When the Barbarians Arrive
When the Barbarians Arrive by Alvin Pang is a collection published by Arc Publications in 2012, featuring 69 pages of poetry in English. This edition brings together poems from three of Pang’s previously published collections—Testing the Silence, City of Rain, and What Gives Us Our Names—alongside new and uncollected works. The poems explore a range of themes, from unsentimental love to sharp satire, showcasing Pang’s distinctive voice as one of Singapore’s notable poets from the post-1965 generation.
Readers will find a diverse array of poetic styles in this collection, characterized by wry humor, intelligence, and sensitivity. The poems engage with both personal and broader societal themes, offering insights that are at once playful and thought-provoking. With a blend of celebration and critique, Pang’s work contributes to the evolving landscape of urban literature, reflecting both national and international perspectives. This collection serves as a significant addition to the body of contemporary poetry, inviting readers to explore the complexities of modern life through the lens of a skilled poet.
Official synopsis Publisher
When the Barbarians Arrive comprises poems from three published collections – Testing the Silence (1997), City of Rain (2003) and What Gives Us Our Names (2011) – together with a body of new and uncollected poems by one of Singapore’s most exciting and visible poets of the post-1965 generation.
Ranging from unsentimental love poems to sharply satirical writing and audacious medleys, here are poems wry and shrewd, intelligent and sensitive, generous and playful, yet full of paradox; poems that pry, celebrate and unsettle.
This is Alvin Pang’s first full-length UK publication.
[Pang’s] poetry adds a rich and complex presence to the critical mass of urban literature now fully emergent from Singapore. His poems, at once recognizably national and international in reach, offer a fresh edgy energy to this tradition.
Shirley Geok-lin Lim, Winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize 1992
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