Shirley Geok-lin Lim

What the Fortune Teller Didn't Say

Kim Cheng Boey

Singer and Other Poems

In Praise of Limes is a book of original poems by Shirley Geok-lin Lim. Born in Malacca, Malaysia, Shirley Geok-lin Lim was raised by her Chinese father and attended missionary schools. Although her first languages were Malay and the Hokkin dialect of Chinese, she was able to read English by the time she was six. At 10, her first poem was published in the Malacca Times; by age 11, she knew she wanted to be a poet. She earned her BA from the University of Malaya and her PhD from Brandeis University. Lim considers herself primarily a poet, although she has also written books of short stories, criticism, a novel, and a memoir. Her debut collection, Crossing the Peninsula and Other Poems (1980), won the Commonwealth Poetry Prize-a first for a woman or a person from Asia. Her other collections include Ars Poetica for the Day (2015), The Irreversible Sun (2015), Do You Live In? (2015), and Embracing the Angel: Hong Kong Poems (2014). Her many awards and honors include a Fulbright Distinguished Lecturer award, two American Book Awards, and the Society for the Study of Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States Lifetime Achievement Award. Lim was a professor of English and chair of the Women's Studies department at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She retired in 2012 after more than a decade of service to the school.

In Praise of Limes

The first woman and Asian to win the Commonwealth Prize, Among the White Moon Faces is an autobiography that chronicles the confusion of personal identity—linguistically, culturally, and sexually. The English-educated child of a Chinese father and a Peranakan mother, Lim grew up in post-colonial Malaysia with a tangle of names, languages and roles. The deep-seated, cross-cultural ironies of this fragmented identity also echo throughout this memoir; from the love-hate relationship she shares with a neglectful father and an estranged mother, the pain of hunger suffered during childhood, to her Anglophile education and the loneliness of cultural displacement. Lim eventually finds reconciliation in her perpetual exile, using the solace of writing to create a sense of place and to counter the pull of ancient ghosts.

Among The White Moonfaces

Shirley Geok-lin Lims memoir is a courageously frank and deeply affecting account of a Malaysian girlhood and of the making of an Asian-American woman, writer, and teacher.With insight, candor, and grace, Lim reveals the material poverty and violence of her childhood in colonized and then war-torn Malaysia after her fathers business fails and her mother abandons the family, leaving Shirley to travel the road toward womanhood alone. Lims decision in 1968 to leave Malaysia and the man she loves for a Fulbright Scholarship at Brandeis University marks a crucial turning point in her life. Grappling to secure a place for herself in the United States, Lim is often caught between the stifling traditions of the old world and the harsh challenges of the new. But throughout her journey, she is sustained by her warrior spirit. Very gradually, and often painfully, she moves from a numbing alienation as a dislocated Asian woman to a new sense of identity as an Asian American woman: professor, wife, mother of a son she determines to raise as an American, and, above all, an impassioned writer.

An Asian-American Memoir of Homelands

Among the White Moon Faces

Page Richards

One book to be read two ways! * A delightful collection of children's poems. * Ideas on inspiring creativity in young people. 160 children took part in poetry writing workshops led by a group of Hong Kong's foremost poets. Their poems shed an intriguing light on life in Hong Kong, seen by a new generation. This anthology has a particular significance for parents and teachers. It shows that using English freely and creatively is an important step towards full command of the language. The poet-editors convey the fun of this venture and explain the techniques used to encourage the children's natural creativity. Their essays provide a source of ideas for teachers interested in exploring creative writing. Another section of poems by the poet-teachers and undergraduate assistants drawn from the creative writing classes at the University of Hong Kong provides added pleasure for the poetry lover. This collection, showcasing the talents of budding young Hong Kong poets, projecting their powerful and diverse voices into the future, is for people who enjoy poetry and for those who wish to nurture the natural creativity of children. “Beautiful poems, an admirable project.” —Kenneth Koch, Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University, author of Wishes, Lies, and Dreams “From a uniquely vibrant place, where ancient cultures coincide with one another and with our planet’s future, comes this collection of poems: energetic, surprising, direct, subtle—in a word, moving. The volume brings together the fundamental art of poetry and the transforming spirit of youth.” —Robert Pinsky, Professor of English at Boston University, Poet Laureate of the United States 1997–2000 “Moving Poetry is an ambitious and heartening collection, sometimes funny, sometimes melancholy, invariably expert. It proves once again the value of encouraging young people to stretch their imaginations, and proves how great is the benefit to us all.” —Andrew Motion, Professor of Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, Poet Laureate of Great Britain

Hong Kong Children's Poems

Moving Poetry

A piercing tale of a Malaysian woman’s quest for independence that combines “the nuance of a poet with the ear of a born storyteller” (Julia Watson, coeditor of Women, Autobiography, Theory: A Reader). Li An, a young Malaysian woman of Chinese descent, seeks to understand herself as the country around her struggles to determine its own identity. And much like the politically charged atmosphere of 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Li An must confront the contradictions within. While she supports her nation’s fight to break free from the influence of British colonial rule, she cannot deny her love for the English poetry that she teaches. While she aspires to be an independent woman, she still finds herself married to the dependable Henry—until she meets an American Peace Corps volunteer named Chester Brookfield. Their encounter propels Li An on a quest of self-discovery, one that spans the divide between East and West, women and men, freedom and responsibility. Told with insight and wit, Lim’s sweeping debut novel demonstrates that while the journey is never easy, all roads lead, ultimately, to our true selves. “This elegantly crafted tale places Lim among the most imaginative and dexterous storytellers writing in the English language today.” —Rey Chow, author of Primitive Passions “A gripping novel centered around a strong, language-struck, culture-crossing Asian woman’s quest for independence.” —Rob Wilson, author of Reimagining the American Pacific “This felicitous novel is several books in one—Madame Butterfly transplanted to Malaysia, a feminist manifesto, and a commentary on the new Southeast Asia that has been emerging in recent years. Lim has woven these strands together in a colorful batik that is dazzling.” —Hisaye Yamamoto, author of Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories

A Novel

Joss and Gold

The novel is set in 1969 Kuala Lumpur, against a backdrop of political turmoil and social changes. Married to wealthy, conservative Henry, English literature graduate Li An is torn between the comforting lull of a secure world and the seductive erotism of the unknown, foreign spaces. When tragedy strikes on the personal and societal levels, Li An and her young friends find their lives turned upside down, and each must make decisions that will have far-reaching repercussions. Masterfully evoking the passions and struggles across three nations and decades, this book weaves a poignant fabric from the complex threads of human identity, friendships, and gender relations, all of which are utterly inextricable from the others.

Philip Holden

Angelia Poon

A comprehensive historical anthology of English-language literary works from Singapore. It attempts to place the texts that have imagined the territory and the people who are now recognizably Singaporean in a historical narrative, to be read, studied, critiqued and treasured.

Shirley Geok-lin Lim

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