Jee Leong Koh

Jee Leong Koh is a poet, publisher, and the founder/organizer of Singapore Unbound.[1] He is Editor-In-Chief of Gaudy Boy, a press associated with Singapore Unbound and poetry editor of The Evergreen Review. He was raised in Singapore and currently lives in New York.[2]

Koh's work "uses the rigidity of form to contain poetry that otherwise knows no bounds: love, sex and selfhood are all exposed, and equally explored."[3]

Steep Tea was named a Best Book of the Year in 2015 by UK’s Financial Times.[4] It was also a finalist for the 28th Lambda Literary Awards in the Gay Poetry category.[5] The book engages with canonical female writers like Elizabeth Bishop and Eavan Boland while exploring "how being in a new place renders him critical of his past but also awakens his true identity."[6]

Sections from The Pillow Book, a collection of zuihitsu, have been anthologized in Starry Island: New Writing from Singapore.[7] The Pillow Book was also shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize.[8]

Books

  • Steep Tea (Carcanet Press, 2015)
  • The Pillow Book (Math Paper Press, 2012)
  • Seven Studies for a Self Portrait (Bench Press, 2011)
  • Equal to the Earth (Bench Press, 2009)
  • Payday Loans: Poems (2007)

References

  1. ^ "About". Singapore Unbound. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  2. ^ "Poet Jee Leong Koh had to leave Singapore to engage with it". The Straits Times. 2015-03-15. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  3. ^ "Cha: An Asian Literary Journal - Country of Origin/Point of Departure: Gilbert Koh's and Jee Leong Koh's Poetry". www.asiancha.com. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  4. ^ Crawford, Maria (2015-10-27). "Best books of 2015: Poetry". www.ft.com. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  5. ^ "Lambda Literary Awards Finalists Revealed: Carrie Brownstein, Hasan Namir, 'Fun Home' and Truman Capote Shortlisted". www.out.com. 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  6. ^ Huen, Antony (September 2015). "Cha: An Asian Literary Journal - On Arrival and Return: Jee Leong Koh and Collier Nogues". www.asiancha.com. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  7. ^ "Starry Island: New Writing from Singapore". UH Press. 2018-12-19. Retrieved 2020-05-20.
  8. ^ "Poet of the Week: Jee Leong Koh". Brooklyn Poets. 2015-10-19. Retrieved 2020-05-20.


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