Join us on Thursday, July 6th at 7pm PT when Rachel Heng joins us to celebrate the release of her latest novel, The Great Reclamation, with Rita Bullwinkel at 9th Ave!
Masks Encouraged for In-Person Attendance
Or watch online/Livestream link available soon
Praise for The Great Reclamation
"Gorgeously written and compulsively readable, The Great Reclamation is both an intimate love story and an epic historical tale that is sure to be read for years to come. Heng's writing is full of rich, sensuous detail--mysteriously appearing islands, the smell of rain on hot monsoon evenings, the fierce burn of a rubber seed when pressed against the skin--that mesmerizes on every page. She deals with difficult questions--who, and what, are we willing to sacrifice in the name of progress?--while never losing sight of the complex humanity of her characters."--Julie Otsuka, author of The Buddha in the Attic
"Epic for the reasons life itself is epic. The Great Reclamation asks the reader to confront the big things, like love and identity and loss, but it allows us to revel in the little things, too, from the buttery taste of steamed fish to the smooth surface of a rubber seed. It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters."--The New York Times
About The Great Reclamation
Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy's unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country
Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility--something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love.
By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up.
An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people's feet.
About Rachel Heng
Born and raised in Singapore, Rachel Heng is the author of the novel Suicide Club, translated into ten languages. Her short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Glimmer Train, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. She received her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers and has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the National Arts Council of Singapore, among others. She is currently an assistant professor of English at Wesleyan University.
About Rita Bullwinkel
Rita Bullwinkel is the author of Headshot (Viking 2024) and Belly Up, which garnered a 2022 Whiting Award. Bullwinkel's writing has been published in ZYZZYVA, Tin House, The White Review, Conjunctions, BOMB, Vice, NOON, and Guernica. She is a recipient of grants and fellowships from MacDowell, Brown University, Vanderbilt University, Hawthornden Castle, and The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. Her work has been translated into Italian, Greek and Dutch. Both her fiction and translation have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. She is an Editor at Large for McSweeney's, the Deputy Editor of The Believer, a Contributing Editor for NOON, and the creator of Oral Florist. She lives in San Francisco and teaches at the California College of the Arts and University of San Francisco.
show less
Masks Encouraged for In-Person Attendance
Or watch online/Livestream link available soon
Praise for The Great Reclamation
"Gorgeously written and compulsively readable, The Great Reclamation is both an intimate love story and an epic historical tale that is sure to be read for years to come. Heng's writing is full of rich, sensuous detail--mysteriously appearing islands, the smell of rain on hot monsoon evenings, the fierce burn of a rubber seed when pressed against the skin--that mesmerizes on every page. She deals with difficult questions--who, and what, are we willing to sacrifice in the name of progress?--while never losing sight of the complex humanity of her characters."--Julie Otsuka, author of The Buddha in the Attic
"Epic for the reasons life itself is epic. The Great Reclamation asks the reader to confront the big things, like love and identity and loss, but it allows us to revel in the little things, too, from the buttery taste of steamed fish to the smooth surface of a rubber seed. It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters."--The New York Times
About The Great Reclamation
Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy's unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country
Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility--something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love.
By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up.
An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people's feet.
About Rachel Heng
Born and raised in Singapore, Rachel Heng is the author of the novel Suicide Club, translated into ten languages. Her short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Glimmer Train, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. She received her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers and has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the National Arts Council of Singapore, among others. She is currently an assistant professor of English at Wesleyan University.
About Rita Bullwinkel
Rita Bullwinkel is the author of Headshot (Viking 2024) and Belly Up, which garnered a 2022 Whiting Award. Bullwinkel's writing has been published in ZYZZYVA, Tin House, The White Review, Conjunctions, BOMB, Vice, NOON, and Guernica. She is a recipient of grants and fellowships from MacDowell, Brown University, Vanderbilt University, Hawthornden Castle, and The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. Her work has been translated into Italian, Greek and Dutch. Both her fiction and translation have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. She is an Editor at Large for McSweeney's, the Deputy Editor of The Believer, a Contributing Editor for NOON, and the creator of Oral Florist. She lives in San Francisco and teaches at the California College of the Arts and University of San Francisco.
Join us on Thursday, July 6th at 7pm PT when Rachel Heng joins us to celebrate the release of her latest novel, The Great Reclamation, with Rita Bullwinkel at 9th Ave!
