Suchen Christine Lim
{{Short description|Singaporean writer}}
{{BLP sources|date=November 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Suchen Christine Lim
| image =
| pseudonym =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1948|7|15}}
| birth_place = Ipoh, Federation of Malaya (now Malaysia)
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = Author
| nationality = Singapore
| period =
| genre = Fiction
| subject =
| movement =
| notableworks = Fistful of Colours (1992)
The Lies that Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore(2007)
| spouse =
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| children =
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| awards = 1986: Merit Prize, NUS-Shell Short Play Competition
1992: Inaugural Singapore Literature Prize
2012: S.E.A. Write Award
2023: Cultural Medallion
| website =
| portaldisp = yes
}}
Suchen Christine Lim (born 15 July 1948) is a Malaysian-born Singaporean writer.{{Cite journal|last=Quayum|first=Mohammad A.|date=2007|title=Interview with Suchen Christine Lim|url=https://www.academia.edu/11756044|journal=Mohammad A. Quayum, ed. Peninsular Muse: Interviews with Modern Malaysian and Singaporean Poets, Novelists and Dramatists|language=en}} She was the inaugural winner of the Singapore Literature Prize in 1992. She was awarded Singapore's pinnacle arts award, the Cultural Medallion, in 2023.
Early life
Lim was born in Ipoh, Federation of Malaya and had her early education at the Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus (CHIJ) in Penang and Kedah. At the age of 14 she came to Singapore, and continued her education at CHIJ Katong. She read literature at the National University of Singapore, and graduated with a post-graduate diploma in applied linguistics.
Teaching career
After her graduation, Lim joined the Ministry of Education as a literature teacher and a curriculum specialist. She devoted her time between family, work and writing throughout her years with the ministry.{{cite news|last=Yap|first=Stephanie|date=4 May 2008|title=Soulful writer in pursuit of happiness|work=The Straits Times|location=Singapore}}
Lim retired from the Ministry of Education in August 2003, to devote her time to writing. That devotion subsequently bore fruit in the novels published as Hua Song: Stories of the Chinese Diaspora (2005) and The Lies that Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore (2007).
Literary works
Lim's first story "The Valley of Golden Showers" was written in 1979 for a children's story competition. A year later, Lim entered another writing competition sponsored by the National Book Council, winning second place. These competitions sparked her interest in becoming a writer.
Lim's first novel Rice Bowl was published in 1984, and she co-wrote the award-winning short play The Amah: A Portrait in Black And White in 1986. Her second novel Gift From The Gods (1990) was nominated for a National Book Development Council award in 1992. In that same year, Lim won the inaugural Singapore Literature Prize for her third novel Fistful of Colours (1992). A Bit of Earth (2000) was nominated for the Singapore Literature Prize in 2004. In 1996 she was given a Fulbright Grant to attend the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and returned to the university as writer-in-residence in 2000. This residency honour was also extended to her at the University of Western Australia in Perth, the Moniack Mhor Writers' Centre in the Scottish Highlands and Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines.
In 2015, The Straits Times' Akshita Nanda selected Fistful of Colours as one of 10 classic Singapore novels. She wrote, "The gorgeously detailed A Fistful of Colours by Suchen Christine Lim covers art and women's fight for equal rights over 80 years of Singapore history. The winner of the first Singapore Literature Prize in 1992, it is a fist to the gut with its relentless portrayal of female struggles for power in a patriarchal society that strips women of any right to their sexuality or dignity."{{cite web|last1=Nanda|first1=Akshita|title=10 Singapore stories to ponder|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/books/story/10-singapore-stories-ponder-20150127|access-date=28 January 2015|website=The Straits Times|publisher=Singapore Press Holdings}}
Works
=Novels=
- Dearest Intimate (2022, Marshall Cavendish Editions) {{ISBN|9789815044348}}
- The River's Song (2014, Aurora Metro Press) {{ISBN|1906582440}}
- A Bit of Earth (2001, Times Books International; 2009, Marshall Cavendish Editions) {{ISBN|9789812618955}}
- Fistful of Colours (1992, EPB Publishers; 2003, SNP Editions) {{ISBN|9789812480125}}
- Gift from the Gods (1990, G. Brash) {{ISBN|9971492229}}
- Rice Bowl (1984, Times Books International; 2009, Marshall Cavendish Editions) {{ISBN|9971651513}} {{ISBN|9789812618962}}
=Short stories=
- The Man Who Wore His Wife's Sarong: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore (2017, Monsoon Books) {{ISBN|9781912049080}}
- The Lies that Build a Marriage: Stories of the Unsung, Unsaid and Uncelebrated in Singapore (2007, Monsoon Books) {{ISBN|9789810587130}}
=Non-fiction=
- Hua Song: Stories of the Chinese Diaspora (2005, Long River Press) {{ISBN|9781592650439}}
=Children's=
- Fried Eggs (2014, Ethos Books) {{ISBN|9789810794026}}
- I Don't Want to Dance (2011, Ethos Books) {{ISBN|9789810834777}}
- Miss Missy Mynah (2011, Ethos Books) {{ISBN|9789810881658}}
- My New Monster Truck (2009, Ethos Books) {{ISBN|9789810825522}}
- The Hare and the Tortoise (1992, Manhattan Press) {{ISBN|9813001844}}
- The River People (1992, Manhattan Press) {{ISBN|9812150269}}
- The Biggest Hongbao in the Whole Wide World (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|9971055910}} {{ISBN|9789812804761}}
- Cheep Cheep Cheep (1990, EPB Publishers, 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|9971055740}} {{ISBN|9789812804631}}
- Granny (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|9971055996}} {{ISBN|9789812804792}}
- Grandpa the Collector (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|9971055988}} {{ISBN|9789812804822}}
- Nanny Nanny Poo Poo (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|9971056003}} {{ISBN|9789812804754}}
- Mano Made A Promise (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|9971055929}} {{ISBN|9789812804617}}
- Roti Prata (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|997105597X}} {{ISBN|9789812804839}}
- Woo Won Ton (1991, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|9971056046}} {{ISBN|9789812804709}}
- When My Baby Sister Came Home (1990, EPB Publishers) {{ISBN|9971055880}}
- Ants in a Hurry (1990, EPB Publishers) {{ISBN|9971055767}}
- Julius Fatball and the Alley Cats (1990, EPB Publishers; 2009, EPB Pan Pacific) {{ISBN|997105583X}} {{ISBN|9789812804648}}
- The Hatching (1990, EPB Publishers) {{ISBN|9971055759}}
- The Valley of Golden Showers (1979, Educational Publications Bureau)
=Others=
- The Amah: a Portrait in Black and White (1986, short play)
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.suchenchristinelim.com/ Suchen Christine Lim webpage]
- {{YouTube|WWSxIdAGfDU|Video excerpt of Suchen Christine Lim reading her short story The Morning After}}
- [https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1v2xv0r.4?seq=3#page_scan_tab_contents "Multiracial Clans in Colorful Malaya"] by Christopher B. Patterson
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lim, Suchen Christine}}
Category:20th-century Singaporean writers
Category:Singaporean women writers
Category:Singaporean people of Hakka descent
Category:Malaysian emigrants to Singapore
Category:People who lost Malaysian citizenship
Category:Naturalised citizens of Singapore
Category:S.E.A. Write Award winners
Category:Singaporean non-fiction writers
Category:Singaporean novelists
Category:Singaporean women novelists
Category:Singapore Literature Prize winners
Category:National University of Singapore alumni