Desmond Kon

Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé (born 1971) is a poet, former journalist, interdisciplinary artist and founder of Squircle Line Press. He has authored ten poetry collections, an epistolary novel, and edited more than fifteen books. He has an MFA in creative writing, and is also an avid potter.

Education Born in 1971, Desmond studied sociology and mass communication at the National University of Singapore in 1995. He went on to receive his theology masters (world religions) from Harvard University in 2006 and fine arts masters (creative writing) from the University of Notre Dame in 2009. He was trained in book publishing at Stanford University in 2001.

Literary career In 2014, he won the Poetry World Cup while representing Singapore. He is the curator of the "eye feel write" ekphrastic collaboration between the Singapore Writers Festival, the Singapore Arts Museum and the National Gallery Singapore. He is also a mentor for the National Arts Council's Mentor Access Project. In 2016, he co-won the Singapore Literature Prize for English Poetry for his poetry collection, "I Didn't Know Mani Was a Conceptualist", published with Math Paper Press.

Desmond Kon’s writing has appeared in over 200 literary publications, including AGNI, Ambit, Asymptote, Harvard Review, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Jacket2, New Orleans Review, Notre Dame Review, QLRS, Seneca Review, The Massachusetts Review, The New Guard, Versal, and Voice & Verse. His other honours include the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Award (Poetry), two Illumination Christian Book Gold Awards (Digital Media in consecutive years), and the PEN American Center Shorts Prize, among other accolades.

Desmond Kon is cited as the inventor of several poetic forms, including the asingbol, the anima methodi, and the found//fount sonnet.

Selected bibliography

Poetry collections

The Arbitrary Sign. 2013. Singapore: Red Wheelbarrow Books. I Didn’t Know Mani was a Conceptualist. 2014. Singapore: Math Paper Press. Sanctus Sanctus Dirgha Sanctus. 2014. Singapore: Red Wheelbarrow Books. The Wrong/Wrung Side of Love. 2015. USA: Glass Lyre Press; Singapore: Squircle Line Press. Phat Planet Cometh. 2015. USA: Glass Lyre Press; Singapore: Squircle Line Press. Thirty-Seven Reasons Red Is Rad. 2016. USA: Glass Lyre Press; Singapore: Squircle Line Press. Mirror Image Mirage. 2016. USA: Glass Lyre Press; Singapore: Squircle Line Press. Reading to Ted Hesburgh. 2017. USA: Glass Lyre Press; Singapore: Squircle Line Press. Apophenia: Forty-One Dada Dilemmas. 2017. USA: Glass Lyre Press; Singapore: Squircle Line Press. Heart Fiat: New Catholic Poems [Dedicated First Edition to Pope Francis]. 2024. USA: Resource Publications (Wipf & Stock imprint); Singapore: Poetry Festival Singapore.

Fiction

Singular Acts of Endearment: A Novel. 2014. USA: Grey Sparrow Press; Singapore: Squircle Line Press.

Non-fiction

Top Ten TCS Stars. 1995. Singapore: Caldecott Publishing. The Good Day I Died: The Near-Death Experience of a Harvard Divinity Student [A Quasi-Memoir]. 2019. Singapore: Penguin Random House South-east Asia.

Lyric essays

Hermitage of Dreamers: Lyric Essays. 2018. USA: Glass Lyre Press; Singapore: Squircle Line Press. Found Texts of the AAI Anon, Circa 3119: Eight Lyric Essays. 2020. Photos. Karen Kon. Singapore: Ethos Books.

Awards

2011 – PEN American Center Shorts Prize 2011 – Smartish Pace Erskine J. Poetry Third Prize 2012 – Little Red Tree Publishing International Poetry Prize 2014 – Poetry World Cup 2015 – Independent Publisher (IPPY) Silver Book Award (Multicultural Fiction 2015 – Living Now Bronze Book Award (Metaphysical) 2015 – National Indie Excellence (NIEA) Book Award (Poetry) 2016 – Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) Benjamin Franklin Gold Award (Poetry) 2016 – Living Now Gold Book Award (Death & Dying) 2016 – Singapore Literature Prize (English Poetry) Co-Winner 2020 – International Poetry Studies Institute (IPSI) Poetry on the Move Meniscus Award (First Prize) 2022 - Living Now Gold Book Award (Digital Media) Co-Winner 2022 – eLit Gold Book Award (Best Book Website) Co-Winner 2022 – Independent Publisher (IPPY) Gold Book Award (Book/Author/Publisher Website) Co-Winner 2022– Illumination Christian Gold Book Award (Digital Media) Co-Winner 2023 - eLit Gold Book Award (Anthologies) Co-Winner 2023 - Illumination Christian Gold Book Award (Digital Media) Co-Winner 2023 - Living Now Gold Book Award (Digital Media) Co-Winner