Alvin Pang



Singapore Infopedia

Background

Alvin Pang (b. 1972, Singapore–) is part of the new generation of young Singapore poets who emerged in the 1990s.1 These new poets include Felix CheongAlfian Sa’at, Toh Hsien Min and Cyril Wong.2 For his contributions to Singapore’s literary and arts landscape, Pang received the National Arts Council’s Young Artist of the Year award for literature (2005), the Singapore Youth Award (Arts and Culture) (2007) and the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry Foundation Education Award (2008).3 He is one of a select few Singapore writers to be listed in the Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry in English (2nd Edition).

Early life
Born in 1972, Pang was raised by his Teochew grandparents, as both his parents were working. His father was a teacher and his mother a secretary. Left mainly on his own, Pang occupied his time with writing, drawing and reading. He excelled in his studies and was admitted to Raffles Institution, his father’s alma mater. There, Pang studied literature and wrote his first poem at the age of 13.4

Education
Pang won a scholarship for his preuniversity studies and pursued a course of study in the humanities at Raffles Junior College. Upon completing the GCE A-Level examinations, Pang received a Public Service Commission teaching scholarship to study at York University in the United Kingdom. It had been Pang’s desire to study abroad as he wanted to experience a different culture and lifestyle. During the course of his English language and literature undergraduate programme at York, Pang was inspired by the poetry of Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Seamus Heaney and Wallace Stevens. It was there that Pang met his wife, a fellow PSC scholar who was also studying language and literature.5

Career
After graduating with first-class honours in English literature in 1994, Pang returned to Singapore to begin his teaching career, first at Raffles Institution and later, Raffles Junior College. Today, in addition to writing poetry, Pang works as a teacher, columnist, book editor and webmaster. He is the founder and webmaster of The Poetry Billboard, an online literary website that showcases Singapore literature.6

Pang’s poems were first featured in an anthology of poetry, In Search of Words (1991), along with the poems of four of his contemporaries – Jeffrey Lim, Aaron Lee, Tong Jo-tsze and Kuan Wei Han.7 Since then, his poems have been featured in Singapore and international poetry books, newspapers and journals, such as Paper Tiger (Australia), English Review (UK)Interlogue: Studies in Singapore Literature and Rhythms: A Singaporean Millennial Anthology of Poetry.

Pang’s publications include the poetry collections Testing the Silence (1997) and City of Rain (2003), Other Things and Other Poems (Croatia, 2012), When the Barbarians Arrive (2012) and What Happened: Poems 1997–2017 (2017). He has also published collections of short prose including What Gives Us Our Names (2011) and Uninterrupted Time (2019).9 His poems are characterised as urban and cosmopolitan yet intimate in nature.10

His poetry has been translated and published into more than 20 languages including Croatian, Japanese, Macedonian and Swedish.11 Pang has also translated selected poems by Cultural Medallion recipient Yeng Pway Ngon from Mandarin into English.12 He was the curating editor of the pan-literary anthology Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore (2009). In 2013, his short fiction was selected as one of Epigram’s Best New Singapore Short Stories.

Participation in literary events
Pang has also been on the organising committees of literary events in Singapore, such as the Singapore Writers Festival in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003. In January 2004, he was a founding organiser of Wordfeast, the first international poetry festival in Singapore.13

Pang has represented Singapore at international literary forums, conferences and seminars. For instance, in 2002, he was chosen to attend the University of Iowa’s International Writing Programme, where he was conferred an honorary fellowship in writing.14 That same year, he was the featured poet in the highly regarded Atlanta Review. He represented Singaporean poets to Australia in 2001 and at the Austin International Poetry Festival in 2002.15 The following year, he was an invited poet at the Edinburgh International Book Festival,16 and in 2004 he was one of the Singaporean writers invited to attend the Citigroup Kuala Lumpur International Literary Festival in Malaysia.17

