{"product_id":"giving-ground","title":"Giving Ground","description":"\u003cul class=\"tabs\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"active\"\u003eDescription\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003ePraise\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"tabs-content\"\u003e\n\u003cli class=\"active\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eGiving Ground\u003c\/em\u003e refers to an act of yielding, or compromise—an active passivity, not unlike the act of writing itself. In his third collection, Theophilus Kwek enters and examines the unfamiliar, giving himself over to the power of place to transform thought and language. At the same time, he gains new ground, finding other homes and histories that change the way he sees his own city.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“In his precocious debut at eighteen, Kwek showed remarkable maturity of perception, accuracy of observation, lucidity of language and visual clarity in evoking striking vignettes of home. These qualities have been further honed since and are now carried by the music of the line, compelling cadences that embody the rhythms of travel and catch the nuances of encounters with a wide range of landscapes and people. Poem after poem brings back reports of the world out there in arresting images that subtly but inexorably provoke thoughts of where and what home is.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/epigrambookshop.xyz\/collections\/authors\/author_boey-kim-cheng\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mce-href=\"https:\/\/epigrambookshop.xyz\/collections\/authors\/author_boey-kim-cheng\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eBoey Kim Cheng\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“Beware the cunningly diffident title. Theophilus Kwek gains incredible mileage from his surrender to the proper stately rhythms of his muse. These warm, Anglophilic poems are large of heart and hold the ocean of a young earth that is feeling its every ripple.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/epigrambookshop.xyz\/collections\/authors\/author_gwee-li-sui\" rel=\"noopener\" data-mce-href=\"https:\/\/epigrambookshop.xyz\/collections\/authors\/author_gwee-li-sui\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eGwee Li Sui\u003c\/a\u003e, poet and critic\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“How much ground is covered in these thoughtful poems through the seen, unseen and in-between! Kwek speaks with the care and intimacy of a close companion, sharing the wonder in wandering. Here is the ‘heart’s geography’ (\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e‘Edinburgh\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e’), a search for meaningful connection on a journey that delights and inspires.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Lavinia Singer, Editor, \u003cem\u003eOxford Poetry\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“[T]his is a fascinating collection about mapping and locating a sense of home by giving in to the unfamiliar.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e—Madiha Ramlan, Asiatic: IIUM Journal of English Language \u0026amp; Literature\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTheophilus Kwek\u003c\/strong\u003e has published two previous collections, \u003cem\u003eThey Speak Only Our Mother Tongue\u003c\/em\u003e (2011) and \u003cem\u003eCircle Line\u003c\/em\u003e (2013), which was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize. He is a winner of the Jane Martin Prize and the Martin Starkie Prize, and his poems have appeared in \u003cem\u003eThe London Magazine\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eThe Interpreter’s House\u003c\/em\u003e, the \u003cem\u003eQuarterly Literary Review of Singapore\u003c\/em\u003e, and various anthologies. He studies History and Politics at Merton College, Oxford, and is currently President of the Oxford University Poetry Society, as well as Content Advisor to the \u003cem\u003eOxford Culture Review\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Ethos Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48601161826601,"sku":"9789810985998","price":16.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/0041\/files\/Web-Giving-Ground-Front.webp?v=1716462495","url":"https:\/\/epigrambookshop.xyz\/products\/giving-ground","provider":"Epigram","version":"1.0","type":"link"}