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  Memorandum

  Quah Sy Ren, Hee Wai Siam

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  Featuring new translations of previously untranslated Chinese short stories, Memorandum maps out seven decades of Sinophone Singaporean Literature. From bargirls to student activists, from trishaw men to tea merchants, this collection provides a glimpse into a world that has been previously invisible to Anglophone readers. Paired with critical essays, these stories showcase the richness and diversity of Singapore’s Chinese community, but also its inherent interconnectedness with other cultures within Singapore. 
   
  “Memorandum is a pathbreaking anthology that refracts over half a century of Singapore’s history through its lens. The translated stories do much more than simply bridge Sinophone and Anglophone worlds: they actively cross geographical, cultural, linguistic and class boundaries, causing us to think more deeply about the nature of social power, and the transformative interventions literary texts can make.” 
  -Philip Holden, scholar of Singapore &Southeast Asian literatures

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  Hindsight

  Sofiya Ivanova

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  Hindsight is the first collection of poetry released by Ivanova. In many ways, Hindsight is an autobiography, capturing Sofiya's pre-teen and early teen years, and all the feelings that come with it. 
  It covers topics such as losing your family pet, leaving behind your childhood, wanting to be special and important, your parents being imperfect people, mental health, etc, etc. And, of course, figuring out love. In Russian (the poet's first language), there's a saying that goes, “the first pancake comes out as a lump”, and that applies to love too. The first few pancakes, in this case. There are a lot of love poems. There are a lot of bitter poems, too, because art is a great outlet for anger. Those read as though they should have a mic drop at the end. 
  Hindsight not only reads like a coming of age collection as an introduction to the world of a new and gifted poet. But, it is also an exorcism and celebration of the past as she becomes a poet that sees the world with clarity and beauty; a poet that we all need.

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  Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám The...

  Omar Khayyám

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  The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám is the title that Edward Fitz-Gerald gave to his translation of a selection of poems, originally written in Persian and of which there are about a thousand, attributed to Omar Khayyám (1048–1131), a Persian poet, mathematician and astronomer. A Persian ruba'i is a two-line stanza with two parts (or hemis-techs) per line, hence the word "Rubáiyát" (derived from the Arabic root word for "four"), meaning "quatrains". 
   
  The translations that are best known in English are those of about a hundred of the verses by Edward FitzGerald (1809–1883). Of the five editions published, four were published under the authorial control of FitzGerald. The fifth edition, which contained only minor changes from the fourth, was edited after his death on the basis of manuscript revisions FitzGerald had left. FitzGerald also produced Latin translations of certain rubaiyat. 
   
  As a work of English literature FitzGerald's version is a high point of the 19th century and has been greatly influential. Indeed, The term "Rubaiyat" by itself has come to be used to describe the quatrain rhyme scheme that FitzGerald used in his translations: AABA. However, as a translation of Omar Khayyam's quatrains, it is not noted for its fidelity. Many of the verses are paraphrased, and some of them cannot be confidently traced to any one of Khayyam's quatrains at all. Some critics informally refer to the FitzGerald's English versions as "The Rubaiyat of FitzOmar", a nickname that both recognizes the liberties FitzGerald inflicted on his purported source and also credits FitzGerald for the considerable portion of the "translation" that is his own creation. In fact, FitzGerald himself referred to his work as "transmogrification". "My translation will interest you from its form, and also in many respects in its detail: very unliteral as it is. Many quatrains are mashed together: and something lost, I doubt, of Omar's simplicity, which is so much a virtue in him" (letter to E. B. Cowell, 9/3/58). (Introduction from Wikipedia) 
   
  This recording includes readings of all five editions by Edward Fitzgerald as well as the introduction to the third edition. (Note by Algy Pug)

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  The Best American Poetry 2014

  Terrance Hayes, David Lehman

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  National Book Award–winning poet Terrance Hayes selects the poems for the 2014 edition of The Best American Poetry, “a ‘best’ anthology that really lives up to its title” (Chicago Tribune).The first book of poetry that Terrance Hayes ever bought was the 1990 edition of The Best American Poetry, edited by Jorie Graham. Hayes was then an undergrad at a small South Carolina college. He has since published four highly honored books of poetry, is a professor of poetry at the University of Pittsburgh, has appeared multiple times in the series, and is one of today’s most decorated poets. His brazen, restless poems capture the diversity of American culture with singular artistry, grappling with facile assumptions about identity and the complex repercussions of race history in this country. Always eagerly anticipated, the 2014 volume of The Best American Poetry begins with David Lehman’s “state-of-the-art” foreword followed by an inspired introduction from Terrance Hayes on his picks for the best American poems of the past year. Following the poems is the apparatus for which the series has won acclaim: notes from the poets about the writing of their poems.

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  Glaring Through Oblivion

  Serj Tankian

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  Stunning poems of darkness and light by the Grammy Award–winning System of a Down singer, songwriter, activist, and author of Cool Gardens. 
   
  In this strikingly illustrated book of original poetry, System of a Down fans gain an intimate glimpse into the soul of the band's frontman, Serj Tankian. For fans stirred by the cerebral lyrics of SOAD albums Hypnotize, Mesmerize, Steal This Album!, Toxicity, and their first, self-titled breakthrough—and for everyone enthusiastic about Serj’s solo projects—this essential, one-of-a-kind collection of Tankian’s innermost thoughts and feelings is a must-read. Unique artwork by Roger Kupelian punctuates nearly 70 poems—almost none of which have ever been published before. Glaring through Oblivion is an indispensable find for fans.

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  Translations & Imitations of...

  Sir Walter Scott

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  The narrative poems in this collection are written by Sir Walter Scott - the well-known Scottish poet and novelist. Each of these five poems are based loosely upon German ballads: rewritten in flowing English meter.* The Chase - a.k.a. The Wild Huntsman - A profligate, noble-born keeper of the royal forest - avidly addicted to the pleasures of the hunt - cruelly uses and mistreats his fellow-men. One day God's messengers come to test him: executing sentence immediately in just proportion to the huntsman's responses.* William & Helen - William - long thought dead - unexpectedly returns at midnight from the crusades to marry his betrothed. Helen - relieved at his return - joyfully agree,s after initial misgivings: follows him on horseback into the night. Approaching the church in which they will celebrate their wedding: it is clear to Helen that all is not what it seems. But, with their mutual love strong enough to transcend death itself - what can possibly go wrong?* The Fire King - Count Albert never returns from crusade: having being imprisoned by Saracens. Rosalie, his betrothed, swears to leave at once for Lebanon to find him. Rosalie succeeds - but alas, all is changed between them forever: and their parting is death itself.* Frederick & Alice - Frederick breaks troth and abandons the beautiful Alice: sending her mad with grief. But Alice contrives to meet her faithless lover once more: beyond the grave.* The Erl-King - The Erl-King (or Oak-King) sings for the soul of a human boy: who cringes for dear life within the arms of his father riding home through the dreary wood. But do spirits really have power to charm away the lives of the living?(Introduction by Godsend)

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