散文、散文集、散文選
【預購】天長地久:給美君的信◎龍應台
平常價 $35.00【預購】衣錦夜行◎廖偉棠
平常價 $20.00人,本天地間之羈旅者,百代中之過客。
本來就沒有什麼地方可稱為真正的家鄉,尤其當一個人知曉了這命運,他便應該接受並且熱愛變動不居的生涯──那他才能成為真正意義上的旅人。
對於這一層次的浪遊者,旅遊是不純粹的,他要的是生活本身,他要求生命就是一場完全的盛宴;觀光是不徹底的,他要的是體驗本身,他要求他生命所經歷過的每一個地方都有愛有恨、在他的靈魂深處留下印痕。
正如古人所謂「過處便有情」,愛上,便住下──倒過來講:要住下,怎能不愛上?
愛不止是一夜眼神的勾連、繁花之間的擦肩,愛一個人怎麼能不完全體驗他∕她?同樣,在世間流變中,一個有情的旅者,若愛上了一個偶遇的地方,又怎捨得不去融入它的生活、成為它的一部分?——廖偉棠
這或是一本居住、造訪與告別之書,
也是詩人的浪遊劄記,
整本書諸篇作品串起來,
更是一首浪遊於生命和宇宙,自在不羈的永無完結之詩!
Wearing Flowers Wandering in the Night
在旅次宿寓中,不論長住、暫留或自我放逐,作家感受到生命經歷處情感流動的軌跡,以及過往記憶的線索,將時光作為隱身衫,也不斷尋訪、確認能教靈魂既安定又不能停止騷動茁長的心靈原鄉,將生活煉成藝術,也將藝術鑄成生活;透過文字與影像,展現並探索生活的無限可能性,偶也傷懷也悼念離開生活、詩、夢以及這個世界的多情「失散」友人們。
新世紀以來,作家的足跡跨越了仍因時間、語言、文化、膚色而顯得互相隔閡陌生的我們這世界許多角落:巴黎,愛丁堡,越南,哈爾濱,北京,那不勒斯,羅馬,巴賽隆納……帶領我們凝目於靈魂的蒼老沉靜,也驚豔於青春的氣盛深情。一次次旅程,也如盛裝或虔敬哀矜或疏放歡快地在最深的黑夜中行走,在死蔭之谷行走,宛似立志成為最早甦醒的光源之悲願,也是對於壟罩這時代的陰翳正好與藝術的美感互相映襯的體察與繫念。
作者簡介
廖偉棠
一九七五年出生於廣東,後遷徙香港,並曾在北京生活五年,現暫居香港大嶼山島,四出遊歷。全職作家,兼職攝影師、攝影雜誌《CAN》主編、文學雜誌《今天》詩歌編輯。曾獲香港青年文學獎,香港中文文學獎;台灣的時報文學獎,聯合報文學獎,聯合文學小說新人獎;馬來西亞花蹤世界華文小說獎及創世紀詩獎。曾出版詩集《永夜》、《隨著魚們下沉》、《花園的角落,或角落的花園》、《手風琴裡的浪遊》、《波希米亞行路謠》、《苦天使》、《少年游》、《黑雨將至》,攝影及雜文集《波希米亞中國》(合著)、《我們從此撤離,只留下光》,攝影集《孤獨的中國》、《巴黎無題劇照》,小說集《十八條小巷的戰爭遊戲》等。二○○九年《和幽靈一起的香港漫遊》是廖偉棠最新的一本詩集,也是他第一本完全以香港為書寫對象的詩集。
推薦序
何必見戴◎梁文道
能不能這樣說,有一種旅遊文學根本用不著作者真正去旅行,因為早在啟程之前,他就已經想好要寫甚麼了。例如廖偉棠的 『衣錦夜行』。
聽起來這像是個侮辱,似乎廖偉棠窮數年之力四處旅行、拍攝和筆記的功夫全都白費了。不,這不是我的意思。且拿朝聖類比,任何一個朝聖者都不可能兩手空空地上路,相反地,他一開始就滿載了一大套的信念。他深知此行不能被動,而是要主動去尋求些甚麼。那些他所尋求所期盼的東西根本是他一早就知道的,乃至於實際旅程之主要作用僅在於印證。然而,「印證」二字又不可以最粗淺最實證的意義解之,它還包括了某種更深層的拓展和開發。簡單地講,朝聖的重點永遠不在外界那漫漫黃沙上的足印與滔滔白浪中的布帆,而在於內心真相之漸次敞示;朝聖乃是種建立在肉身經行裡的靈魂旅程。
廖偉棠喜歡 『達摩流浪者』,他在自己這部新作中也談到了賈菲和雷蒙那段有名的對話:「最初雷蒙相信」所有生命皆苦,「堅信」世界上除了心以外,一無所有「,但賈菲向雷蒙解釋中國禪師為甚麼把弟子扔到泥裡:」他們只是想讓弟子明白,泥巴比語言更真實罷了。「在一次攀山的危險之後,賈菲又啟示他說:」只有痛苦或愛或危險可以讓他們重新感到這個世界的真實。「他們一味求空,卻是實(他們在大地上的漫遊)把他們對空的思考完成。」故此,旅行依然必要,只不過旅者的用心不是採擷美果探索民情,卻是以道途中揚起的泥塵趨近自己一向思考一向關切著的對象。
廖偉棠並非達摩流浪者般的修行人,更不是朝聖的香客。那麼,他想要的究竟是甚麼呢?
