It’s been three weeks since I arrived, slightly shellshocked at over 24h of travel–my United flight got delayed and I spent a night in Denver–to the Iowa House Hotel, shaking hands with over ten writers at the lobby, each from different countries, then, almost immediately after throwing my stuff in the room, rejoining them in the poet’s bar, IPA and cheeseburger in hand.

This is a first draft for a forthcoming anthology UnFree Verse.

I’m still alive, and somewhat kicking, and pleased to advertise several events and readings I’m part of.

Now that Deeds of Light has hatched, I will be slowing the update rhythm. The book’s got some positive reviews so far: two mentions by Ian Chung and Angus Whitehead in Singapore Poetry’s My Book of the Year 2015, brief comments by Alvin Pang in the Straits Times Bookends, and more informally, it’s made its way into Jason Lundberg’s top 10 poetry reads of the year.

I know little about photography, but I do know it’s a battle between darkness and light. Darren Soh’s new series-sequel, In the Still of the Night, brings this desperation to the surface.