Book A Writer / Jonathan Chan

ABOUT

Jonathan Chan is a writer and editor. Born in New York to a Malaysian father and South Korean mother, he was raised in Singapore and educated at Cambridge and Yale Universities. He is the author of the poetry collection going home (Landmark, 2022), which was named a 2022 Best Book of the Year by Suspect. He serves as Managing Editor of poetry.sg. His poetry and essays have appeared in Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Minarets, Gulf Coast, Magma, The Tiger Moth Review, Inheritance Magazine and Asymptote Journal. Some of his poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, Best of the Net, and the Hawker Prize for Southeast Asian Poetry.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• 2023 - ‘blue’ in Here Was Once the Sea: An Anthology of Southeast Asian Ecowriting, eds. Rina Garcia Chua, Esther Vincent Xueming, and Ann Ang. MĀNOA: A Pacific Journal of International Writing Volume 35, Number 2, 2023 (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press)

• 2023 - ‘by the river’, ‘variations on a whale’, and ‘after the blight’ in A Love Letter to a Thousand Yesterdays: a poetry anthology (Eindhoven, The Netherlands)

• 2022 - ‘faithfulness’ in Poems for Ephesians, ed. D.S Martin (Ontario: McMaster Divinity College)

• 2021 – going home (Singapore: Landmark Books)

• 2020 – ‘results day’, ‘getxo y san sabastian’, and ‘recollections of an evening walk’ in Crazy Little Pyromaniacs, ed. Crispin Dodrigues and Andrea Yew (Singapore: Math Paper Press)

• 2020 – ‘congregation’ and ‘red-eye’ in Anthology One: Together & Apart, ed. Edward Bowes (United Kingdom: Square Wheel Press)

ROLES

• 2023-Present - poetry.sg (Managing Editor)

• 2022-Present – Poetry Festival Singapore (English Subcommittee Member)

• 2022-Present – The Plentitudes (Reading Board Member)

• 2021-Present – Journal of Practice, Research and Tangential Activities (PR&TA) (Poetry, Creative Non-Fiction, & Essays Editor)

• 2021-2022 – Southeast Asian Movement (Editorial Director)

• 2021 – Home Is (Not) Here: A Poetry Anthology (Poetry Editor)

• 2018 – The Mays XXVI (Poetry Editor)

ACHIEVEMENTS

• 2024 - poem ‘recital’ nominated for 2024 Best of the Net by Eunoia Review

• 2023 - poem ‘A&E’ shortlisted for The Cambridge University Poetry & Prose Prize

• 2023 – nominated for Pushcart Prize 2023 for ‘milton mansion’ in Free Verse Revolution (Poetry)

• 2022 – Honourable Mention in Fair Forward Poetry Competition for atelophobia (Poetry)

WORKSHOPS

WRITING FAMILY HISTORIES
For: secondary, junior college; 5 - 15 pax
Availability: 2/ 3 hours per session; single
Description: Nearly every person living in Singapore is the result of unique and varied migrations, whether regional or international. Participants will be guided in delving into the complexities of their family histories and considering the depth of experience of their forebears. Students will draw from stories of war, migration, survival, or flourishing from their families, allowing poetry to serve as a conduit for witness and memory. 
Learning Outcomes: Understanding the uses of personal narrative and historical sources in writing poetry; introduction to themes of migration, becoming, and indigenisation; understanding the convergence of Singapore's history with the history of other places.  

WRITING THE PERSONAL
For: secondary, junior college; min. 5 - 15 pax
Availability: 2 / 3 hours per session; single session
Description: Poetry is often considered a cathartic channel for deep emotion and thought. This workshop will provide participants with the opportunity to engage with introspective approaches to writing, while also engaging with how poets have historically drawn from the depth of their life experiences in crafting poetry. Attention will be given to the processes of reflection and recollection and how poetry can draw from both practices.
Learning Outcomes: Shaping a personal connection to creative work; approaches to generating writing; a deeper understanding of the relationship between the imagination and memory; building a vocabulary for emotions.