About

Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé

“No one writes quite like Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé,” Richard Collins says of the book “ãkolpomõtism”. “It is not just that he has found new forms (though he has), not just that his syntax is a rarity (it is), not just that he has something to say that has, somehow, not been said before (it hasn’t). In other hands, the new, the rare, the as-yet-unsaid is not always pleasurable, not always beautiful, not always delicious. This book though is a feast of juxtapositions, a mélange of miscegenations, an impossibility of conversations, from the complex simplicity of the poems (like a blue belt) to the roughening texture of the essays (like a cat’s tongue). I consider it one of the triumphs of my efforts as an editor to have published several of these beautiful enigmas in ‘Xavier Review’.” This book of poems and essays, titled “ãkolpomõtism: no + bosom | | womb + meeting”, is forthcoming in 2013, along with the poetry collection, “I Didn’t Know Mani Was a Conceptualist”. Of this second book, John Wilkinson has this to say: “The crystalline structures of ‘I Didn’t Know Mani Was a Conceptualist’ precipitate out of Eastern and Western religious and philosophical texts, out of tantra, science fiction, cinema, high art, collage and low camp, out of Singapore, China, Europe and the United States. Beaded through this book Desmond Kon’s crystals glitter instructively ‘like angels hanging onto tiaras’. Both elegant and extravagant, they thread suspended between prose poem and multiplex narrative, a cubist’s sphere.” The author of these works, Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé has edited more than ten books and co-produced three audio books, two of which were anthologies “For the Love of God” and “Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover aka Dead People, Flying Fishes And The Ones Who Missed The Boat”. The other titles span the genres of ethnography, journalism and creative nonfiction, some edited pro bono for non-profit organizations including Sok Sabay Cambodia, Riding for the Disabled Association, and the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre. A former entertainment journalist with “8 Days” magazine, Desmond has traveled to Australia, France, Hong Kong and Spain for his stories, which have included features on Madonna, Björk and Morgan Freeman, culminating in the authorship of the limited edition “Top Ten TCS Stars” for Caldecott Publishing. With early freelance illustration for “The Straits Times”, he has returned to drawing and design, with his Madding Mission Series of stationery. His online novelty store, ECRITUREartefacts, creates literary curiosities, which include glassware, book totes, and laptop cases. Trained in book publishing at Stanford University, Desmond studied sociology and mass communication at the National University of Singapore, and later received his theology masters (world religions) from Harvard University and fine arts masters (creative writing) from the University of Notre Dame. Says Joseph Dan of Desmond: “Kon has developed an unusual breadth and depth of erudition, in the fields of literature, philosophy and religion. He is familiar with classical and modern primary sources as well as modern and contemporary scholarly studies.” As a consultant, Desmond’s editorial projects have seen him collaborating with authors and artists from an international community spanning Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, China, Colombia, Czech Republic, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tibet, Turkey, Ukraine, and Vietnam, among other nations. An interdisciplinary artist, Desmond also works in clay. Through his Potter Poetics Collection, he has designed and sculpted ceramic works to commemorate Albert Camus’ 50th Anniversary, the Dalai Lama’s 50th Year of Exile, Gerard Manley Hopkins’ 120th Anniversary, Walter Benjamin’s 70th Anniversary, Matteo Ricci's 400th Anniversary, Marguerite Porete's 700th Anniversary, Edgar Allan Poe’s Bicentennial, Simone Weil's Birth Centennial, Swami Abhishiktananda's Birth Centennial, Thomas Merton’s 40th Anniversary, Jack Kerouac's 40th Anniversary, Cave Canem’s 10 Years of Service to African American Poets, Grolier Poetry Bookshop’s 80 Years of Service as the Oldest Continuous Poetry Bookstore in the US, and Poet Lore’s 120th Anniversary as the Oldest Continuously Published Poetry Magazine in the US, among other commemorative pieces. His ceramic works are housed in museums and private collections in India, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Writing under several heteronyms, Desmond divides his time between his art and teaching creative writing, his poetry and prose having placed in literary competitions in Canada, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Nigeria, Scotland, and the United States. Among his honoraria are appointments as juror for writing competitions – these include Singapore Poetry Slam, National Youth Slam League, Budding Writers Contest, and Writing the City Projects – organized by Marshall Cavendish, Word Forward, and The British Council. Desmond helms Squircle Line Press as its founding editor and publisher.

website: http://www.pw.org/content/desmond_kon

number of arts: 274