The Votive Pen

‘I am large, I contain multitudes.’ To those who have read his poems and spoken with him, let alone worked with and come to know him, Edwin Thumboo so truly exemplifies what Whitman said. Reading his best-known poems, you recognize some of the most iconic explicit and extroverted assertions in the canon of a successful and still young country, and yet also encounter finely poised questions about the national condition. To have the opportunity to sit and talk with him is an even more complex, rich and even magical encounter.
The Votive Pen is an encounter with Thumboo as poet and personality. It is studied and erudite, yet unconcerned with orthodoxy and rigid order. This book explains and enrichens and also risks to entertain us with the man and his work. What results is not only an examination of this fine poet and powerful personality in his own work and words, but in the context of the universe–no, multiverse–of ideas, histories, experiences and imaginations that Thumboo contains and has carried forward for so many decades as a unique writer and immense and human soul. - Simon Tay, Writer and Singapore Literature Prize Winner 2010 Nominated Member of Parliament (1997-2001) and Ambassador

Edwin Thumboo lives the single most interesting literary Singaporean life of his generation. The Votive Pen makes sure that this fact stays with a people whose literature has been amnestic. The stories here cross many decades to weave the child and man of the past into the rememberer before a new scribe. Nilanjana Sengupta has achieved something superbly lyrical and historical: this book is for the ages. - Gwee Li Sui, Poet and Literary Critic

This wonderfully rich and detailed biography illuminates Edwin Thumboo’s work with consummate skill. Sengupta delves deeply into the poet’s inner journey, connecting the man and his life to the work and the process of creation. The importance of Thumboo’s poetry and its relevance to the making of the Singapore identity is revealed with laser-eyed sympathy. - Dr Meira Chand, Author

A valuable read for anyone wishing to get into the mind of a pioneer poet in Singapore and one of the country’s first Cultural Medallion recipients. The Votive Pen adds to the much-needed discourse on Singapore’s literary history, in which Edwin Thumboo plays a critical role, and helps us understand how the enterprise of nation building and poetic aesthetics intertwine. - Paul Tan
Poet, former Director, Singapore Writers Festival, Deputy Chief Executive, National Arts Council

Edwin Thumboo’s biography and poetry, so beautifully captured in this volume, reflects the dramatic transformation of our world from late colonialism to nationhood. His is very much a Singapore story - the coming of age through an uncovering of layered identities. - Prof. Tan Tai Yong, President, Yale-NUS College

This biography captures the heart and mind of Singapore’s widely accepted ‘poet laureate’. It is the first book I know which peers into the soul of one of the leading figures of the arts in our country. This is a worthy tome to accompany the life’s works of Edwin Thumboo. - Hsieh Fu Hua, Chairman, National University of Singapore and National Gallery Singapore

Nilanjana Sengupta is an author based in Singapore. Her publications include, A Gentleman’s Word- The Legacy of Subhas Chandra Bose in Southeast Asia (ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute, 2012), The Female Voice of Myanmar- Khin Myo Chit to Aung San Suu Kyi (Cambridge University Press, 2015), My Country- Biography of M Bala Subramanion (World Scientific Press, 2016) and The Votive Pen- Writings on Edwin Thumboo (Penguin Random House, 2020). Sengupta also writes for The Straits Times and for publications of the National Heritage Board, Singapore. Her books have been critically acclaimed, adopted for university courses and translated into multiple languages. She has been associated with the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute as well as NUS in various research capacities.

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