By Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé

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

I write to get away from myself, and the world, but through writing I eventually end up confronting both.

Tell us about your most recent book or writing project. What were you trying to say or achieve with it?

My first full-length collection, Deeds of Light, drops this October at the Singapore Writers Festival. I’m both excited and also nervous as nails, because I’m still writing. I’ve been trying to articulate something about the way I live in Singapore today, something about the pace and style of thought, the colour of the air, something more than just nostalgia or confession. We’ll see if I succeed.