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Leong Liew Geok

Leong Liew Geok (b. 1947, Penang, Malaysia - ) is a renowned local poet. She was one of the ten Singaporeans selected for American publisher W. W. Norton's 2008 international anthology titled Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia, and Beyond, which features 440 poems by 440 poets. The 1998 anthology that she edited, More Than Half the Sky: Creative Writings by Thirty Singaporean Women, has also received widespread accolades.

Education and Career
Leong obtained her early education in Penang, where she was born. Her pursuit of education subsequently took her to Australia, England and the United States (US). She studied at the University of Adelaide and the La Trobe University in Australia, and obtained a graduate degree on American Literature and Modern English at the University of Leicester in England. She then earned a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in American Literature at the George Washington University in the US.

After receiving her PhD, she started teaching at the Department of English Language and Literature in the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1981. She stayed on for 21 years before retiring from academia in 2002. For someone who has spent her life in various countries, she appears to be most comfortable in Singapore. One of the main reasons is that it is in Singapore that she has found the most emotional support from both friends and colleagues.

Her Poetry
Her writings exemplify the kind of struggles that modern women typically face in trying to find a compromise between their work and family roles. While she has denied that she is a feminist, her writings do reflect certain inequalities between husband and wife.

She has the habit of scribbling her thoughts on used paper because she wants to contribute to the conservation of trees, no matter how inconsequential her actions may be.

Achievements
Leong's first poetry collection, Love Is Not Enough (1991), was recommended for a book award by the National Book Development Council in 1992. In addition, it was the most-borrowed poetry book at Singapore's public libraries in 1992.

Her anthology More Than Half the Sky: Creative Writings by Thirty Singaporean Women, which took her four years to compile, also attracted rave reviews from the local press when it was published. As local literary works were often published by men, this was outstanding because it featured an unparalleled 30 female writers and included not only poetry but also plays and prose. It has since been adopted as a literary textbook at both the NUS and the Nanyang Technological University.

Significantly, Leong has partnered NUS associate professor Grant Shen in translating text from traditional Chinese to modern English for a Chinese opera sung in English. The opera, named The West Wing, was the first of its kind. Staged in April 2008, it was produced by the Chinese Opera Institute and students from the NUS.

Her literary works have even inspired an architectural design. It was reported in 2000 that an architecture student, Soon Yean Tying, had designed a living area based on Leong's exemplification of the tension resulting from women's struggle to find a balance between their domestic and work roles. Leong herself was pleasantly intrigued by the three-dimensional interpretation of her poetry.

Among her numerous achievements, she has also presented her poetry works at various literary festivals and conferences in Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Selected Publications
Author
1991 : Love Is Not Enough.
2000 : Women Without Men.

Editor
1997 : Responsibility and Commitment: The Poetry of Edwin Thumboo.
1998 : More Than Half the Sky: Creative Writings by Thirty Singaporean Women.
1999 : Dying to Live: The Role of Kamma in Dying and Rebirth.
2003 : Complicities - Connections and Divisions: Perspectives on Literatures and Cultures of the Asia-Pacific Region.

Family
Leong is married with three children.



Author
O Jiaqing



References
A house full of tension. (2000, April 19). The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

Forum on Malaysian, Singapore writing. (1994, July 23). The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

Koh, B. S. (1991, March 23). Freed verse. The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

Koh, B. S. (1991, March 23). Women's whirl. The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

Koh, B. S. (1993, January 23). Popular books at libraries. The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

Latif, S. (2008, April 3). Chinese opera gets extreme makeover. The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

National Book Development Council of Singapore. (n.d.). Leong Liew Geok. Retrieved February 28, 2009, from http://www.bookcouncil.sg/_writers/writers_l.php

Ong, S. F. (1997, April 24). Voices of 30 women writers set to roar. The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

The chosen ones. (2009, January 18). The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

Yap, S. (2007, April 8). Where are the women? The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.

Yap, S. (2009, January 18). 10 poets make Norton cut. The Straits Times. Retrieved February 10, 2009, from Factiva database.



The information in this article is valid as at 2009 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Authors
Leong, Liew Geok, 1947-
Women poets--Biography
Award winners--Singapore--Biography
Language and literature>>Poetry>>English poetry



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