By Yeow Kai Chai

Reading the blurbs on the back of Ally Chua's debut poetry collection Acts of Self Consumption (Recent Work Press, 2023), one takeaway stands out – the idea/stereotype of Singaporean-ness, and what it means to write from afar.

Samuel Caleb Wee exhorts the reader to "(l)eave everything you thought you knew about Singaporean poetry behind in that boring house party," while Jennifer Anne Champion describes Chua as a "Singaporean poet…using America, New York in particular, as backdrop for her journey through pain and heartbreak."

An immersion in the phantasmagoria of, say, a long poem like 'Martin Scorsese and I Get into a Taxi', gives you a peep into her adroit amalgam of imagination, film and headline news that propels the peripatetic experience in Chua's poetic vision.

This and other New York- and America-based poems are likely the fruits of her Singapore Unbound Fellowship for New York City which she received in 2019. Not surprisingly, she is also an avid solo traveller and reader who takes inspiration from a range of sources, including her travels, Richard Siken's words, the lyrics of Brian Fallon, and zombie video games.

A self-confessed chronic insomniac, Chua explores interstices of identity and displacement, connection and violence. She is a member of the Singapore writing collective /s@ber and has been published in Cordite Poetry Review, Salamander Magazine and here in QLRS.

Now based in Boston, Ally is pursuing a Master of Arts in Public Relations at Emerson College, and serves as a Poetry Reader for Redivider Magazine. 

1. What are you reading right now?
It had been my summer break, so I was on a reading binge. I finished Eleanor Oliphant Is Perfectly Fine by Gail Honeyman, a sweet book about resolving childhood trauma after decades of loneliness; Lovelier Lonelier by Daryl Qilin Yam, a sprawling, introspective novel about the lives of four friends after one strange weekend; and finally Bad Blood by John Carreyrou, a nonfiction exposé about Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos.

I'm looking to get started again on All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. I tried to read it a couple years back but did not finish.

2. If you were a famous literary character in a novel, play or poem, what would you be and why?
Lyra Belacqua from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Lyra is plucky, tenacious and brave; all the qualities I want to emulate. His Dark Materials is also set in an alternate steampunk version of Oxford and other regions – so that would be a fascinating universe to explore.

3. What is the greatest misconception about you?
I'm extroverted. So the greatest misconception about me is probably that my extroversion means I am a confident person. I am not. I am ridden with insecurities and anxieties. In fact, I would say that my insecurities are the reasons why I am so driven. I always want to get ahead of the demons in my head saying I am not good enough.

4. Name one living writer and one dead writer you most identify with, and tell us why.
You know, this question stumped me because we are talking about writers we identify with and not so much admire. I feel that's a big distinction.

Living writer – maybe Chuck Palahniuk because he didn't come from a literary background; worked a variety of different jobs; and only started writing in his 30s. Dead writer – as cliched as it is, probably Sylvia Plath. But more for her honesty and confessional style.

5. Do you believe in writer's block? If so, how do you overcome it?
Oh yes. I'm terrible at completing stories. Part of it is a challenging day career that is just as full-bodied as my literary career. So I can get too busy or otherwise get stuck in a headspace that is not very good for writing.

I overcome it by finding external avenues to be accountable – having someone or a writing group that I have to submit my chapters to every month, to be accountable. Deadlines, I guess, to force me to sit down and write.

6.  What qualities do you most admire in a writer?
Bravery and fearlessness. Writers who are willing to go there and take risks in their writing.

7. What is one trait you most deplore in writing or writers?
Gatekeeping. Any form of elitism that perceives that some types of literature are better than others.

8. Can you recite your favourite line from a literary work or a piece of advice from a writer?
So many lines. I hoard quotes like a curmudgeon remembering old grudges, so bear with me for sharing three:

1. In Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows by J R Rowling, this line in a larger paragraph about mortality has always stayed in my head:

He envied even his parents' deaths now. This cold-blooded walk to his own destruction would require a different kind of bravery.

