GIVING VOICE THROUGH HER WORDS

By Marianne Charmaine Ng Pui Shuet

Diploma in Creative Writing for TV and New Media

Singapore Polytechnic

Author Euginia Tan remembers that her first foray into writing as a teen bored her to tears. She was helping her mother translate an interview of a local actress, and words to her back then were just a functional means of communication. It was only when she started publishing her work did she come to realise the power words actually held.

Euginia’s first poetry collections, Songs about Girls and Playing Pretty, tackle the topic of mental health in Singapore. And the 27-year-old speaks from experience, having struggled with depression during her teen years.

 “There were not many resources to tell young people that, “Hey you know, you can do whatever you want even though you have this ailment,” she says. “It was always about hiding your disorder; it was always about telling people you had to overcome it. I wanted people to say, “Hey, yeah I have this, but I’m still going to do what I love anyway.”

Her third collection, Phedra, draws inspiration from Greek mythology and finds parallels in the present day. It also helped her deal with the loss of both her grandmothers, who passed away within months of each other as she was writing it. 

A Nod to Self-Published Authors

Phedra was shortlisted for the 2018 Singapore Literature Prize (SLP). For many, the nomination would be a symbol of accomplishment. For Euginia, it also represents acceptance. She took the unusual route of self-publishing Songs about Girls and Playing Pretty and says there is still “a lot of judgement” about starting out that way.  Euginia hopes that the literary community will become more welcoming of self-published authors and believes the SLP shortlist is a step in the right direction.

Apart from being a poet, Euginia is a playwright. Her Tuition received local praise for highlighting the strong bonds that teachers can form with their students. She is currently in a two year mentorship with The Finger Players, under Programme Director Chong Tze Chien.

“(The mentorship) really made me change the direction in which I’m taking my writing, and that made me so much more conscious of wanting to bring my craft out there to different types of audiences,” she reveals.

And while Euginia holds writing dear, she believes that integral to the process of doing it well is for authors to know their roots, and that is “that very simple place of being a reader.”