Desmond Kon

Poet

Email:

desmond.kon.zhicheng.mingde@gmail.com

Website:

www.desmondkon.com

Author's Bio

Desmond Francis Xavier Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé (b. 1971) is the author of an epistolary novel, a quasi-memoir, two lyric essay monographs, four hybrid works, nine poetry collections, a guided creative journal, and several chapbooks. The founding editor of Squircle Line Press, he has edited more than twenty-five books and co-produced three audiobooks, several pro bono for non-profit organizations including Sok Sabay Cambodia, Riding for the Disabled Association, the National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre, and SAGE Counselling Centre. These titles span the genres of ethnography, journalism, creative writing, and corporate literature. 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. A former entertainment journalist with 8 Days, he has travelled 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 at times 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. 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, writing, teaching, editing, design, and publishing, his poetry and prose having placed in literary competitions in Australia, Canada, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Scotland, Singapore, and the United States. Among his honoraria are appointments as juror for literary competitions/projects – these include Singapore National Poetry Competition, Singapore Poetry Slam, National Youth Slam League, Creative Arts Programme Portfolio Selection, Poetry on Platforms, Budding Writers Project, and Writing the City Competitions – organized by Marshall Cavendish, Word Forward, Poetry Festival Singapore, National Library Board, Ministry of Education, and The British Council.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:

Seven Hundred Lines: A Crown of Found//Fount Sonnets (Glass Lyre Press, 2019)

Asingbol (Glass Lyre Press, 2017)

Thirty Days: The Best of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project's First Year (Tupelo Press, 2015)

Starry Island: New Writing from Singapore (University of Hawaii Press, 2014)

Best of Pirene's Fountain (Glass Lyre Press, 2013)

Ekphrastia Gone Wild (Ain't Got No Press, 2013)

Malala: Poems For Malala Yousafzai (FutureCycle Press, 2013)

Voices Israel Anthology: Poetry From Israel & Abroad (Voices Israel, 2013)

Dreams, Shadows and Ashes: Prizewinning Poems (Voices Israel, 2012)

Little Red Tree International Poetry Prize 2012 Anthology (Little Red Tree Publishing, 2012)

Read Write [Hand]: A Multidisciplinary Nick Cave Reader (Silkworms Ink, 2012)

Scratch Anthology: Award-Winning Short Stories and Poetry (CreateSpace USA, 2012)

Sunrise From Blue Thunder: A Pirene's Fountain Anthology for Japan's Earthquake-Tsunami Relief (, 2012)

Voices Israel Anthology: Poetry From Israel & Abroad (Voices Israel, 2012)

Writings from the Heart: Stories and Poems from Around the World (CreateSpace USA, 2012)

In the Garden of the Crow (Elektrik Milk Bath Press, 2011)

Poets Amongst Us: Aquillrelle Poetry Anthology (, 2011)

The Kartika Review 2009-2010 Anthology (Lulu Press, 2011)

The Million-Line Poem (Tupelo Press, 2011)

The Mo Chapbook: A Movember Special Edition (Silkworms Ink, 2011)

Vol L: 50th Chapbook Anthology (Silkworms Ink, 2011)

[C.]: An MLP Stamp Stories Project (Mud Luscious Press, 2011)

GASPP: A Gay Anthology of Singapore Poetry & Prose (Literary Centre, 2010)

The Writing Disorder Anthology (Lulu Press, 2010)

Sailing in the Mist of Time: Fifty Award-Winning Poems (Lulu Press, 2006)

For the Love of God: A Creative Anthology (Beaumont Press, 2004)

I'm A Volunteer Too: Forty Heartwarming Singaporean Stories (Beaumont Press, 2004)

One for the Love of God: A Music Tribute to Powerful Poetry (Beaumont Press, 2004)

Don't Judge A Book By Its Cover aka Dead People, Flying Fishes And The Ones Who Missed The Boat (Beaumont Press, 2003)

Impressions of a Pipa Player: Profiles of the World's Most Premier (Beaumont Press, 2003)

Books:

Depth of Field (Penguin Random House, 2021)

The Good Day I Died: The Near-Death Experience of a Harvard Divinity Student (Penguin Random House, 2019)

Hermitage of Dreamers (Glass Lyre Press, 2018)

The World According to Ms Erasure (Glass Lyre Press, 2018)

Apophenia (Glass Lyre Press, 2017)

Jia Lat lah (Glass Lyre Press, 2017)

