Public Presentation – Edwin Thumboo: A Poet in Singapore

Based on some 70 years’ experience of life and contacts, the Professor Thumboo discussed how his creative and thematic interests were formed, modified and expanded by various factors and influences. Through the examination of passages and texts, he discussed and illustrated some of the linguistic challenges of using English, how experience is distilled into manageable subject and occasion to start a poem, which was then taken forward with his ‘best words in the best order’ through translating craft into poetry.