Jee Leong Koh is a poet, publisher, and the founder/organizer of Singapore Unbound. He is Editor-In-Chief of Gaudy Boy, a press associated with Singapore Unbound and poetry editor of The Evergreen Review. He was raised in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

and currently lives in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Koh's work "uses the rigidity of form to contain poetry that otherwise knows no bounds: love, sex and selfhood are all exposed, and equally explored." ''Steep Tea'' was named a Best Book of the Year in 2015 by UK’s ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

.'' It was also a finalist for the

28th Lambda Literary Awards The 28th Lambda Literary Awards were held on June 6, 2016, to honour works of LGBT literature published in 2015. The list of nominees was released on March 8. Special awards Nominees and winners References {{Lambda Literary Awards Lambda ...

in the Gay Poetry category. The book engages with canonical female writers like

Elizabeth Bishop Elizabeth Bishop (February 8, 1911 – October 6, 1979) was an American poet and short-story writer. She was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1949 to 1950, the Pulitzer Prize winner for Poetry in 1956, the National Book Awar ...

and

Eavan Boland Eavan Aisling Boland ( ; 24 September 1944 – 27 April 2020) was an Irish poet, author, and professor. She was a professor at Stanford University, where she had taught from 1996. Her work deals with the Irish national identity, and the role o ...

while exploring "how being in a new place renders him critical of his past but also awakens his true identity." Sections from ''The Pillow Book'', a collection of

zuihitsu is a genre of Japanese literature consisting of loosely connected personal essays and fragmented ideas that typically respond to the author's surroundings. The name is derived from two Kanji meaning "at will" and "pen." The provenance of the ter ...

, have been anthologized in ''Starry Island: New Writing from Singapore.'' ''The Pillow Book'' was also shortlisted for the

Singapore Literature Prize The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organis ...

Books

* ''Steep Tea'' (

Carcanet Press Carcanet Press is a publisher, primarily of poetry, based in the United Kingdom. Originally a student magazine devised by undergraduates collaborating between Oxford and Cambridge, it was refounded in 1969 by Michael Schmidt. In 2000 it was nam ...

, 2015) * ''The Pillow Book'' (

Math Paper Press BooksActually was an independent bookstore that operated online. It was located in Singapore's Tiong Bahru district until 2020. History and description BooksActually was established by Kenny Leck and Karen Wai in 2005 on the second floor of ...

, 2012) * ''Seven Studies for a Self Portrait'' (Bench Press, 2011) * ''Equal to the Earth'' (Bench Press, 2009) * ''Payday Loans: Poems'' (2007)

References

Gay poets Living people 1970 births Cultural organisations based in Singapore {{Singapore-writer-stub