Reading to Ted Hesburgh (Glass Lyre Press, 2017)

FOODPORN cum Maundy Thursday (Glass Lyre Press, 2016)

Mirror Image Mirage (Glass Lyre Press, 2016)

Thirty-Seven Reasons Red Is Rad (Glass Lyre Press, 2016)

Phat Planet Cometh (Glass Lyre Press, 2015)

The Wrong/Wrung Side of Love (Glass Lyre Press, 2015)

Singular Acts of Endearment (Grey Sparrow Press, 2014)

Dress Shoes and Lemon Soap (, 2013)

Gorgonzola Cheese Sandwich (, 2013)

Whitman's Secret Staircase at Howth (, 2013)

Boat at Sandymount Strand (, 2012)

Ormolu Chandelier and Walking Stick (, 2012)

The Citizen's Biscuit Tin (, 2012)

Chapbooks:

When Dada Rewrote Koans (Corollary Press, 2012)

500 Favourite Words (Naissance, 2011)

Changeling in the Boustrophedon’s Outfield (Right Hand Pointing, 2011)

Dear Physical Environment (Naissance, 2011)

In Memoriam to a Marionette: Caudate Sonnet of the Year Ad Interim (Silkworms Ink, 2011)

Let Dinggedicht Speak (Silkworms Ink, 2011)

This Is Visual Poetry (Naissance, 2011)

To Whose Mandolin It May Concern (Naissance, 2011)

Living Room Aphorisms: The Only Story Arc in Santa Monica (, 2007)

Journals:

50 to 1

American Athenaeum

Barge Journal

Best Poem: A Literary Journal

Black Herald

Blackbird

Blood & Honey Review

Blue Jew Yorker

Bluestem News

Breadcrumb Scabs

Brink Magazine

Burning Word

Cabinet des Fées

Cafe Irreal

Caper Literary Journal

Ceriph

Cerise Press

Clutching at Straws

Confrontation

Copper Nickel

Corner Club Press

Cricket Online Review

Cutbank

Cyclamens and Swords

deadpaper

Dear Sir

Diagram

Dirty Goat

Distillery

ditch

Drunken Boat

Edgz

Eighty Percent Magazine

Escape Into Life

Eunoia Review

Everyday Genius

Exercise Bowler

Faultline

Fence

Floorboard Review

Folly Magazine

Four and Twenty

Furnace Review

Fuselit

Georgetown Review

Gertrude

Ginosko Literary Journal

Glint Literary Journal

Gone Lawn

Grey Sparrow Journal

Gulf Coast

Halfway Down the Stairs

Hamilton Stone Review

Harpur Palate

Harvard Review

Hayden's Ferry Review

In Posse Review

InDigest

Jacket2

Journal of Truth and Consequence

Kartika Review

Lantern Review

Lily Lit Review

Luna Park Review

Mad Swirl

Magnolia's Press

Mandala Journal

Marco Polo Quarterly

Mascara Literary Review

Massachusetts Review

Metazen

Missing Slate

Monkeybicycle

NANO Fiction

Nanoism

Naugatuck River Review

New Guard

New Orleans Review

Newport Review

Niche Literary Magazine

noah magazine

Notes from the Gean

Numinous: Spiritual Poetry

Old Red Kimono

Orion headless

Pank

Parcel

Pemmican Press

Penwood Review

Physiognomy in Letters

Pindeldyboz

Platte Valley Review

Presence

Pressed

Prick of the Spindle

Prime Number Magazine

Psychic Meatloaf

Pure Francis

Qarrtsiluni

Quarterly Literary Review Singapore

Red Lion Square

Red Ochre Lit

REM Magazine

Retort Magazine

Right Hand Pointing

Saltwater Press

Scholars & Rogues

Sein und Werden

Seneca Review

SentinelLiteraryQuarterly

Shampoo

Silenced Press

Sixers Review

Sketchbook Journal

Slab Literary Review

Smartish Pace

Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices

Sonora Review

Soundings Review

Soundzine

Spilling Ink Review

Spilt Milk

Spork Press

St. Sebastian Review

Straylight Literary Arts Magazine

Stylus Poetry Journal

Subliminal Interiors

Sugar Mule

Swink

Switched-On Gutenberg

Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments

The Bend

The Brooklyner

The Cherry Blossom Review

The Citron Review

The Flea

The Legendary

The Literary Bohemian

The Meadowland Review

The Monarch Review

The Nervous Breakdown

The Oral Tradition

The Rose & Thorn

The Smoking Poet

Thoughtsmith

Titular

Transcendent Visions

Trapeze Magazine

Tributaries

Tripwire

Troubadour 21

Tupelo Press Poetry Project

Turning Wheel

Umbrella Factory Magazine

unFold

Vallum

Versal

Wag's Revue

Whale Sound

Write From Wrong Magazine

Writing Disorder

Xavier Review

Xconnect

Prizes won:

