About the Book
Prolific writer Colin Cheong brings together three classic novellas and 23 short stories in this first-ever collection. Written in the 1990s, each story reflects his prowess as a storyteller. He is known for his sensitive and skillful articulation of some universal human themes — the pain of rejected love, the frustration and anticipation of being ‘almost adult’, the rites of passage to adulthood, and man’s need for woman.
This collection comprises:
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Seventeen (novella, published 1996)
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Poets, Priests and Prostitutes (novella, published 1990)
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The Man in the Cupboard (novella, published 1999) – won the Merit Award, Singapore Literature Prize 1998
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Life Cycle of Homo Sapiens, Male (short stories, published 1992)
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Five new stories, previously only published in The Straits Times
About the Author
Colin Cheong won his first literary award when he was 25 years old for his very first book The Stolen Child, published in 1989. For this, he received the National Book Development Council of Singapore Highly Commended Award for Fiction in English. He went on to win three more awards for his novellas and a volume of poems. He was previously a journalist and political analyst. He currently teaches at Hwa Chong Junior College and continues to write.
