{"product_id":"in-the-mirror-new-and-selected-poems-of-wong-phui-nam-9789813252868","title":"In the Mirror: New and Selected Poems of Wong Phui Nam","description":"\u003cb\u003eIn a complete collection of works by one of Malaysia's foundational poets, Wong confronts the struggles of cultural displacement.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The poetry of Wong Phui Nam is foundational to Malaysian literature in English. While his early work is often cited in this regard, this edited collection of his poetry and critical essays makes it clear that his lifelong trajectory as a poet and critic is of deep interest. \u003ci\u003eIn the Mirror \u003c\/i\u003eby Wong Phui Nam is a critical exploration of Malaysia's fractured post-colonial identity and literary landscapes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Like many of his English-speaking peers at the University of Malaya, by the 1960s, Wong became disillusioned with the stark contradictions of writing in a colonial language while striving to build or maintain a national literary tradition. In 1969, when Malaysia's national cultural policy firmly emphasized the primacy of the Bahasa Malaysian language over English, Wong proclaimed, \"I no longer wanted to write, at least not in a language I was told was a colonial leftover.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Over the years, however, he returned to poetry in English, often publishing privately. He came to believe that English was the language \"most capable of representing our predicament,\" given the spiritual and cultural vacuums left by colonialism's great ruptures in the region, and the ongoing neocolonial structure of the state and economy. His work challenges the reader to confront the realities of cultural displacement and the complexities of a multi-ethnic society grappling with its past and future. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This collection includes both recent works as well as some of his earlier achievements, starting with \u003ci\u003eHow the Hills are Distant, \u003c\/i\u003e and also includes a foreword linking Wong's work with contemporary literary work in the region. An afterword by Wong's contemporary, Singaporean literary pioneer Edwin Thumboo, completes the volume.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWong Phui Nam\u003c\/b\u003e (1935-2022) was a Malaysian poet. \u003cb\u003eDaryl Lim Wei Jie\u003c\/b\u003e is a poet, editor, translator, and literary critic. \u003cb\u003eBrandon Liew \u003c\/b\u003eis a writer and editor. He is currently a researcher at the University of Melbourne.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"National University of Singapore Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51749336383762,"sku":"9789813252868","price":51.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_dd49ccaf-f8f0-411f-9549-d07b84fb9027.jpg?v=1764077563","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/in-the-mirror-new-and-selected-poems-of-wong-phui-nam-9789813252868","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}