I feel I have to explain the context. The idea of walking to one's death – without protest, without fighting – as a grand strategic gesture had a devastating effect on teenage me. As a Potterhead, when you add the fact that I had been following Harry Potter's journey for close to 10 years at that point, that quote broke me.

2. From my favourite poem of all time, 'You Are Jeff' by Richard Siken:

You're in a car with a beautiful boy, and he won't tell you that he loves you, but he loves you.

That line lives rent-free in my hopelessly romantic heart.

3. As a fictionist, Neuromancer by William Gibson has my favourite opening line in any novel:

The sky above the port was the colour of television, tuned to a dead channel.

With that opening sentence William Gibson set my expectations for an atmospheric cyberpunk ride.

9. Complete this sentence: Few people know this, but I...
also enjoy the beauty of song lyrics. Leonard Cohen is the OG of course – I found the lyrics of 'Famous Blue Raincoat' to be like a sad Bukowski poem. "And you treated my woman to a flake of your life / And when she came back she was nobody's wife."

People may disagree, but Taylor Swift and Lana del Rey are really talented storytellers. Lana del Rey has a monologue in Ride that is a specific kind of Americana aesthetic. Brian Fallon from the band Gaslight Anthem as well. They tell good stories through their songs.

10. At the movies, if you have to pick a comedy, a tragedy or an action thriller to watch, which would you go for?
Action thrillers or comedies. As long as I don't have to turn on my brain after a long, draining day.

11. What is your favourite word, and what is your least favourite one?
Probably 'nebulous' or 'nebula'. I find cosmic imagery and the scale of space to be both scary and inspiring.

Least favourite – any corporate word I have to use unironically at work. 'Circle back' is a big one. 'Engagement' is another. Best part is I have to use them fairly frequently. Writer Ally hates Corporate Ally.

12. Please compose a rhyming couplet with the following words: gaslight, RPG, elevator.

I ask only we treat this like an RPG with one life.
We can't power an elevator to heaven on gaslight.

13. What object is indispensable to you when you write?
My laptop and selected Spotify playlists. Coffee; any coffee will do.

If I am writing poems, I use Gmail drafts. If novels, I use Scrivener or Google Docs.

14. What is the best time of the day for writing?
I tend to write in the afternoons or evenings, between 4pm and 8pm. Unfortunately, I have found that I am most productive when I have insomnia and wake up at 3am; then I just hammer out pages of insomnia-driven word vomit.

15. If you have a last supper, which three literary figures, real or fictional, would you invite to the soiree, and why?
I have a lot of literary heroes to be honest. But probably Chuck Palahniuk, Stephen King, and Gillian Flynn. I find that there is a sense of fearlessness in their work; they also have a talent for creating abhorrent, distasteful protagonists and still make them sympathetic. I think it would be interesting to see them talk about their craft.

16. In a recent Facebook post, you said: "Despite childhood dreams of being a writer, I only took my writing seriously when I turned 28. Life got in the way and I stopped writing after I left university." Yet, in 2023, you have a book of poems, Acts of Self Consumption, out, and a novel, The Disappearance of Patrick Zhou, to be published later this year. What advice would you give to any aspiring writer who finds it tough to get published, and what did you do specifically to make your dream come true?
When you try to write again in adulthood, it is way more challenging to stay motivated.

There's definitely personal sacrifice involved if you have a full-time job. Something will have to give – your social life, your relaxation time, your quality time with loved ones, et cetera. Some days I would work 8am to 6pm, grab dinner, then settle in to write from 7pm to 10pm. Or, instead of going out for lunch, I'll eat at my desk and write during lunch breaks.

It can be incredibly hard to stay motivated, so my advice to other writers – and really how I was able to make my dream come true – is to find support externally. I mentioned accountability earlier. I had a prose writing group that met once a month, and that forced me to produce chapters so I would have something to talk about during our sessions.

I also had another writing group that encouraged me and supported me when I was getting rejected left, right and centre for my poetry. There was one year when I received over 80 rejections – phew.

External support keeps you going when your fountain of motivation turns dry. That is really my key advice. Ask for help. Look for support.

17. What would you write on your own tombstone?
She was more than enough.

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