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Singaporean Novelist
Winner
of the
inaugural
Singapore
Literature
Prize
Latest news
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Books
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RICE BOWL
ISBN 981 204 099 4
Publisher:
Times Books International, Singapore, 1984;
New edition 2009 by Marshall Cavendish Singapore
Jacket Text:
Rice Bowl - A first novel from the first Singapore Literature Prize Winner.
It was a thrusting world out there - every man for himself, striving, straining towards a full rice bowl. Hunger to be assuaged. Mouths to be kept busy. Fresh into university, Marie's Gang of Four, daring to be different, involve themselves with social issues, breaking away from their ivory tower. Then, all too soon, they are swept up in a cycle of events and a clash of personalities that leave them tangled forever.
Rice Bowl is a powerfully written novel about the complexity of living and loving in Singapore, drawing into its boundaries the little explored areas of human relationships, threading its way through those tentative awakening emotions which now lie raw and exposed.
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GIFT FROM THE GODS
ISBN 9971 49 222 9
Publisher:
Graham Brash, 1991, Singapore
Jacket Text:
Set in Malaysia and Singapore, Gift From The Gods, is an earthy novel dealing with the lives and values of three women from three generations of the same family: grandmother Tai-ku, adopted daughter Yoke-lin, and granddaughter Yenti. Having given birth to a "worthless" girl, Yoke-lin is thrown out of the marital home and forced to work as a dance hostess to support her daughter. Later, she becomes the mistress of a businessman who needs a son to claim his share of the family inheritance. To retain her hold on him, Yoke-lin seeks the help of the medium of the Eight Immortals.
The climax of the story of the story takes place on isolated Ping Shan, where Yoke-lin undergoes a rigorous ritual of seduction in order to conceive a coveted son and heir - her gift from the gods.
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FISTFUL OF COLOURS
ISBN 981 248 012 9
Prize:
Awarded the inaugural Singapore Literature Prize, 1992
Publisher:
SNP International, Singapore, 1993, new edition in 2003. (SNP is now an imprint of Singapore Press Holdings, SPH Singapore.)
Jacket Text:
Suwen faces molestation and betrayal, which drives her to paint a controversial picture, and to leave Singapore for the small Malaysian town where her dream of becoming an artist first took root. Nica defies her father in pursuing art rather than medicine. In her quest to be her own person, she chooses to live with her companion, and expresses herself through her paintings and sketches. Janice seeks a destiny rooted in Singapore, and in doing so, rejects her father's firmly held beliefs and values. She leaves home to marry a Malay-Muslim journalist, breaking away from her father's influence.
Through family histories, the novel weaves a rich tapestry which celebrates the multi-ethnicity of Singapore and the socio-political milieu of her early immigrants.
Fistful of Colours is an elegant, multi-layered reflection of what it means to be Singaporean, through a single day in the life of Suwen, a young teacher struggling to define herself as a person and as an artist. In her search, she examines the rich history of her stepfather's family, and uncovers the many hopes and trials of Singapore's early immigrant community - from Chinese coolies and Malay waiters to Indian doctors, nobody is spared the consequences of changing times. Against this backdrop, Suwen's friends explore the themes of art, love, freedom and betrayal. Through Suchen Christine Lim's masterful storytelling and vibrant language, the Singapore of yesterday and today converge.
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A BIT OF EARTH
ISBN-981-232-123-3
Prize:
Shortlisted for Singapore Literature Prize 2004
Publisher:
Times Marshall-Cavendish, Singapore, 2001;
New edition 2009 by Marshall Cavendish Singapore
Jacket Text:
Malaya. A land of unparalleled richness. For centuries, the peninsula has attracted fortune hunters, money-grabbing pirates and migrants seeking a better life. Among those whose lives are rooted in the Malayan soil are three families - the Wongs, sons of the Chinese earth; the Wees, subjects of the English gods; the Mahmuds, scions of the Malayan soil - each with different dreams for the bit of earth they live on. Their destinies meet and this clash of hopes inevitably leads to tragedy.
In A Bit Of Earth, Suchen Christine Lim deftly weaves historical fact and a fiery imagination in a visually powerful multicultural story that spans three generations and four decades - proving once again that she's one of Asia’s leading fiction writers.
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THE LIES THAT BUILD A MARRIAGE:
Stories Of The Unsung, Unsaid & Uncelebrated In Singapore
ISBN-13: 978-981-05-8713-0
ISBN-10: 98105-8713-9
Publisher:
Monsoon Books, Singapore, 2007
Jacket Text:
A mother finds out her son is gay; a daughter finds out her two mothers are lesbians; a niece stumbles upon the body of her dead uncle dressed in his wife's sarung kebaya; and old man's nascent feelings for a Filipino maid lead him back to his suppressed art. Singapore Literature Prize-winning author Suchen Christine Lim delves beneath the island's prosperity and coded decorum to reveal genuine people facing diffcult issues that are normally strictly taboo. One by one, the characters chisel away the prejudice that surrounds them to sculpt a social acceptance of themselves and their circumstances.
Where To Buy:
Major bookstores in Singapore
www. monsoonbooks.com.sg
Email: phil@monsoonbooks.com.sg
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List of Other Works |
Play
The Amah: A Portrait in Black & White, co-authored with Ooi, Ophelia, in Le Blond, Max (ed.), Prize Winning Plays Vol. 1 NUS-SHELL Short Plays, National University of Singapore, 1986. Awarded Merit Prize, Singapore Short Play Competition, 1986.
Short Stories
- Gloria in Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language and Literature, pub International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM), Dec 2007
http://asiatic.iiu.edu.my or http://asiatic.iium.edu.my
- Christmas at Singapore Casket in The Straits Times, Dec 2003, Singapore.
- Ah Nah - An Interpretation in Westerly Vol 48 Nov 2003, Westerly Centre, University of Western Australia.
- Retired Rebel in Silverfish New Writing 3: An Anthology of stories from Malaysia, Singapore & Beyond pub. Silverfish, Kuala Lumpur, 2003.
- Tragedy of My Third Eye in Mukherjee, Dipita et al. (ed.), The Merlion & Hibiscus, Penguin India, 2002.
- Clash of the Clans in World Literature Today Vol. 74 No. 2, University of Oklahoma, Spring 2000.
- Two Brothers in Yamada, Teri Shafter (ed.), Virtual Lotus: Modern Fiction of Southeast Asia, University of Michigan, 2000
- Bandong in Leong, Liew Geok (ed.), More Than Half The Sky: Creative Writings by Thirty Singaporean Women, Times Books International Singapore, 1998
Non-fiction
Stories of the Overseas Chinese pub. SNP International, Singapore, 2005
Children’s Books
12 Big Books for Young Children: Granny, When My Baby Sister Came Home, Grandpa, Woo Won Ton, The Biggest Hongbao in the Whole Wide World, Roti Prata, Ants in a Hurry, Julius Fatball, Nanny Nanny Poo Poo, Cheep Cheep Cheep, The Hatching and Mano Made A Promise, pub by SNP Singapore & Ministry of Education, Singapore, 1990 |
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Copyright owned by Suchen Christine Lim. All rights reserved.
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Her works
