PUBLISHED POET
CHARIS LIANG
YEAR 3, LINGUISTICS & MULTILINGUAL STUDIES AND ENGLISH
Charis Liang published her poetry compilation internationally when she was just a freshman at NTU. Titled Flinch & Air for its playful and almost metaphysical quality, the slim volume carries 21 poems about the experiences of Asian women and their stories.
A pamphlet like this typically acts as an emerging poet’s calling card, before a full collection of works (usually of more than 30 poems) is debuted.
“Charis’ poems have a compelling and distinctive voice and style. In my poetry class, her works were similar to that of an accomplished poet, but she was humble and eager to hone them further,” says renowned poet Dr Boey Kim Cheng, who taught her in NTU.
Charis’ poetry compilation Flinch & Air, published in her first year in NTU, is available worldwide in bookstores and online.
Words that mend
As a teen, Charis stumbled into poetry sharing anonymous verses on Tumblr. Heartened by online reposts and encouraged by her teacher, she started submitting pieces to journals and winning competitions.
She writes under her pen name Laura Jane Lee, as it has a nice ring to it and all her favourite poets have three-part names.
Having suffered from depression, Charis wants to help others heal through poetry.
She shares: “I was going through hard times. The turning point came when I read Wild Geese by Mary Oliver. I felt seen by that poem. I want my art to enter the lives of others in this same deep, quiet and personal way.”
To hone her craft, she enrolled in NTU’s humanities double major programme and pursued a creative writing minor. Through modules like children’s literature and non-fiction, she expanded her writing to multiple genres.
Searching for home
Moved by Dr Boey’s essays on his experience as a migrant writer, the Hong Kong native and Singapore immigrant pitched an Undergraduate Research Experience on CAmpus (URECA) project to him. Under URECA, where students dive into research while mentored by faculty, she composed several poems on migration.
Her work, On This Earth We Have No Abiding Home, was one of six poems shortlisted from entries from 68 countries for a prestigious writing prize. Thanks to an NTU grant, she flew to England last year to perform it.
At the ceremony, Charis networked with literary experts. A connection made there may just come in handy as she continues to pitch her full poetry collection of about 35 poems to agents and publishers.
Besides penning poems, Charis hustles as an advertising writer, a translator and a voiceover artist to support herself. All while running NTU poetry workshops and leading a Singapore literature youth magazine.
With the NTU Talent Scholarship covering her tuition fees and other expenses, she can focus more on poetry. The $5,000 talent grant lets her attend writing conferences and poetry festivals, including one in Berlin in July.
Charis adds: “I really want to come back to NTU to teach in the future. This is where I’ve had the space to develop my craft. I’ve become a better writer from my classes and the creative writing community here.”
This story was published in the Mar-Apr 2024 issue of HEY!. To read it and other stories from this issue in print, click here.
