MARYLYN TAN

Poet

Marylyn Tan is unapologetic about using shock value in her writing. She enjoys causing discomfort and believes that confrontation—not avoidance—is key to awaken ourselves to difficult issues. In Gaze Back, her debut poetry collection, she forces readers to examine their attitudes towards menstruation, sexuality and witchcraft. Her bold treatment of taboo subjects won her the Singapore Literature Prize for English poetry last year. The triumph was significant not just for the fact that Tan was the first-ever female winner for English poetry in the prize’s 28-year history, but also because she identifies as queer.

Do you come from a literary background? How did you get started as a poet?

My parents both work in finance and the only time I’ve formally studied literature was during my O levels. I used to write poems to my dad during the holidays and he’d tell me how he liked them. I started writing poetry because I thought it was for everyone— and it is. It always has been.

What, in your opinion, is the responsibility of poetry?

The responsibility of any literature is to demolish, destabilise and disrupt the status quo. It is to interrogate oppressive structures, question falsehoods, and lay bare the inconvenient.

What inspires your poetry?

Good poetry. Bad poetry. Having my boundaries violated, my queer, trans and minority siblings alienated, my body objectified. I write as a vehicle towards

– Marylyn Tan

emancipation and reimagining what pleasure can look like.

What advice do you have for other poets?

Ask yourself if you must tell this story. If you don’t, why write? If you do, what is stopping you from writing like a knife towards the truth?

“Ask yourself if you must tell this story”