Tilting Our Plates To Catch The Light

Curator’s note

Here’s a confession: we don’t always understand poetry. Yet Cyril Wong’s collection of poems managed to pull us in, as his masterfully crafted words weave a connective line through the pages of the book. An understanding of orchestral music might be needed to fully understand the nuances in this poetry collection, but our lack of said knowledge didn’t stop Cyril’s words from moving our core.

Synopsis

Cyril Wong’s latest collection of poems brings into play his background in music. Reminiscent of a concerto, an orchestra is invoked by poems that celebrate the lives of lovers distant and near, while a single narrative arises like a solo instrument amidst their chords, often blurring a distinction between the universal and the particular. This narrative is a love story that pierces through the shadow of the inevitable, accompanied by dreams and a re-interpretation of the myth of Shiva and Mohini, the fascinating female-incarnation of Vishnu. Interwoven with the motifs of time and death, these poems segue into each other like movements in a symphony, singing of equal parts tragedy and joy.

About the author

Cyril Wong is a gay Singaporean author and poet who has won multiple awards for his works. He completed a doctoral degree in English Literature at NUS (so he's technically Dr Cyril Wong) and served as a mentor under the Creative Arts Programme and the Mentor Access Project, as well as a judge for the Golden Point Awards in Singapore.