Diving into the ambivalences and contradictions that are as characteristic of a family as her triumphs, Jerrold Yam's rousing debut poetry collection is a reaction to the precarious tilt from adolescence to adulthood.
The poems — which invoke subjects as diverse as childbirth, celebrity culture and National Service — extend beyond a struggle for acceptance amid the transience of modern Singapore and into the universal territory of teenagehood. Growing up suggests an inexorable shift to adult sensibilities, but this transition is fraught with countervailing tensions of moving on, letting go and leaving behind. Yet, the collection ends with an optimism that is both agonising and courageous in its desperation for hope.
Alternately lyrical and experimental, confessional and incisive, Yam flexes his poetic versatility by combining ruthless introspection with hard-won catharsis. The ensuing redefinition of boundaries, between what must be left unsaid and what seeks reiteration, holds testimony to a voice that is unafraid of frankness — a voice ready to spearhead the next generation of Singaporean literature.
"Jerrold Yam’s poems sparkle, yet underneath all that lustre is a fledgling spirit eager to build bridges out of uncertainty, loneliness and self-doubt, before arriving at a still point of equipoise and wonder."
– Cyril Wong
