Jason Erik Lundberg

new Singaporean speculative fiction

Fish eats lion

The Epigram books collection of best new Singaporean short stories

Bo Bo and Cha Cha's Big Day Out

More New Singaporean Speculative Fiction

Fish Eats Lion Redux

Selected Stories

Most Excellent and Lamentable

A Field Guide to Surreal Botany

Enter the strange mind of Jason Erik Lundberg, hailed by The Guardian for “achieving emotionally resonant effects within just a few pages”. Let his imagination introduce you to an unearthly star girl, a foul-mouthed wombat, slithering immortals, a fish with premonitions, and much more. These short stories, painstakingly selected from Lundberg’s first three collections, include a brand-new novelette—“Slowly Slowly Slowly” takes place in a future Singapore where an old folks' home takes the form of an actual zoo—and the author's preferred texts of “The Stargirl and the Potter” and “Ikan Berbudi (Wise Fish)”.

Gwee Li Sui

Annaliza Bakri

The first volume of a brand new horror anthology series. Ghost stories and tales of fright have a long verbal and written tradition in Singapore, and so Epigram Books is proud to present a new annual anthology series of terrifying local fiction. Featuring all the winners of the 2022 Storytel Epigram Horror Prize, Fright 1 celebrates all subsets of the horror genre, told with a Singaporean twist. The contributors include Meihan Boey, Dew M. Chaiyanara, Dave Chua, Jane Huang, Wen-yi Lee, Kelly Leow, Kimberly Lium, O Thiam Chin, Quek Shin Yi, Tan Lixin and Teo Kai Xiang.

Winners of the 2022 Storytel Epigram Horror Prize

Fright 1

Li Sui Gwee

Volume six

The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singaporean Short Stories

Volume two

In 2012, author and editor Jason Erik Lundberg released Fish Eats Lion, the first anthology of literary speculative fiction to be published in Singapore, a groundbreaking work that opened the floodgates of acceptability for the genre in the island-nation, forever changing the landscape. Now, a decade later, he returns with Fish Eats Lion Redux, proving that SF is still alive and strong in the Lion City, and exploring Singapore from the distant past to the far future and many points between, as well as alternate versions along the multiverse. With original stories by Meihan Boey, Ng Yi-Sheng, Nuraliah Norasid, Victor Fernando R. Ocampo, Suffian Hakim, Inez Tan, Cyril Wong, Daryl Qilin Yam and many more, this new collection shows beyond doubt that the realm of the imagination has never been so strange or so local.

The Alchemy of Happiness: a triptych of stories rooted in Southeast Asian myth and legend, literary fantasy at its very best. In the beginning were the four: Water, Fire, Air, and Earth. Arriving simultaneously with the creation of the world, these archetypal elementals shaped humanity from the very start; two of the four continue to do so. BLUE—The first trickster, fluid and fickle, holder of all the answers, and, therefore, of all the power. DANE—The loyal lieutenant and enforcer, dispatching fiery judgment without question. In various guises and forms, through the interstices of our reality and multiple afterlives, these two ancient but flawed siblings seek to find the one metaphysical formula that will lead them out of the never-ending cycle of suffering. This volume also features "Embracing the Strange," a 14,000-word hybrid essay on the transformative power of speculative fiction, as well as "Represented Spaces," a wide-ranging interview with Jason Erik Lundberg by author and editor Wei Fen Lee. "The writing is smooth and crisply visual, and the dialog sparkles … Go with the flow, and you'll meet an interesting character who ultimately is given a thought-provoking choice, one which comes with a unique sacrifice." —Douglas Hoffman, Tangent "A fantasy tale of the highest calibre, at times I thought I was reading the last chapter of a great novel and it has certainly made me want to hear more from this author. A world of magic suddenly springs from a fairly ordinary beginning as Goran soon realises that things are not what they seem, and he quickly plunges into a new and disturbing world that is set to change his life forever." —Tracy Sherrin-Miller, Whispers of Wickedness, on “Reality, Interrupted” "Lundberg's writing is that of an Old Soul who views the world through Young Eyes; his work is jamais vu of the highest order." —James A. Owen, author and illustrator of Here, There Be Dragons