莫非是寫詩的藉口?身為詩人,廖偉棠腹中似乎真有一條巴爾加斯.略薩所說的絛蟲,總是不可抑止他寫詩的衝動與才華,所做所為莫不是為了寫詩。所以我們在 『衣錦夜行』中最容易辨識得到的特徵,就是一般遊記中十分罕見的大量詩句。他幾乎無時無刻地寫,或許是在搖搖晃晃的長途汽車裡頭,或許是病中發燒偶而醒來乃得句二三;甚或是午夜抵達一座機場,無處可去,於是坐在離境大廳的長椅上憶記適才睡夢中的景象。就算他自己不寫,也要在恰當時機吟誦恰當的詩句。於是他注意到甘南拉卜楞寺附近的一座橋,過橋時自然得想起「一夢繁華覺,打馬入紅塵」。
莫非是拍照?以攝影維生的廖偉棠沿續前作 『巴黎無題劇照』的風格,拍下了不同地點的種種遭遇。有趣的是,這些照片正如他的文字,並不太過突出各座城鎮的特性,更不以那些最著名的地標為主題,反而別有一以貫之的格調。回想起來,既然是「劇照」,每幀照片必然要服務於一齣劇碼所設下的基本音調。難怪他這批相片在彰顯材料自身的某個特殊面相之餘,也還總染帶著一種氣息相通的氛圍了。這種氛圍,我以為是懷舊。廖偉棠也曾總結過西爾維婭?阿加辛斯基對攝影的看法:究極而言,攝影確實是種幽靈的藝術。所有被拍下的,皆已不復存在;如果存在,也只是相片中的存在罷了;水上的留痕,林中的回聲。
自Dean MacCannell以降,研究觀光社會學的學者都注意到了旅者的懷舊心態。
很奇怪,那些自命為真正旅者,不屑消費型觀光者所為的人們,總是會在一個從未去過的陌生地點感到一股鄉愁,並且不是對自己老家的鄉愁,而是對這座不曾謀面的城市的鄉愁。明明他沒有來過此地,明明他是初次造訪,他怎麼會懷起這個地方的舊呢?我想,至少對廖偉棠來說,他懷的是種前資本主義生活的舊,傳說中那還沒經過商業活動洗禮的本真狀態。故此他理所當然地喜歡越南,因為它太像他兒時的粵西老家。同樣地,到了烏魯木齊,最多去到二道橋便好,再往裡走就是擠滿遊客的「大巴札」了,那是一座過度迎合中土遊客的主題樂園。因此他還熱戀過數年前的北京,那年頭還沒有奧運,更沒有高聳入雲的摩天酒店;有的是仍未發達仍未長胖的藝術家與詩人,以及未經現代工程規整的原始草莽。
在這種懷抱底下,每至一處,廖偉棠所看到的其實全是自己的心象。這不是說他不懂得欣賞每個地方的新異;就像那些專業旅遊作家一樣,向讀者報告遠方的趣聞,令我們可以單單坐在扶手椅上就能想像天下的模樣。其實他懂,例如那不勒斯,在他筆下便綻放出黃色與黑色混合成的泥花,誠然是彼城應當展現的情致。只不過,廖偉棠總是看到了其他人看不到的面向,比方台北,他說此城有「清麗的寂寞」。我很懷疑有多少台北人會認同這個判斷;可是沒關係,他自己也說了,箇中淵源「不足為外人道」。
早在啟程之前,廖偉棠就已經知道他在期待甚麼。然而,這趟旅行仍然是必要的。讀他這批文字的時候,我一直聯想起百年前謝閣蘭(Victor Segalen)的 『出征』。謝閣蘭是法國詩人,通中文,在中國做過翻譯,也曾替漢學大家沙畹考察中國的古蹟文物。他是個怪人,雖懂漢籍,卻刻意望文生意地把一些石碑上的刻字扭曲成奇異的法文詩。當年法國盛行過一陣「異國情調」的美學時尚,謝閣蘭功不可沒。今天要用東方主義和後殖民理論去打倒他那些東方情調實在太過容易,可是粗糙的政治正確批判卻很容易大而化之地忽略掉謝閣蘭的真誠。所謂真誠,我指的是詩人謝閣蘭對想像與真實間的對抗的不懈執著。他的 『出征』據說是本中國遊記,但真正談到旅遊經歷的片段卻屈指可數;大部分篇幅,他都苦於心中想像與腳下現實之間的差距,角力與纏扭。
他說:「旅行者的義務我全沒盡到,如果我不對途中風景做一番描繪的話──這種體裁是好寫的。一個練習,一次體育運動而已。」「這次旅行所穿越的,就是中國──亞洲胖墩墩的皇后,一個以四千年實現的真實之國。但是,不要蒙蔽於旅行,不要蒙蔽於這個國度、不要蒙蔽於柳暗花明的每一天。……這裡展示的一干人物,目的都不在於把我帶到目的地,而是不斷地使爭執爆發出來,這熱而深的懷疑、第二次地、這樣呈現:當你把想像對質於真實,它是會衰退還是會加強?」
假如用這段話去解釋 『衣錦夜行』還不夠清楚,那就不妨換個角度,換一句更有趣而且大家更熟悉的話吧:「吾本乘興而行,盡興而返,何必見戴」。
自序
青春到處便為鄉
「青春到處便為鄉」,友人阿鈍送給我的詩句,寫得真是驕傲、灑脫,有勇氣能把路過的地方當成家鄉去愛的人,便是有情人,便是精神青春者。這種青春的勇氣不可謂不大,因為你要去愛、去生活,便意味著你要認識和接受它的方方面面:那不止是華麗和享受的一面(這是觀光客可以輕易占有的),還包括它的瑣碎、複雜、苦澀。但是你要是用心品味的人,你必能在這苦中品出蜜來,而且,這是你自己獨特的體昧,和任何一本書上描述的都不同。
