Lounge Interview: Vicky Chong (Author)

Team Kitaab is in conversation with author Vicky Chong whose story is soon going to be published in TBASS 2021.

Vicky Chong is the author of Racket and Other Stories, by Penguin Random House in 2021. She graduated with Master of Arts – Creative Writing from Goldsmiths’ College, University of London. Her creative non-fiction stories were published in two anthologies by Singapore’s National Library Board.  

Short story The Uber Driver won third prize in the 2018 Nick Joaquin Literary Awards Asia-Pacific. She had three short stories published in Business Mirror, Philippines. Two short stories were published in the anthologies Letter to my Son and A View of Stars.  

Her story ‘Safe Distancing Ambassador’ is soon going to be published in TBASS 2021 (Kitaab, 2021)

Team Kitaab: Let’s get down to brass tacks. Why do you write?

Vicky Chong: Because the stories in my head make my life more interesting when I write them out.  

Team Kitaab: Share a bit about your writing journey so far. How did you start? Any roadblocks?

Vicky Chong: My writing journey started seriously in 2007 when I took a 10-month correspondence course with The Writers Bureau in UK but nothing much happened thereafter, although I had some pieces published in a few magazines. I attended many writing courses locally and some stories were published in anthologies from those courses. There were occasions when I doubt myself, especially when I received rejection letters but I have a good writer friend who constantly encouraged me to continue to submit to journals and competitions despite these rejections. (Thanks Olivier!)