. If not shelves, at least a few books. I’m not sure there is any library in the world that does not contain a book on love, in some shape or form, either fiction or non-fiction. That being the case, a collection of stories on love may sound a little overdone, one of those books gifted to people who tend to think in terms of greeting card emotions.

But the editors of this anthology have added an interesting element, or should I say two?

One, they have added the aspect of “lust”, which contains the same number of words as the word “love”, but is an entirely different beast. All too often, lust is mistaken for love, and we all know where that can take us.

The second element is Singapore. In naming their collection, “Love and Lust in Singapore”, the editors have thrown open the possibility of exploring highly unpredictable emotions like love and lust in a country where everything is regimented, albeit subtly. In my years in Singapore, this city-nation seemed a tiny tropical human hothouse, where each leaf on each tree looked as if it were designed to be there.

So the very title, “Love and Lust in Singapore” comes with a lot of promise.

On Valentine’s day, I’ve seen Singaporean couples crowding shopping malls, the slight young men carrying the weight of the bouquets and teddy bears they’ve given their manicured and precisely coiffed girlfriends.

But the editors of this anthology are looking beyond the commercialisation of love and its expression, and in this collection I hope to see what I like best in short stories, a certain quirkiness, a willingness to see life in all its aspects, the beautiful and the not-so-beautiful, and last, but not the least, an unfettered ride of imagination.