這句詩,阿鈍用來形容我,在他眼中,「浪遊者廖偉棠已經越島無數,讀萬卷書也行萬里路。」我卻把這句詩獻給我在不斷遷徙移動中遇到的無數同類。七十年代出生的人,註定是屬於遷徙的一代,在我們的成長過程中,中國對城鄉流動的限製放寬、大學逐漸擴招,年輕人借著升學、工作的名義在一個個城市之間流動,而對於其中我等「波希米亞人」來說,根本不需要藉口,我們是文化流浪漢,逐精神上的水草而居。最關鍵的是我們都有把異鄉作故鄉的精神,有此精神的人便能得到他所「過處」給他的報償,他和他生命中經過的地方不是馬和驛站的關係,而是戀人之間的關係。
人,本天地間之羈旅者,百代中之過客。本來就沒有什麼地方可稱為真正的家鄉,尤其當一個人知曉了這命運,他便應該接受並且熱愛變動不居的生涯──那他才能成為真正意義上的旅人。對於這一層次的浪遊者,旅遊是不純粹的,他要的是生活本身,他要求生命就是一場完全的盛宴;觀光是不徹底的,他要的是體驗本身,他要求他生命所經歷過的每一個地方都有愛有恨、在他的靈魂深處留下印痕。正如古人所謂「過處便有情」,愛上,便住下──倒過來講:要住下,怎能不愛上?愛不止是一夜眼神的勾連、繁花之間的擦肩,愛一個人怎麼能不完全體驗他∕她?同樣,在世間流變中,一個有情的旅者,若愛上了一個偶遇的地方,又怎捨得不去融入它的生活、成為它的一部分?
對於我(和我的大多數朋友),北京就是這樣一個地方。在我去北京居住之前,我已經在四個城市生活過:出生地粵西小城新興、少年移居珠海、求學地廣州、最後舉家移居香港,皆不出嶺南範圍。所以當一九九六年我第一次去北京時我就被鎮住了──或者說被她下了蠱。中國原來有這麼瘋狂灑脫的地方,而且吊詭的就在其偏偏又是歷史和政治的核心,我新認識的每個人都似乎在過著這樣一種生活:我原來只在《巴黎,一場流動的盛宴》、《流放者的歸來》、《伊甸園之門》的文字中想像過的生活,詩歌、搖滾、醉酒、愛情與決鬥,幾乎天天都在發生著。於是我日夜謀劃,年年去北京,二○○一年索性從香港搬到(美其名曰自我放逐)北京,一住就是五年。
關於香港,我曾經寫過這樣的句子:「在香港,一個異鄉權充了故鄉,最後仍是異鄉」。混雜的文化背景一度使我迷醉──他理應成為我血液中的一部分,但是還沒有,二十出頭的我年少氣盛,結果在遊戲規則過度完善的香港感到很不爽,這裡的藝術家、詩人們也太小心謹慎,許多只是把藝術視作上班之一種,而我渴望的是生活即藝術、藝術即生活。看來當時只有北京這道烈酒能滿足我的胃口。在北京的五年,是我把自己徹底拋給偶然生活的五年,最初我和當時北京殘餘的「地下」藝術家們一樣,憑著激情過活:詩歌、搖滾、醉酒、愛情與決鬥……一個新鮮的自我也如青草萌生、瘋長。北京成全了飄泊的人,同樣飄泊的人也成全了北京如今風塵浮浪的氣質,這裡的青春大多數是遠離故鄉尋找機遇的青春,急欲找到停泊之處,又急欲找到自由的出海口,因此北京的散聚來得特別快,因此陳昇那首歌只能唱給北京。
更好玩的是,以北京為基地,我可以四處出遊,五年裡我去西南三次、西北三次、東北七八次、中原與江南更是無數次,然後就去台灣、歐洲與美洲。最難忘的是二○○二年春在台灣的環島鐵路漫遊和二○○四年冬在巴黎的浪蕩。台灣也是一個彷彿和我血緣相近的地方,每年不去一兩次心裡就發癢,如果說北京呼應了我性格中瘋狂的一面,台北則和我骨子裡的寂寞相呼應,在台灣我與一種清麗的寂寞惺惺相惜──不足為外人道也。而巴黎,那曾經在我少年時的閱讀中臆想過無數次的波希米亞精神之都,仍然沒有在全球化衝擊中變得讓人失望,主要是冬天的剎那風剎那雨,彷彿把所有曾經在巴黎流浪過的偉大鬼魂都召喚了出來與我同遊,結果成就了我最憂鬱的一本書《巴黎無題劇照》。然後我又回到最現實、最粗糙的今日波希米亞精神之都北京。
北京的粗糙、混亂其實是她最動人的一面,然而她在奧運之路上漸漸把自己規整(無論是形象還是精神上),敷了許多化妝品,漸漸令我失望。可是「我來了,我看見了,我生活了」,君子行在,從心所欲──北京到底鼓勵這種「雪夜訪戴」的精神:「吾本乘興而行,盡興而返,何必見戴。」我輩新游牧民族亦如此,想去一個地方,連夜便去,這是自然;愛上一個地方,住它數年甚至一輩子,也是自然;若突然想離去了,便輕身獨然去,那更是自然。
先我離去的是詩人馬驊,他二○○三年赴雲南義教,從此隱身激流中不見。二○○五年,我北京的友人狀況大多如此:詩人高曉濤長駐西藏、畫家陸毅遠走印度、音樂家顏峻在甘南學習喉音,音樂家宋雨(吉吉)去了義大利,音樂家李鐵橋去了挪威……友人星散,而我說:「時光就是一襲隱身衫」。並且當時的中國正在「熱」起來,我寫道:「我的這個中國,即將賣做戲劇中那個中國」, 當我在北京漸漸找不到北京的時候,我已盡興,於是我又選擇了離去,回到漸漸冷下去的香港。
