The Collected Poems of Arthur Yap

by Arthur Yap

Arthur Yap published four major collections of poetry: only lines (1971), commonplace (1977), down the line (1980), and man snake apple & other poems (1986); and contributed a section of poetry in the anthology Five Takes (1974). These five publications are now out-of-print. The Collected Poems of Arthur Yap gathers the entire corpus of Arthur Yap's poems, including his "vignettes" and other poems, in a single volume for the first time.

Genres: Poetry

268 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Arthur Yap Chioh Hiong (Chinese: 叶纬雄; pinyin: Yè WěiXióng; 1943–2006) was a Singaporean poet, writer and painter.

Arthur Yap was born in Singapore, the sixth child of a carpenter and a housewife. Yap attended St Andrew's School and the University of Singapore, after which he won a British Council scholarship to study at the University of Leeds in England. At Leeds Arthur earned a Master's degree in Linguistics and English Language Teaching, later obtaining his PhD from the National University of Singapore in the years after he returned from Leeds. He stayed on in the University's Department of English Language and Literature as a lecturer between the years 1979 and 1998. Between 1992 and 1996, Yap served as a mentor with the Creative Arts Programme run by the Ministry of Education to help inspire students and nurture young writers at local secondary schools and junior colleges. Yap was then diagnosed with lung cancer, and received radiotherapy treatment. Yap was known to be an intensely private man.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Yap

Reviews

[bobanbang · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhausting read due to the complexity and obscurity of Yap’s writing. But much like alcohol you gradually get used to it the more you read and learn to appreciate the sensory pleasures it offers (that is, if you don’t pass out from consuming too much). Mostly hits but also a few misses, which I would say are a result of my taste for more passionate verse.

[Andrew H · Rating 4 out of 5]

The critics have produced a Yap that is recondite and dull. In truth, these poems speak with intelligence and wit. Yap once wrote that poetry should be characterised by modesty. And his poems are written in that spirit - with humility and continual questioning into the human condition, "how the word swallows the world." Yap was a painter as much as poet and his poems have geometry, precision, and an eye for detail.

[Vera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am utterly shocked that there are no reviews of this riveting collection.

Well, I'm glad to be the first one since Arthur Yap is a tropical modernist in a class of his own. So glad to have read this.