My Love Affair with Words
To me, words have always been precious. My mother says I didn’t speak until I was three, and when I did, I spoke in full sentences. I was a voracious reader in my childhood and early teens. I pursued two degrees in English literature. I wrote freelance and edited for a living. Creatively, I fashioned crossword puzzles at ten, experimented with poetry in my teens and twenties, and finally began writing plays and scripts from the early 1990s onwards based on themes close to heart. What’s next? More short stories and even novels...
Published Books
Published Books
- Spaces: People/Places (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2016)
- The Car and Other Plays (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2016)
- Spectre: Stories from Dark to Light (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2012)
- Victimology (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2011)
- In the Company of Heroes (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2011)
- In the Company of Women: Selected Plays (Singapore: SNP Editions, 2004)
Anthologies: Edited
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Anthologies: Edited
- Balik Kampung 3C: Central Corridor (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2016)
- Balik Kampung 3B: Some East, More West (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2016)
- Balik Kampung 3A: Northern Shores (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2016)
- Singapore Love Stories (Singapore: Monsoon Books, 2016)
- Feast!: Stories on Food and Love (Singapore: National Library Board, 2016)
- My Life, My Story II: More Memoirs from Singapore’s Seniors (Singapore: National Library Board, 2016)
- My Life, My Story: Personal Narratives by Singapore’s Seniors (Singapore: National Library Board, 2015)
- Balik Kampung 2B: Contemplations (Singapore: Math Paper Press. Originally published: 2013. Second edition: 2016.)
- Balik Kampung 2A: People and Places (Singapore: Math Paper Press. Originally published: 2013. Second edition: 2015.)
- Dark Tales (Singapore: National Library Board, 2013)
- Balik Kampung: Stories of Connection/Disconnection with Different Parts of Singapore, edited by Verena Tay (Singapore: Math Paper Press. Originally published: 2012. Second edition: 2015.)
- A Monsoon Feast: Short Stories to Celebrate the Cultures of Kerala and Singapore, edited by Verena Tay (Singapore: Monsoon Books, 2012)
Published Writing: Print & Online (Selected)
Published Writing: Print & Online (Selected)
- 'relations blocked', 'insouciant', 'Curated Five: Only in Singapore', and 'the road oft taken' (poems), published in Alluvium: Literary Shanghai, 12 May 2017 (last accessed: 13 May 2017)
- 'Atlas unarmed', 'Why Rage Against the Dying Light', 'Etiquette' and 'Cole Swensen: Ekphrasis #1' (poems), published in We Are A Website, Issue 6: Searing/Sticky 2017 (last accessed: 2 Apr 2017)
- 'Chaptek King' and 'First Word' (flash fiction), published in Swag Literary Journal, Issue 4: Terrible Twos (Mar 2017) (last accessed: 2 Apr 2017)
- 'Cole Swensen: Ekphrasis #2' (poem); published in Eunoia Review, 17 Jan 2017 (last accessed: 2 Apr 2017)
- 'Shades of Resistance: Eight Flash Fiction Stories' ('Smashed', 'Venus de Milo', 'Desired', 'Vegemites Unite', 'Private Time', 'John’s Bread', 'The Artisan', 'Bibliophile'), published in Afterness: Literature from the New Transnational Asia, edited by Rebekah Chan, Gregg Schroeder, Jenn Chan Lyman, Quenntis Ashby & Amanda Skelton (Hong Kong: After-Party Press, 2016, pp. 126–132)
- 'Privacy', poem in response to a photo by Jon Gresham; published in This Is Not a Safety Barrier; edited by Marc Nair, Tan Wyn-Lyn & Yen Phang (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2016; pp. 62–63)
- ‘Village Shakti' and 'next step', two poems published in Crossing Universes, edited by Frederick Cheng, Lim Ching & Ng Kah Gay (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2016; p. 31 & p. 40)
- 'The Sensualist', short story published in Flesh, edited by Angeline Woon and Cassandra Khaw (Petaling Jaya: Fixi Novo, 2016; pp. 171–185)
- 'Fast Food, 1979: Portrait of an Old Lady', short story re-published in Union: 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing from Singapore; edited by Alvin Pang & Ravi Shankar (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2015; pp. 480–482)
- Excerpt re-published in Ku●lit: Asian Literature for the Language Classroom, Volume 2; edited by Dennis Yeo (Singapore: National Arts Council/Pearson Education South Asia Pte Ltd, 2013; pp. 45–47)
- Also republished in Birbeck, University of London, Writers’ Hub, 22 Apr 2013 (last accessed: 19 Jul 2016) - 'The Truth About Mr X: 2015', non-fiction published in Junoesq Literary Journal, Issue 5, Aug 2015 (last accessed: 6 Sep 2015)
- 'Dawn', short story published in Ducts, Issue 34, Winter 2015 (last accessed: 19 Mar 2017)
- 'Verdict', flash fiction published in Junoesq Literary Journal, Issue 1, Aug 2014 (last accessed: 19 Jul 2016)
- 'The Weaving Maid and the Cowherd', retold folk tale published in Tales from East Asia (Singapore: National Library Board, 2014; pp. 32–43; as part of Read! Singapore 2014, translated also into Mandarin, Malay and Tamil)
- 'Walls', short story re-published in The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singaporean Short Stories: Volume One; edited by Jason Lundberg (Singapore: Epigram Books, 2013)
- 'The Building', short story published in Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Vol. 12, No. 4, Oct 2013 (last accessed: 19 Jul 2016)
- 'Broken', short story published in A Rainbow Feast: New Asian Short Stories (Singapore: Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Pte Ltd, 2010; edited by Mohammad A. Quayum; pp. 301-312).
- 'Imperfect Family Recipes', short play published in Tumasik: Contemporary Writing from Singapore (Singapore: National Arts Council of Singapore; Iowa City: Autumn Hill Books/International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, 2009; edited by Alvin Pang; pp. 160-166).
Recent Online Articles / Presence
Recent Online Articles / Presence
- ‘Profile: Catherine Lim: Write of Passage’, The A List, Issue 33, 8–21 Jan 2016, p. 7 (last accessed: 19 Jul 2016)
- 'Late Bloomers', interview of Verena Tay by Joanne Furniss, Swag Literary Journal, 24 Jan 2016 (last accessed: 19 Jul 2016)
- ‘Profile: Edwin Thumboo: Singapore Son’, The A List, Issue 26, 2–15 Oct 2015, p. 13 (last accessed: 19 Jul 2016)
- WOMEN FOR THE RECORD #5 // "An Excerpt from Fast Food, 1979" by Verena Tay, Youtube, 9 Feb 2015 (last accessed: 19 Jul 2016)
- Women For the Record, a series of 50 videos featuring poetry, prose and playwriting by women from Singapore, is a collaboration between Hedgebrook and EtiquetteSG. - ‘Conscious Communication: How to Speak Well in Public’, Challenge, 1 Sep 2014 (last accessed: 19 Jul 2016)