The Other Merlion and Friends

The Merlion is the official tourism mascot of Singapore, but The Other Merlion of this anthology introduces the Singapore and Singaporeans that only those who truly know them know. Witty, caustic, naughty, irreverent and full of fun, the poet laughs out loud with his people. It seems odd — or it seems odd to me — that a volume of verse like Gwee Li Sui’s selection of poems and original illustrations, The Other Merlion And Friends, should answer so serious and fundamental a question as “Why do I love poetry?” But it does, and there it is, the truth: fizzy and slightly dizzying, like a secret sip of chilled champagne when you were seven. — Eric Norris. founding editor of the online poetry journal Kin (wearekin.org) and co-host of the Carmine Street Metrics reading series in New York City