Books from Singapore Publishers

Amanda Lee Koe (Delayed Rays of a Star) made her mark with this debut collection of short fiction, with tales as colourful as their characters.Meet an over-the-hill pop yé-yé singer with a faulty heart; two conservative middle-aged women holding hands in the Galápagos, and the proprietor of a Laundromat with a penchant for Cantonese songs of heartbreak. Find out the truth about racial riot fodder-girl Maria Hertogh, now living out her days as a chambermaid in Lake Tahoe; a mirage of the Merlion as a ladyboy working Orchard Towers; and a high-stakes fantasy starring the still-suave lead of the 1990s TV hit serial, The Unbeatables.Ministry of Moral Panic is an extraordinary collection and the introduction of a revelatory new voice. Heartfelt and sexy, the stories of Amanda Lee Koe encompass a skewed world fraught with prestige anxiety, moral relativism, sexual frankness, and the improbable necessity of human connection. Told in strikingly original prose, these are stories that plough the possibilities of understanding Singapore and her denizens.

This book could be a good read for you if you enjoy offbeat and unconventional stories that satirize societal norms. With its collection of quirky tales, Ministry of Moral Panic delves into the absurdities and clashes of different cultures, offering a fresh perspective on the human experience. Readers will be drawn to its thought-provoking narratives that challenge traditional ideas, making it a captivating and unique read.

Meet an over-the-hill Pop Yé-yé singer with a faulty heart, two conservative middle-aged women holding hands in the Galápagos, and the proprietor of a Laundromat with a penchant for Cantonese songs of heartbreak. Rehash national icons: the truth about racial riot fodder-girl Maria Hertogh living out her days as a chambermaid in Lake Tahoe, a mirage of the Merlion as a ladyboy working Orchard Towers, and a high-stakes fantasy starring the still-suave lead of the 1990s TV hit serial The Unbeatables.Heartfelt and sexy, the stories of Amanda Lee Koe encompass a skewed world fraught with prestige anxiety, moral relativism, sexual frankness, and the improbable necessity of human connection. Told in strikingly original prose, these are fictions that plough, relentlessly, the possibilities of understanding Singapore and her denizens discursively, off-centre. Ministry of Moral Panic is an extraordinary debut collection and the introduction of a revelatory new voice.

This book could be a good read for anyone who loves poetry and is open to exploring the beauty and fluidity of language. Parsetreeforestfire breaks free from the conventional idea of language learning books and offers a unique perspective by blending Singlish and English poems. It challenges readers to delve into the intense attention to language and invites them to question the boundaries of language itself. If you're looking for an unconventional and thought-provoking poetic experience, this book is for you.

Meet an over-the-hill Pop Yé-yé singer with a faulty heart, two conservative middle-aged women holding hands in the Galápagos, and the proprietor of a Laundromat with a penchant for Cantonese songs of heartbreak. Rehash national icons: the truth about racial riot fodder-girl Maria Hertogh living out her days as a chambermaid in Lake Tahoe, a mirage of the Merlion as a ladyboy working Orchard Towers, and a high-stakes fantasy starring the still-suave lead of the 1990s TV hit serial The Unbeatables.Heartfelt and sexy, the stories of Amanda Lee Koe encompass a skewed world fraught with prestige anxiety, moral relativism, sexual frankness, and the improbable necessity of human connection. Told in strikingly original prose, these are fictions that plough, relentlessly, the possibilities of understanding Singapore and her denizens discursively, off-centre. Ministry of Moral Panic is an extraordinary debut collection and the introduction of a revelatory new voice.

Ministry of Moral Panic could be a good read for someone who is interested in unconventional, thought-provoking stories that explore the complexities of Singaporean culture and society. The book's unique and distinctive feature is its use of moral ambiguity and frank exploration of sexual themes. Readers may appreciate the way author Amanda Lee Koe challenges traditional notions of morality and societal norms.

This fifth issue of LONTAR presents speculative writing from and about Singapore, the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand.Inside these pages, you’ll find: an ancient and fatal karmic reunion in Jakarta by award-winner Gord Sellar; the true origin of the Merlion by Singapore Literature Prize winner Amanda Lee Koe; a young man's literal transformation into an island by award-winner Ng Yi-Sheng; a far-future Malaysian fairy tale by Kawika Guillermo; a gentle aquatic apocalypse from novelist Erica Verrillo; an enlightening visit with a forest monk in northern Thailand by Italian journalist Massimo Morello; a comic on the price of technological hubris by Benjamin Chee; and speculative poetry from Tania De Rozario, Joel Donato Jacob, Lee Jing-Jing, Daryl WJ Lim, Christina Sng and Sokunthary Svay.LONTAR is the world’s only biannual literary journal focusing on Southeast Asian speculative fiction.