When the Barbarians Arrive

by Alvin Pang

When the Barbarians Arrive comprises poems from three published collections—Testing the Silence (1997), City of Rain (2003) and What Gives Us Our Names (2011)—together with a body of new and uncollected poems by one of Singapore's most exciting and visible poets of the post-1965 generation.

Ranging from unsentimental love poems to sharply satirical writing and audacious medleys, here are poems wry and shrewd, intelligent and sensitive, generous and playful, yet full of paradox; poems that pry, celebrate and unsettle.

This is Alvin Pang's first full-length UK publication.

Genres: Poetry

96 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

About the author

Alvin PANG is a poet, writer, editor, anthologist, and translator. Writing primarily in English, his poetry has been translated into more than 20 languages, and he has appeared in major festivals and anthologies worldwide.

A Fellow of the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program (2002), his publications include Testing the Silence (1997), City of Rain (2003), What Gives Us Our Names (2011). The anthologies he has curated include No Other City: The Ethos Anthology of Urban Poetry (2000); Over There: Poems from Singapore and Australia (co-edited with John Kinsella, 2008), and Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore (Autumn Hill: USA, 2009). His most recent volumes of poetry, OTHER THINGS AND OTHER POEMS (Brutal:Croatia), Teorija strun ["String Theory"] (JKSD:Slovenia) and WHEN THE BARBARIANS ARRIVE (Arc Publications,UK), were published in 2012.

His latest book is WHAT HAPPENED: Poems 1997-2017.

Listed in the Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry in English (2nd Edition), Pang is a founding director of The Literary Centre – a non-profit initiative promoting interdisciplinary capacity, multilingual communication, and positive social change. Among other public engagements, he is on the board of the International Poetry Studies Institute, and the editor-in-chief of an internationally circulated public policy journal. Pang was named the 2005 Young Artist of the Year for Literature by Singapore’s National Arts Council, and was conferred the Singapore Youth Award (Arts and Culture) in 2007.

Reviews

[Hao Guang Tse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection seems positioned both as an introduction to the poet, for an international (English-speaking) audience, as well as a primer for local readers who haven't yet read him. On both counts, I believe it succeeds. Place references do not take the place of poetry, and personal reflections do not take on the caught-between-two-worlds anxiousness that a non-Singaporean reader with a passing interest in postcolonial theory might expect. A very worthy read.

[Kristine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

The first half started off strong and I could see myself giving a solid 4 at least but the second half didn't quite do it for me; maybe because I had already read some of the poems featured in City of Rain. Nothing quite comes close to that book so it does take a fair bit. I'd still recommend this really as Pang's poetry is beautiful.

[Ernest · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible - not a collection of original poems but a collection of very very good ones.

[Alessio]

I read this 12 years after its publication and it’s still a fresh, shrewd set of very solid poems. I really liked “Other Things”.

[S.B. Wright]

Review forthcoming.