Three Stories and a Hybrid-Essay

The Alchemy of Happiness

Quek Zhou Ma, a performer who goes by the stage name Zed, returns to the island-nation of Tinhau after a long absence to attend the funeral of his older sister. As he deals with conflicting feelings about a homeland he hardly recognises, he decides to produce a lavish production with the Ministry of Culture, but opening night is marred by a bombing attributed to a local resistance group, Red Dhole. He meets Tara, a graphic designer with the Ministry of Culture who finds herself uneasily associated with Red Dhole. She is charged with bringing Zed over to the cause, but as the pair grow closer, she doubts whether she can complete her task. Meanwhile, Vahid Nabizadeh, Zed’s creative partner and a master puppeteer, finds a new home in Tinhau, but he becomes embroiled in political and financial intrigue that threatens to unbalance the stability of the government. As Zed, Tara and Vahid struggle with their disaffected identities, Tinhau is abruptly attacked by the Range, a mysterious cloud formation that appears without warning and destroys without mercy, a weapon as fickle and restless as the human mind.

A Fickle and Restless Weapon

The year is 2040 and an envoy of the North American Union finds himself a fugitive in the Southeast Asian nation of Tinhau. Lucas Lehrer is tasked with travelling from the North American Union to the island-nation of Tinhau to extend the offer of political partnership. When negotiations break down, Lucas decides to request asylum, and he soon encounters an odd series of coincidences in which his deep-seated desires start coming true. Among the backdrop of societal instability and growing nativism, he befriends a young woman who is not what she seems, and who may not be from our universe at all.

Diary of One Who Disappeared

Finalist, Crystal Kite Member Choice Awards, Middle East/India/Asia Category Recommended by the National Library Board, Singapore and Ministry of Communications and Information Bo Bo and Cha Cha have come to the Mandai Zoo! Bo Bo is excited, but Cha Cha is not. Everything here seems too strange: the other animals, the heat, and the food! Cha Cha wants to leave—until a caring sloth shows her what being home really means. “This book teaches kids how to be accepting of unfamiliar situations. On top of that, I find it fun to read the speech of Singlish-speaking orang utans, and it is also a chance to discuss the different kinds of English used in Singapore.” — Tan Keng Yao, My Paper

A New Home for Bo Bo and Cha Cha

Jeremy Tiang

O Thiam Chin

Amanda Lee Koe

Cyril Wong

Alvin Pang

Yu-Mei Balasingamchow

Dave Chua

Felix Cheong

Ann Ang

Verena Tay

Ng Yi-Sheng

Stephanie Ye

Justin Ker

Vinita Ramani Mohan

Karen Kwek

Koh Choon Hwee

Eleanor Neo

Wei Fen Lee

Phan Ming Yen

Alfian Sa’at

In recent years, Singaporean literature has begun experiencing a sea change, with the short story form enjoying a renaissance. As a result, an explosion of short fiction with a Singaporean flavour has been produced to incredible effect, both by emerging and established writers. For the prose enthusiast, it is a very exciting time. The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singaporean Short Stories: Volume One curates the finest short fiction from Singaporean writers published in 2011 and 2012. This ground-breaking and unique anthology showcases stories that examine various facets of the human condition and the truths that we tell ourselves in order to exist in the everyday. The styles are as varied as the authors, and no two pieces are alike. Here are twenty unique and breathtaking literary insights into the Singaporean psyche, which examine what it means to live in this particular part of the world in this particular time.

Volume One

One day in the estate of Toa Payoh, Bo Bo and Cha Cha get their aprons on to help Mr. Pan at his rojak stall. As the queue grows longer, crazy hijinks ensue and the pandas almost overcook the peanuts. Bo Bo also accidentally burns the you tiao! Just after they finally put the rojak together, Ram Gordon the famous chef appears! What will he think of the rojak the pandas have cooked? Will Mr. Pan’s reputation be ruined? Find out more in the new title from the Bo Bo and Cha Cha series, Bo Bo and Cha Cha Cook Up a Storm!

Bo Bo and Cha Cha Cook Up a Storm!

Bo Bo and Cha Cha Cook Up a Storm

Jason Erik Lundberg

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