但是對於經歷過北京的我,香港又重新成為一個異鄉──如今異鄉正正成為故鄉的代名詞,他再也不是束縛我的地方,反而成為了我的一個新的「發射基地」。新的浪遊時代早已來臨,我和這些「失散」了的北京浪人們,總有將來不確定的某時、在不確定的某地相聚的一刻,生活正因未知而充滿可能。「青春到處便為鄉」,這既是一個贊許,也是一個要求,要求我們在尋找「生活的別處」的時候時刻保持青春的氣盛。
【預購】瓊美卡隨想錄◎木心
平常價 $19.00樹和草這樣恣意地綠。從不見與我同類的純粹散步者。時有驅車客向我問路,能為之指點,彼此很高興似的──我算是瓊美卡人。
有一項懇切的告誡:當某個環境顯得與你相似時,便不再對你有益。
瓊美卡與我已太相似,有益和無害是兩回事,不能耽溺於無害而忘思有益。
我將遷出瓊美卡。
友誼的深度,是雙方本身所具的深度。淺薄者的友誼是無深度可言的。
快樂是吞嚥的,悲哀是咀嚼的;如果咀嚼快樂,會嚼出悲哀來。
誠實而勤勉的人,都知道,都慢慢知道,哲學和真理有其終點,終點是:沒有哲學沒有真理。
寫作本書時,木心住在紐約東陬瓊美卡,故此書名為《瓊美卡隨想錄》。木心用字非常講究,標點也講究,於是,在《瓊美卡隨想錄》中,各篇皆是兩字的標題:圓滿、將醒、綴之、尖鞋、(口庶)語、步姿……,光是這些標題就字字獨特精湛,豐沛嫻熟。
全書計分三輯,不僅因篇幅不同,各輯文字風格各異。第一輯藉由歷史或地理,或順理成章,或強烈發散;第二輯分「(口庶)語」、「俳句」與「風言」,只一句或兩句,語錄式的短散文,短小精悍,活潑、雋永、耐讀;第三輯偏重生活,帶著凝重的細節和感悟。
奇思妙想,終篇不絕;細節裡藏著生活,行文豐沛而嫻熟,善用漢賦般的奇字,在別人說不下去的地方說出別開生面。以捕捉片刻始,以叩問永恆終,展現一個藝術家兼哲人觀察環境、思索生命的獨特視角與睿智。
作者簡介
木心
本名孫璞,字仰中,1927年2月14日生於浙江烏鎮,自幼迷戀繪畫與寫作。十五歲離開烏鎮,赴杭州求學,1946年進入劉海粟創辦的「上海美專」學習油畫,不久師從林風眠門下,入「杭州國立藝專」繼續探討中西繪畫,直到十九歲離開杭州去上海。五○至七○年代,任職上海工藝美術研究所,參與人民大會堂設計。畫餘寫作詩、小說、劇作、散文、隨筆、雜記、文論,自訂二十二冊,「文革」初期全部抄沒。「文革」中期被監禁期間,祕密寫作,成獄中手稿六十六頁。1982年遠赴紐約,重續文學生涯。1986至1999年,台灣陸續出版木心文集共12種。1989至1994年,為旅居紐約的文藝愛好者開講「世界文學史」,為期六年,陳丹青為其學生。2003年,木心個人畫展在耶魯大學美術館、紐約亞洲協會、檀香山藝術博物館巡迴,畫作受大英博物館收藏,這是二十世紀中國畫家中第一位作品被該館收藏,2006年,木心文學系列首度在大陸出版,同年,應故鄉烏鎮邀請,回國定居,時年七十九歲。年底,紐約獨立電影製片導演赴烏鎮為其錄製紀錄片。2011年12月21日凌晨三時,在故鄉烏鎮逝世,享年84歲。
說好的,重逢有期(簡體)◎阿果
平常價 $25.00傾聽有態度的聲音,細讀有溫度的觀點——本書是新加坡著名繪本與專欄作者阿果(李高豐)的第一本圖文書,精選自其在《聯合早報》圖文專欄《三讀空間》的部分作品,為該圖文書系列的第一本,也是新加坡第一本以繪本形式呈現散文作品的書籍。
本書的每一篇文章,都配以作者的一幅插畫,屬於原創作品。
何謂「三讀」?阿果說,我們需要在相乘與減除的態度之間,尋索生存的平衡及文明的真諦。繪本的簡約、單純與清新,能喚醒我們逐漸蟄伏的最初靈魂。為專欄取名「三讀空間」,只因每個人一生都該三讀繪本,一讀孩提時,二讀為人父母時,三讀鬢角泛白望盡千帆時。讓我們提起勇氣,純粹為自己而翻閱繪本,安於讓生命變得更渺小、更簡單、更少暴力。
作者簡介
阿果,本名李高豐,理工學院人文科目兼職講師、《聯合早報》副刊專欄作者、繪本圖文工作者。
新加坡國立大學中文系畢業,考取南洋理工大學翻譯專業文憑,之後負笈英國劍橋藝術學院(Cambridge School of Art Anglia Ruskin University),攻讀童書繪畫碩士學位。平時喜歡塗塗寫寫,創作圖文與讀者分享美的喜悅。目前正積極投入新加坡繪本創作與推廣的工作。
出版的作品包括《如最初的月光》《也許明天,也許來世》《說好的,重逢有期》《偶爾月亮,偶爾相忘》《尋找》《飛飛的快樂星空》《幸福的秘密花園》《不變的,一樣的》;布布系列之《布布愛上動物園》《布布有個大問題》《布布想要養寵物》《布布鼻子不見了》《布布找到好朋友》《布布遇見藍大兔》;百果香系列之《這是什麽呢?》《圓圓的》以及《Drax the Grey Dragon》。
Living in a Time of Deception◎Poh Soo Kai
