Book A Writer / Our Writers

ABOUT

Daryl Lim Wei Jie is a poet and critic, who studied history with a focus on intellectual history and political thought. His first collection of poetry, A Book of Changes, was published in 2016. He is the co-editor of Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet (2020), the first definitive anthology of literary food writing from Singapore. His latest collection of poetry is Anything but Human, which was selected as a "Book of the Year" in Singapore Unbound's "My Book of the Year 2021". His work won him the Golden Point Award in English Poetry in 2015.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• 2016 – A Book of Changes (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2016)

• 2020 – Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet (Singapore: Landmark Books, 2020), co-editor

• 2021 – Anything but Human (Singapore: Landmark Books, 2021)

ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2015 – Golden Point Award, First Prize (English Poetry)

TALKS

HISTORY AND POETRY:
A GUIDED FIELD TRIP TO REFLECTIONS @ BUKIT CHANDU
For: upper sec, junior college; 15-25 pax
Availability: 2.5hrs per session; single session
Description: Take a journey to the Reflections at Bukit Chandu museum, which commemorates the bravery and actions of the Malay Regiment in the Battle of Pasir Panjang during the Second World War in Singapore. Thereafter, engage with poems by Singaporean authors that engage with these pivotal moments in Singapore's history, and discuss their significance. This is a session that will bridge poetry and history, and bring this historic event -- and the sacrifices of the soldiers to life!
Learning outcomes: Deeper appreciation of Singapore's history; a better understanding of the motivations and significance of poetry that engages with historical events

WORKSHOPS

HISTORY AND POETRY
For: upper sec, junior college; 15-25 pax
Availability: 2-3 hours per session; single session
Description: History seems to be the domain of fact, and the intellectual inquiry of things past, where the pursuit of objectivity seems paramount. Poetry and literature seem to be domains of subjective perception, emotion and feeling. Where then, do they productively meet? 
Learning Outcomes: how to identify the split between subjective and objective points of view; understand how history can be understood as literature, and vice versa; write practical criticism and creative writing.

WHAT IS SINGAPORE POETRY?
For: upper sec, junior college; 15-25 pax
Availability: 2-3 hours per session; single session
Description: At some point in Singapore's literary history, the phrase "Singapore Poetry" (as opposed to "Singaporean" Poetry or "Poetry from Singapore") emerged. poetry.sg, a website launched in 2015, claims to be "a home of Singapore poetry". This workshop hopes to critically examine the boundaries of what constitutes "Singapore poetry", both through a theoretical, Socratic discussion and also through the reading of various "Singapore" poems, historical (and pre-Singaporean) and also current.
Learning Outcomes: how to enact critical thinking and utilise investigative and analytical skills; how to read poetry with a temporal and spatial lens.

*NEW* HOW TO START WRITING A POEM 
For: upper sec, junior college; 15-25 pax
Availability: 2-3 hours per session; single session
Description: Poetry may seem a daunting artifact of high culture, but there are ways to get started writing poetry, even if one doesn't consider oneself a poet or writer. This workshop aims, through unusual prompts and simple exercises, to help all participants unlock the poetic impulses inherent in all of us, and start writing poetry.  
Learning Outcomes: to understand how a poem is constructed and how poets start up their creative processes; to deal playfully and creatively with language, and to unlock poetic and aesthetic impulses; to better appreciate poetry from the perspective of a writer, rather than a reader.  

*NEW* WRITING ABOUT FOOD
For: upper sec, junior college; 15-25 pax
Availability: 2-3 hours per session; single session
Description: Food is an obsession for many Singaporeans, yet much of food writing in Singapore is functional, descriptive and pedestrian. Conducted by the co-editor of Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet, Singapore's first definitive anthology of literary food writing, this class will teach participants how to approach food and their experiences with food creatively, and to write poetry or prose relating to food, through simple exercises, photographic and other prompts, and through encounters with pieces of literary food writing.
Learning Outcomes: to understand how food and food experiences can be approached creatively; to better understand the perspective of the food writer; to engage in creative writing about food and food experiences; to critically understand creative food writing