A keen advocate of Singapore literature, Pang promotes homegrown literary works and represented the Republic at London’s Poetry Parnassus event, which was part of the 2012 Olympic celebratory activities.18 In 2014, he was invited to speak on a panel at the Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference in Seattle and also took on a role as guest panellist at the 53rd Silliman University National Writers Workshop in the Philippines, one of Asia’s oldest creative writing workshops.19

Teaching
Pang continues to teach literature long after leaving his first teaching post at his alma mater and in 2015, taught poetry writing at Yale-NUS College. In 2020, Pang completed a PhD in writing at RMIT University.20

Works
Poetry
1997: Testing the Silence21
2003: City of Rain22
2011:What Gives Us Our Names23
2012:Other Things and Other Poems: New and Selected Poems, with Croatian translation24
2012:When the Barbarians Arrive25
2012:Teorija strun (String Theory) (Selected poems in Slovene translation)26
2015:När barbarerna kommer (Swedish translation of When the Barbarians Arrive)
2017:What Happened: Poems 1997–201727
2019:Uninterrupted Time28

Works in Translation
2010:The Poems of Yeng Pway Ngon – Vol 1: Rebellion29

Edited works
2000: Co-editor, No Other City: The Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry30
2000: Poetry editor, Rhythms: A Singaporean Millennial Anthology of Poetry31
2002: Co-editor, Love Gathers All: The Philippines-Singapore Anthology of Love Poetry Anthology32
2008: Over There: Poems from Singapore and Australia33
2009: Double Skin: New Poetic Voices from Italy and Singapore34
2009: Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore35
2015: Union: 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing From Singapore36



