What a week. One of my favourite writers, Nicholson Baker , was on the panel too together with the talented Agnes Chew and Diana Rahim.
Nicholson Baker was warm and generous. We talked about photography and he mentioned how his father once had a Rolleiflex. I have to go back to work to feed the family soon - before then I will try to write as much as possible. This must make Charlie Chan the most critically successful Singaporean book of the 21st century. The hope is that this success leads to greater interest in other Singaporean writers and artists. It was quite an occasion. The room was packed. Even Sonny turned up half way through.
This is not an exhaustive list of topics discussed. The layered depth and richness of the book leaves a reader with much more to think about. I hope to be a little more regular over the coming few months. Any suggestions or questions just yell.
Cheers Jon. Just a heads up on my To Do List for the next few months. View more on Jon Gresham's website Β». The development of Singlit from allegories of national identity, post colonial expatriate Singaporean paeans to nostalgia and home, through to more individual stories of excluded minority identities and now to the outer reaches of historiographic metafiction. Charlie Chan explores this theme with a protagonist who is passive in the face of the State - but resilient in his quiet pursuit of his art.
It is in acts of the imagination that the protagonist finds agency, despite the lack of material and public success this brings.