平常價 $35.00This is the historical memoir of Dr Poh Soo Kai, a medical doctor and a founder member of the People's Action Party. Here he tells the story of his incarceration as a political prisoner under Singapore's notorious Internal Security Act, and the anti-colonial struggle which defined the years after the Second World War.
Poh was born in Singapore in 1930. He is the maternal grandson of prominent businessman Tan Kah Kee. After the Japanese surrender in 1945, he continued his studies at Raffles Institution and entered the University of Malaya in 1950. He was a founding member of the Socialist Club in 1953 and became its second President from August that year till the following year. Poh was one of the eight members of the Fajar editorial board charged with sedition in 1954. He graduated three years later with a degree in Medicine. Poh became acquainted with Lee Kuan Yew, who was the legal advisor for the students during the Fajar Trials, during his time in university. He subsequently became a founding member of the PAP in 1954. When the party split in 1961, he left to join the Barisan Sosialis as its Assistant Secretary-General. He was arrested and detained without trial under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance during Operation Coldstore in 1963. He was arrested again without trial under the Internal Security Act in 1976 and 1982.
Streets & Places of Singapore 1 & 2: Works originally written in English◎Ang Lai Sheng (Editor)
平常價 $10.00This booklet brings together the original English works from Streets & Places of Singapore Volumes 1 and 2. The two anthologies were envisioned as a way of mapping Singapore through literature—capturing how streets and places carry history, memory, and imagination. Published in Chinese, they highlight the city as seen through the lens of Chinese literary expression, while also embracing works that were first written in English and lovingly translated into Chinese.