Authors
Nureza Ahmad and Michelle Heng



References
1. Ian Hamilton and Jeremy Noel-Tod, eds., The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), 468. (Call no. R 821.9109 OXF)
2. Ong Sor Fern, “City Lights Beckon Poets,” Straits Times, 11 May 2002, 18(From NewspaperSG)
3. “Alvin Pang (b. 1972): Biography,” Poetry.sg, 2016–2021.
4. Ronald D. Klein, ed., “Interviews,” in Interlogue: Studies in Singapore Literature, vol. 4, ed. Kirpal Singh (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2001), 338–81. (Call no. RSING 809.895957 INT)
5. Klein, “Interviews,” 338–81; P. P. Wong, “Alvin Pang Interview,” last accessed 24 September 2016.
6. Yugin Teo, “An Interview with Alvin Pang: Finding the Liminal Spaces in Singaporean Writing, Wasafiri, 31, no. 3 (2016): 59–65; Alvin Pang, “City of Rain,” in Idea to Ideal: 12 Singapore Poets on the Writing of Their Poems, ed. Felix Cheong (Singapore: Firstfruits Publications, 2004), 84. (Call no. RSING S821.009 IDE); “Alvin Pang,” The Poetry Billboard, last accessed 15 October 2021.
7. Pugalenthi, ed., In Search of Words (Singapore: VJ Times, 1991). (Call no. RSING S821 IN)
8. “Alvin Pang: Biography and Brief Introduction,” Post-colonial Web, 2003.
9. “Alvin Pang (b. 1972): Selected Publications,” Poetry.sg, 2016–2021.
10. Teo, “Interview with Alvin Pang,” 59–65; Nathalie Handal, The City and the Writer: In Singapore with Alvin Pang,” Words Without Borders Daily, Special Series/ Singapore 2015.
11. “Alvin Pang: Book A Writer/Our Writers,” Singlit Station, last accessed 23 June 2021.
12. Olivia Ho, “Acclaimed Chinese-Language Writer Yeng Pway Ngon Dies Aged 73,” Straits Times, 12 January 2021.
13. Felix Cheong, “Food for Thought,” Today, 15 January 2004, 32. (From NewspaperSG)
14. Leong Liew Geok, ed., “Alvin Pang,” in Literary Singapore: A Directory of Contemporary Writing in Singapore (Singapore: National Arts Council, 20110, 41. (Call no. RSING: 809.895957 LIT); Pang, “City of Rain,” 84.
15. Esther Au Yong, “Writers Go Down Under,” Straits Times, 23 June 2001, 17. (Fom NewspaperSG); Post-colonial Web, “Alvin Pang.”
16. Ong Sor Fern, “S’pore Poets Debut at Edinburgh Books Festival,” Straits Times, 16 August 2003, 5. (From NewspaperSG)
17. National Arts Council, “Singapore Traditional Arts Group and Writers in Overseas Showcases,” press release, 7 July 2004.
18. Mayo Martin, “Olympic Poet! Art HK 2012! Magnum Mentorship!Today, 18 January 2013.
19. Poetry.sg, “Alvin Pang (b. 1972): Biography.”
20. “Alvin Pang,” RMIT Australia, last accessed 13 October 2021.
21. Alvin Pang, Testing the Silence: Poems (Singapore: Ethos Books, 1997). (Call no. RSING S821 PAN)
22. Alvin Pang, City of Rain (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2003). (Call no. RSING S821 PAN)
23. Alvin Pang, What Gives Us Our Names (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2011). (Call no. RSING S821 PAN)
24. Alvin Pang, Druge Stvari I Ostale Pjesme: Izabrane Pjesme; Izbor I Prijevod S Engleskog, Serena Todesco I Silvestar Vrljić = Other Things and Other Poems: Selected Poems (Zagreb: Brutal, 2012). (Call no. RSING S821 PAN)
25. Alvin Pang, When the Barbarians Arrive (Todmorden: Arc Publication, 2012). (Call no. RSING S821 PAN)
26. Alvin Pang, Teorija Strun [String Theory] (Ljubljana: Javni sklad RS za kulturne dejavnosti - revija Mentor, 2012)
27. Alvin Pang, What Happened: Poems 1997–2017. (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2017). (Call no. RSING S821 PAN)
28. Alvin Pang, Uninterrupted Time (Canberra, ACT: International Poetry Studies Institute, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra, 2019). (Call no. RSING S828 PAN)
29. Ying Pei’An, Yeng Pway Ngon. Poems 1, Rebellion, trans. Alvin Pang and Goh Beng Choo (Singapore: The Literary Centre, 2010) (Call no. RSING 895.11 YIN)
30. Alvin Pang and Aaron Lee, eds., No Other City: The Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry, foreword by Dennis Haskell and afterword by Tay Kheng Soon (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2000). (Call no. RSING S821 NO)
31. Kirpal Singh and Wong Yoon Wah, eds., Rhythms: A Singapore Millennial Anthology of Poetry (Singapore: National Arts Council, 2000). (Call no. RSING S821 RHY)
32. Ramon C. Sunico, et al., eds., Love Gathers All: The Philippines-Singapore Anthology of Love Poetry (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2002). (Call no. RSING 821.00803543 LOV)
33. John Kinselle and Alvin Pang, eds., Over There: Poems from Singapore and Australia (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2008). (Call no. RSING 808.81 OVE)
34. Alvin Pang and Tiziano Fratus, eds., Double Skin: New Poetic Voices from Italy and Singapore (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2009). (Call no. RSING 808.81 DOU)
35. Alvin Pang, ed., Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore (Singapore: National Arts Council of Singapore, 2010). (Call no. RSING 808.8995957 TUM)
36. Alvin Pang and Ravi Shankar, eds., Union: 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing From Singapore (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2015). (Call no. RSING 821 UNI)



Further resources
Crystal Is Waiting (Singapore: VJ Times, 1991). (Call no. RSING S823 CRY)

Eddie Tay, “On Writing Poetry in Singapore,” Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, 1, no. 3 (April 2002).

Ong Sor Fern, “There’s Rhyme and Reason,” Straits Times, 3 October 1998, 2. (From NewspaperSG)

Ong Sor Fern, “Novel Year for Graphic Language,” Straits Times, 3 January 2004, L12. (From NewspaperSG)



The information in this article is valid as at 8 April 2021 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.


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