Description
About the Author & Illustrator

In this book, you’ll find the annotated scripts of two acclaimed lecture performances written by Ng Yi-Sheng, exploring forgotten chapters of Singapore history. Ayer Hitam: a Black History of Singapore explores the history and influence of the African diaspora in Singapore over two hundred years. It trawls the archive for stories of slavery, colonialism, jazz and nationalist struggle, reaffirming the value of black culture in our shared heritage. Collaboratively created with Sharon Frese and Irfan Kasban for the M1 Fringe Festival, this work commemorates the black men and women—enslaved, indentured and expatriate—who crossed the oceans into unknown territory.

Desert Blooms: the Dawn of Queer Singapore Theatre traces the history of Singapore theatre from 1985 to 1995, revealing how LGBT representation first emerged and flourished on the local stage. Using excerpts of scripts, interviews and news articles, it reveals how the works of Russell Heng, Chay Yew, Eleanor Wong, Ovidia Yu, Haresh Sharma, Goh Boon Teck, Otto Fong, G Selvanathan and others were in dialogue with contemporary developments in HIV/AIDS, club raids and early activism.
Ng Yi-Sheng is a poet, fictionist, playwright, journalist and activist. He was awarded the Singapore Literature Prize for his debut poetry collection, last boy (2006). His other publications include a spiritual sequel to that work, called A Book of Hims (2017); a compilation of his best spoken-word pieces, Loud Poems for a Very Obliging Audience (2016); the bestselling non-fiction book, SQ21: Singapore Queers in the 21st Century (2006); and a novelisation of the Singapore gangster movie, Eating Air (2008). He also co-edited GASPP: A Gay Anthology of Singapore Poetry and Prose (2010) and Eastern Heathens: An Anthology of Subverted Asian Folklore (2013). He recently completed his MA in creative writing at the University of East Anglia and is currently pursuing his PhD at Nanyang Technological University. Lion City is his first fiction collection, published in 2018 by Epigram Books.

Farizwan Fajari, professionally known as Speak Cryptic, is an artist currently working and living in Singapore. Influenced by the visual language prevalent within the cultures of punk, underground music and being a Singaporean, Malay of Beweanese descent, he utilises personal iconographies along with a cast of characters that he has been developing over the years and applies them to various visual narratives inspired by his own observation on current affairs and his immediate enviroment.

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Plays

Black Waters, Pink Sands