About the Editor
Ang Lai Sheng (汪来昇, 1987–) is a Singaporean writer, translator, publisher, and columnist, and the Co-founder & Editor-in-Chief of TrendLit Publishing. His works and essays have been published across Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China. He is the author of the poetry collections After Commotion, The Void (2014) and Destroy All Gods (2016), and editor of anthologies including Never Before – 50 Essential Poems (2018), Streets & Places of Singapore (Vol. 1 & 2, 2022, 2025), and Impressions of Singapore (2023). He is also the Chinese-language translator of Anything but Human (2025) and The World May Say This, But I Believe That! (2025).
Beyond his publications, Ang champions emerging voices, fosters cross-cultural literary dialogue, and conducts workshops and talks for writers and educators. He has twice served as Writer-in-Residence for the Ministry of Education’s Chinese Language Elective Programme and was honoured with the 2023 NTU School of Humanities Alumni Award for his contributions to literature and publishing.
Authors
Alvin Pang/Daryl Lim Wei Jie/Shawn Hoo/Yeow Kai Chai/Yong Shu Hoong /Yvonne Tham
Contents
Editor’s Forword
1. Around the Lake I Go ◎ Yong Shu Hoong
2. Hwi Yoh Trilling ◎ Shawn Hoo
3. Katong ◎ Alvin Pang
4. Kelip-kelip: An Entomologist’s Field Recording at Changi Village Circa 2007 ◎ Yeow Kai Chai
5. My Kind of Town ◎ Daryl Lim Wei Jie
6.
Toa Payoh Lorong 8 ◎ Yvonne Tham
____
ISBN: 978-981-94-4467-0
Publisher: TrendLit Publishing Private Limited
Published Date: October 2025
Suggest Classification: Creative Non-Fiction, Singapore Literature, Locative Writing
Email: contact@trendlitpublishing.com
【預購】青燈◎北島
平常價 $46.00寫散文,有三條最重要。一是誠實。這寫作基石因普遍缺失而彌足珍貴。其實與誠實對應的不僅是謊言,也包括虛妄、矯情及逃避;二是沉默。與一個喧囂的時代抗衡的是沉默,使我們不致淪為同謀或被吞噬。沉默改變詞語的方式,深化孤獨的內省,延長冥想的回聲,給萬物重新命名的可能;三是警醒。在愛與恨、忠與逆、守成與超越之間,構成一個作家與母語之間的緊張關係。警醒則是必要的承諾與保證。
北島以詩名傳於世,散文的寫作相對為時較短,但十多年的散文寫作,跟詩人的流亡息息相連,遠涉中國與世界的巨大變化,近至作者個人的漂泊生涯,二者平行交錯,互為因果。《藍房子》、《午夜之門》、《青燈》、《城門開》等散文結集,雖曾經有臺灣大陸不同的版本,但只有香港版保留着作者的完整面貌。記得這幾本書在香港出版時恰逢作者六十歲。作者說,耳順之年,本應圖個清靜,可風雨如晦,四顧茫然,這人世間前景更加黯淡。
北島
原名趙振開,四九年生於北京,最享國際盛譽的中國詩人、作家,小說、詩歌、散文、文學評論、翻譯,各方面都成就非凡。現居香港。七八年與朋友創辦《今天》文學雜誌並任主編至今,近年不懈努力籌辦香港國際詩歌之夜,備受關注和好評,和活字文化合作出版「給孩子系列」叢書,一紙風行。北島作品被譯為三十多種文字出版,中文完整未刪節版,本事出版將陸續面世。
City Of Rain◎Alvin Pang
平常價 $22.00“One of Singapore’s most visible poets, Pang grows with each book. In his poems we hear a voice unhurried, confident, and capable of carrying diverse humors, and read a rhetoric shaded to ironies, surprising us with glimpses of contemporary experience that affirm yet mock, celebrate and unsettle. His poetry adds a rich and complex presence to the critical mass of urban literature now fully emergent from Singapore. His poems, at once recognizably national and international in reach, offer a fresh edgy energy to this tradition.”
- Professor Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize, 1992 and author of Joss and Gold
Heartland◎Daren Shiau
平常價 $24.00Hailed as “the definitive Singaporean novel”, this new edition of Heartland is accompanied by a new preface by author Daren Shiau and a publisher’s foreword that contextualises the novel’s imprint on the Singapore literary landscape since its first publication in 1999.
An iconic work, Heartland explores the paradox of rootedness and rootlessness in fast-changing Singapore. Set in the early 1990s, the novel follows the years of Wing Seng as he leaves school and is conscripted into full-time National Service. As Wing tries to reconcile his past with his future amid transitions through different phases of life, he finds meaning in his intense attachment to his surrounding landscape. Yet, as relationships and the years slip by, Wing is forced to question his own certainties and the wisdom of the people he values.
Set in Singapore’s heartland at the turn of the century, Heartland’s capturing of the texture of everyday life provides the backdrop essential to the bildungsroman’s exploration of identity, belonging and connection in an increasingly urbanised Singapore.