Masks Encouraged for In-Person Attendance
Or watch online/Livestream link available soon
Praise for The Great Reclamation
"Gorgeously written and compulsively readable, The Great Reclamation is both an intimate love story and an epic historical tale that is sure to be read for years to come. Heng's writing is full of rich, sensuous detail--mysteriously appearing islands, the smell of rain on hot monsoon evenings, the fierce burn of a rubber seed when pressed against the skin--that mesmerizes on every page. She deals with difficult questions--who, and what, are we willing to sacrifice in the name of progress?--while never losing sight of the complex humanity of her characters."--Julie Otsuka, author of The Buddha in the Attic
"Epic for the reasons life itself is epic. The Great Reclamation asks the reader to confront the big things, like love and identity and loss, but it allows us to revel in the little things, too, from the buttery taste of steamed fish to the smooth surface of a rubber seed. It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters."--The New York Times
About The Great Reclamation
Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy's unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country
Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility--something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love.
By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up.
An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people's feet.
About Rachel Heng
Born and raised in Singapore, Rachel Heng is the author of the novel Suicide Club, translated into ten languages. Her short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Glimmer Train, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. She received her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers and has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the National Arts Council of Singapore, among others. She is currently an assistant professor of English at Wesleyan University.
About Rita Bullwinkel
Rita Bullwinkel is the author of Headshot (Viking 2024) and Belly Up, which garnered a 2022 Whiting Award. Bullwinkel's writing has been published in ZYZZYVA, Tin House, The White Review, Conjunctions, BOMB, Vice, NOON, and Guernica. She is a recipient of grants and fellowships from MacDowell, Brown University, Vanderbilt University, Hawthornden Castle, and The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. Her work has been translated into Italian, Greek and Dutch. Both her fiction and translation have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. She is an Editor at Large for McSweeney's, the Deputy Editor of The Believer, a Contributing Editor for NOON, and the creator of Oral Florist. She lives in San Francisco and teaches at the California College of the Arts and University of San Francisco.
read more
Masks Encouraged for In-Person Attendance
Or watch online/Livestream link available soon
Praise for The Great Reclamation
"Gorgeously written and compulsively readable, The Great Reclamation is both an intimate love story and an epic historical tale that is sure to be read for years to come. Heng's writing is full of rich, sensuous detail--mysteriously appearing islands, the smell of rain on hot monsoon evenings, the fierce burn of a rubber seed when pressed against the skin--that mesmerizes on every page. She deals with difficult questions--who, and what, are we willing to sacrifice in the name of progress?--while never losing sight of the complex humanity of her characters."--Julie Otsuka, author of The Buddha in the Attic
"Epic for the reasons life itself is epic. The Great Reclamation asks the reader to confront the big things, like love and identity and loss, but it allows us to revel in the little things, too, from the buttery taste of steamed fish to the smooth surface of a rubber seed. It is a pleasure to simply live alongside these characters."--The New York Times
About The Great Reclamation
Set against a changing Singapore, a sweeping novel about one boy's unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country
Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility--something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love.
By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up.
An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, The Great Reclamation confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people's feet.
About Rachel Heng
Born and raised in Singapore, Rachel Heng is the author of the novel Suicide Club, translated into ten languages. Her short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Glimmer Train, McSweeney's, and elsewhere. She received her MFA from the Michener Center for Writers and has received grants and fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts, Sewanee Writers' Conference, and the National Arts Council of Singapore, among others. She is currently an assistant professor of English at Wesleyan University.
About Rita Bullwinkel
Rita Bullwinkel is the author of Headshot (Viking 2024) and Belly Up, which garnered a 2022 Whiting Award. Bullwinkel's writing has been published in ZYZZYVA, Tin House, The White Review, Conjunctions, BOMB, Vice, NOON, and Guernica. She is a recipient of grants and fellowships from MacDowell, Brown University, Vanderbilt University, Hawthornden Castle, and The Helene Wurlitzer Foundation. Her work has been translated into Italian, Greek and Dutch. Both her fiction and translation have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes. She is an Editor at Large for McSweeney's, the Deputy Editor of The Believer, a Contributing Editor for NOON, and the creator of Oral Florist. She lives in San Francisco and teaches at the California College of the Arts and University of San Francisco.
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