FICTION
ARS MORIENDI: WRITINGS ON THE ART OF DYING
Edited by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingde
Lien Foundation & Squircle Line Press/ Paperback/ 208 pages/ Limited edition, not for sale. E-mail contact@lienfoundation.org for a free copy. About 150 copies are reserved for The Straits Times' readers
This uplifting and inspiring collection of poems and prose on the theme of accepting death comes six centuries after the original Latin work of the same title. Commissioned by the Lien Foundation, the book includes writings from award-winning American poet Amy Gerstler as well as notable Singaporean writers such as Edwin Thumboo, Eric Tinsay Valles, Isa Kamari and Yeow Kai Chai.
THE EPIGRAM BOOKS COLLECTION OF BEST NEW SINGAPOREAN SHORT STORIES 2
Edited by Jason Erik Lundberg
Epigram Books/ Paperback/ 368 pages/ $24.90/ Major bookstores
This anthology lives up to the promise of the title. It has some of the most interesting works of short fiction published in 2013 and last year, from familiar names such as Amanda Lee Koe, O Thiam Chin and Claire Tham. Several were previously reviewed in The Straits Times as part of other collections.
Look out also for Evan Adam Ang's A Day In The Death, which was the regional winner (Asia) of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize last year.
NON-FICTION
A QUEST FOR DANCE: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF SINGAPORE DANCE PIONEER K.P. BHASKAR
By K.P. Bhaskar, edited by Wong Chee Meng and N. Nedumaran
Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society & Select Publishing/ Paperback/ 316 pages/ $25/ Available from Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society as well as Select Books (www.selectbooks.com.sg)
The late Krishna Pillay Bhaskar pioneered the education and growth of Indian performing arts here and was the founder of Bhaskar's Arts Academy, now Nrityalaya Aesthetics Society.
Read in his own words about his early education in a dance school under the patronage of the royal family of Travancore in India, his often hazardous career entertaining British troops in the 1940s and even stints in film studios before he moved to Singapore.