Goodbye My Kampong! Potong Pasir, 1966 to 1975◎Josephine Chia
平常價 $22.00Sequel to Josephine Chia’s 2014 Singapore Literature prize-winning book, Kampong Spirit - Gotong Royong: Life in Potong Pasir, 1955 to 1965.
Kampong life in Singapore did not end in 1965 with her independence.
In Josephine Chia’s new collection of non-fiction stories, the phasing out of attap-thatched villages, the largest mass movement in Singapore, is set against the backdrop of significant national events.
Weaving personal tribulations—her teenage angst—and the experiences of villagers from her kampong, Josephine skilfully parallels the hopes and challenges of a toddling nation going through the throes of industrialisation and rapid changes from 1966 to 1975.
These delightful, real-life stories, sprinkled with snippets of her Peranakan culture, reveal the joie-de-vivre of gotong royong or community spirit, despite impoverished conditions, in the last days of kampong life.
A Place for Us◎Cassandra Chiu
平常價 $24.00Disability is neither strange nor distant. Part autobiography, part reflections of social advocate Cassandra Chiu’s experiences as a person living with visual impairment, A Place For Us is the story of the first woman to be a guide dog handler in Singapore and the first Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum in Southeast Asia who happens to be blind.
Cassandra’s story starts with her growing-up years in 1980s Singapore, chronicling how her life unfolds with the onset of Stargardt disease, which causes progressive vision loss. From pursuing an education, navigating motherhood, to building a career as a psychotherapist, Cassandra openly discusses the attitudes towards disability and her journey towards true independence with her guide dog Esme.
In inimitable frankness, A Place For Us offers an illuminating perspective of a person living with disability beyond the pity party of her life, and advocates for a more equal and sustainable future for people with disabilities.
Not Without Us: Perspectives on Disability and Inclusion in Singapore◎Kuansong Victor Zhuang, Meng Ee Wong, Dan Goodley (Editors)
平常價 $30.00Disability is all around us—among people we meet, the media, sports, our own family and friends. Undeniably, all of us have or will one day come to experience or encounter disability. But how can we reckon with the realities of those who live with disability, or its reality in our own lives? In a city-state slowly moving towards inclusion, how do those meant to be 'included' feel about such efforts? Not Without Us: perspectives on disability and inclusion in Singapore is a groundbreaking collection of essays that takes a creative and critical disability studies approach to centre disability, and rethink the ways in which we research, analyse, think and know about disability in our lives. Across multiple domains and perspectives, the writings in this volume consider what it means to live with disability in a purportedly inclusive and accessible Singapore.
(Book cover description: The central visual of the cover is a photo. This photo, taken by photographer Isabelle Lim, is of two performers in the centre of a spacious room, where the wall and floor are both decorated with brown and gold patterns. The foreground is lit by a bright yet warm light, which illuminates the side profiles of the two men against the blackness behind them. Closer to the camera is the rapper Wheelsmith. Clad in a mustard yellow cap and blue denim jacket, he is riding his wheelchair toward the left of the picture. At a slight distance behind him, and in the midst of walking in the opposite direction, is fellow rapper ShiGGa Shay, sporting an orange, white, and blue puffer jacket and a bun of electric blue hair."
On the book cover, this photo is accompanied by the Book title "Not Without Us" in all-capitals, beige text against the black background on the top of the photo. The subtitle in small caps "perspectives on disability and inclusion in Singapore" is printed in the center-right of the book cover. In the black background of the photo are light blue lines in the shape of Wheelsmith's and Shigga Shay's silhouettes, layered and expanding towards the top of the book cover to amplify their poses in the photo. The editors' byline is at the bottom of the book cover in black text.)
“This is a pathbreaking book. Not Without Us weaves together a rich fabric of voices exploring the politics and poetics of disability in Singapore. Moving between lived reality, representation and struggles for social transformation, the collection excavates hidden or forgotten pasts, documents struggles and community formation in the present, and hints at possible futures. The essay collection challenges contemporary discourses of and scholarship on disability in Singapore by centring disabled subjectivities. In the process, it opens up new spaces of empathy, praxis and critique.” —Philip Holden, Independent Scholar and Counsellor
"It warms my heart to see another book on disability through the Asian lens. Not just any book or author, but a plethora of contributors who are leaders in the Singaporean disability scene. The tapestry of all the essays inspires the imagination to how we can truly create a place that all of us can call home. Inclusion isn’t just keeping the token seat available, or inviting someone disabled to the party, but truly paving the way forward for all of us to celebrate each other as individuals in all our different shapes, sizes and colours. Thank you Not Without Us for so eloquently celebrating ‘Nothing about us, without us’!" —Cassandra Chiu, Psychotherapist; Social Advocate and Author of A Place For Us
"Not Without Us is a richly edited and profoundly written collection of essays about disability in Singapore. It is part of a new and fresh movement to provide local knowledges and global perspectives to a field that has been for too long grounded in the West, particularly the US and the UK. The book will be extremely valuable not only to readers in Singapore but also to those throughout the world who seek a broader perspective on significant issues in disability studies, arts, policy and activism." —Lennard J. Davis, Distinguished Professor, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Illinois in Chicago
Sister Snake◎Amanda Lee Koe
平常價 $24.00A glittering, bold, darkly funny novel about two sisters—one in New York, one in Singapore—who are bound by an ancient secret.
