11. Who are Jon Gresham’s favorite writers?
- Jon Gresham’s favourite Singaporean short story writers include:
- Amanda Lee Koe
Recommended reading: the Singapore Literature Prize winning Ministry of Moral Panic.
Her stories are full of energy and provocation. She is finding original ways to say things about Singapore. Every Park on This Island should be leveraged by National Parks to promote green spaces. Here is a wonderful story of hers, Why Do Chinese People Have Slanted Eyes? at Asymptote.
- Ng Yi Sheng
Recommended reading: Agnes Joaquim, Bioterrorist in Fish Eats Lion.
His stories are colourful and vivid. He has an exuberant, mischievousimagination. I wish he’d write more stories.
- Cyril Wong
Recommended reading: Ten Things My Father Never Taught Me.
In his latest collection there is a wonderful passage that highlights the intimacy, grace, wisdom and honesty of his writing: a five years old child, stands on a beach and his father holds him and blows sand from his eye.
- Dave Chua
Recommended reading: The Beating & Other Stories
Dave’s stories are cinematic, highly visual, subtle with wonderful evocative details e.g. The father teaching the son to glue glass from pounded beer bottles on to his kite string to sever the lines of other children’s kites in The Beating.”
- Stephanie Ye
Recommended reading: The Billion Shop
Stephanie did a wonderful and invaluable job editing my book of stories. She is also a talented writer. She has a beautiful whale story in QLRS. I can’t wait until her novel is published.”
- Alfian Sa’at
Recommended reading: Malay Sketches
Alfian is not a mere provocateur, with a focus on Malay and/or muslim minority issues: his Malay Sketches is a joy to read, full of profound insight and wonderful character studies.
- Jon also loves the stories ofJ D Salinger (A Perfect Day for Bananafish), Ian McEwan (First Love, Last Rites), Peter Carey (The Fat Man in History), Flannery O’Connor (A Good Man is Hard to Find), Haruki Murakami (On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl), John Cheever (The Swimmer), Etger Keret (Creative Writing), Alice Munro (Axis), Tessa Hadley (Experience), Jhumpa Lahiri (A Temporary Matter) and William Trevor (A Day).