Sisterhood is difficult for Su and Emerald. Su leads a sheltered, moneyed life as the picture-perfect wife of a conservative politician in Singapore. Emerald is a nihilistic sugar baby in New York, living from whim to whim and using her charms to make ends meet. But they share a secret: once, they were snakes, basking under a full moon in Tang dynasty China.
A thousand years later, their mysterious history is the only thing still binding them together. When Emerald experiences a violent encounter in Central Park and Su boards the next flight to New York, the two reach a tenuous reconciliation for the first time in decades. Su convinces Emerald to move to Singapore so she can keep an eye on her—but she soon begins to worry that Emerald’s irrepressible behaviour will out them both, in a sparkling, affluent city where everything runs like clockwork and any deviation from the norm is automatically suspect.
Razor-sharp, hilarious, and raw in emotion, Sister Snake, a reimagining of The Legend of the White Snake, is a novel about being seen for who you are—and, ultimately, how to live free.
“Amanda Lee Koe’s tale of serpentine sisterhood will wend its way into your heart. Drawing equally from folklore and current events, this fearless novel entertains and delights. Beneath its beguiling surface, Sister Snake explores fundamental questions: Are our destinies determined by our bodies? What forms can family take? And what, in the end, does it mean to be human?”
—Rajesh Parameswaran, author of I Am An Executioner
【預購】詩緒:我的詩學筆記◎羅智成
平常價 $34.00【預購】第二種方式喜歡你◎Middle
平常價 $36.00
【預購】天涯太遠,先到海角◎范俊奇
平常價 $30.00【預購】如是蘇東坡◎吳淡如
平常價 $33.00目睹基輔之兵臨城下◎沈傾掞(簡體)
平常價 $26.00新加坡前藝人、電影《戰狼2》執行導演沈傾掞,和他的妻子以及四隻貓,一家六口在烏克蘭首都基輔過著小日子,卻突然陷入一場世紀大戰,在砲火中掙扎求存,一路西逃。他在書中敘述了他日復一日地躲空襲、在路上遭遇砲彈衝擊波、 駕跑車和砲彈賽跑、驚險斷油,以及患上創傷後應激障礙(PTSD)。驚險三週,除了戰情友情甘榜情,還有深刻的反思。
作者簡介
土生土長的新加坡人,喜歡極限運動。完成國民服役後加入了當時的新加坡報業控股集團,當一名攝影記者。1995年在才華洋溢新秀比賽勝出後,成了影視藝人。2020年冠病疫情爆發之前一直在中國大陸從事電影幕後工作,包括劇本創作、專案開發和影視拍攝。俄烏戰爭爆發時,和妻子身在烏克蘭,臨危受命充當了新加坡的戰地記者,為關心俄烏局勢的新加坡人現場報道最新戰情。
【預購】寧可一個人,也不將就◎張小嫻
平常價 $31.00【預購】倪匡:吾寫又寫4◎倪匡
平常價 $23.00回到香港之後,拒絕了不少稿約.可是,到蔡瀾兄說,感到太忙,想停幾天專欄,請我代筆幾天時,卻又一口答應。「倪租界」愈來愈大,不旋踵,竟然可以出書了!
寫得好或壞,已不在討論範圍之內,值得一說的是,許多觀點並未有絲毫改變,說得好聽是堅持,不好聽,是頑固。
不管是什麼,我自己的反應是:哈哈!
倪匡回港後,正式宣布「寫作配額用完了」,從此封筆,結束將近五十年的寫作生涯,直至回港後為好友蔡瀾「解封」,誰知再「爬格仔」便欲罷不能!
本書結集倪匡自「解封」後最新鮮熱辣的珍貴文章,讓你了解這位殿堂級作家對人生、國情、香港、美食及兩性現象等的獨特觀點,篇篇妙筆生花,字字珠璣,妙語妙論數之不盡。
「從蒸高粱開始到出酒,那麼複雜精巧的釀製過程,先民是如何發現,如何掌握的?中國的釀酒年代,可以上溯到歷史還在傳說的時代,那時代,誰能有這樣精妙的技巧把糧食變成酒?當時年紀小,想來想去,沒有答案,只好納悶。後來年歲漸長,終於想到了答案。答案是:外星人教的,哈哈!」──倪匡
作者簡介
倪匡
【預購】又一個時代◎陳冠中
平常價 $30.00【預購】 龍應台演講集套書(共2冊):沙漠玫瑰,怎麼開花|因為殘酷,所以傾聽◎龍應台
平常價 $62.00