Illumination Christian Book Award (Digital Media [Gold]); IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award (Poetry [Gold]); Independent Publisher Book Award (Book/Author/Publisher Website [Gold]; Multicultural Fiction [Silver]); Singapore Literature Prize (Poetry); PEN American Center Shorts Prize; Poetry World Cup; eLit Book Award (Best Book Website [Gold]; Anthologies [Bronze]); Beverly Hills International Book Award (Poetry & Visionary Fiction); National Indie Excellence Book Award (Poetry); Living Now Book Award (Death & Dying [Gold]; Inspirational Fiction [Silver]; Metaphysical [Bronze]); USA Regional Excellence Book Award (Adult Fiction, Poetry, Spirituality [Northeast]; Poetry [West]; Poetry [Midwest]; Anthology, Poetry [Southwest]); University of Canberra Poetry on the Move Meniscus Award (First Prize); Vallum New International Poetics "Naani" Poetry Award; Excel For Charity Swale Life Poetry Prize & High Commendation; Cyclamens & Swords Publishing Poetry Prize; Stepping Stones Nigeria Poetry Prize; Little Red Tree Publishing International Poetry Prize; New England Book Festival Runner-Up (Anthologies); Los Angeles Book Festival Runner-Up (Anthologies); Florida Book Festival Runner-Up (Anthologies); Paris Book Festival Runner-Up (Anthologies); Amsterdam Book Festival Honorable Mention (Fiction); San Francisco Book Festival Honorable Mention (Fiction); Green Book Festival Honorable Mention (Fiction); University of Notre Dame Poetry Fellowship; National Arts Council Creation Grant; NAC Writer-in-the-Gardens Residency, Singapore International Foundation Grant; Hiew Siew Nam Distinguished Academic Award; Ngee Ann Distinguished Teaching Award (1999, 2001 & 2013); Ngee Ann Humanities Special Incentive Award; International Association of Paradoxism Distinguished Achievement; Writers Billboard Poetry Prize; Scratch Poetry Prize; Champion of Birds Poetry Prize; Tom Howard/John H. Reid Poetry High Distinction Award; TRYangle Project Poetry Competition Second Prize; Hungry Hill "Poets Meet Politics" Second Prize; Lupus UK Poetry Competition Second Prize; Smartish Pace Erskine J. Poetry Third Prize; The Medulla Review Oblongata Contest Third Prize; The Psychiatry Research Trust Poetry Competition Third Prize; Thynks Publications Ltd Inspirational Poems Third Prize & Runner-Up; Hour of Writes Runner-Up; Alan Sillitoe Open Poetry Competition Runner-Up; Georgetown Review Magazine Contest Runner-Up; Thynks Publications Ltd "Serendipity" Poems Runner-Up; Tupelo Press Poetry Project Honorable Mention; Artsmith Literary Award Honorable Mention; Spilling Ink Flash Fiction Prize Honorable Mention; The New Writer Magazine "Single Poem" Honorable Mention; Sketchbook Journal "Found Poetry" Honorable Merit; Deux-Sèvres Segora Open Poetry Commendation Award; Sentinel Literary Quarterly Poetry High Commendation Award; Mobil National Essay Writing Commendation Award; Eric Hoffer Book Award Category Finalist (Fiction); USA Best Book Award Finalist (Multicultural Fiction, Visionary Fiction, Death & Dying); International Book Award Finalist (Cross Genre Fiction); National Indie Excellence Book Award Finalist (Multicultural Fiction); Beverly Hills International Book Award Finalist (Poetry); USA Regional Excellence Book Award Finalist (Anthology [Southeast]); Noemi Press Poetry Chapbook Award Finalist; Arts & Letters Rumi Prize For Poetry Finalist; United Poets Laureate International Noriko Mizusaki Award Finalist; United Poets Laureate International Mary Halliburton Award Finalist; A River & Sound Review Duckabush Poetry Prize Finalist; Aquillrelle Poetry Finalist; Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Finalist; Terrain.org Annual Poetry Finalist; The Winter Anthology Writing Contest Finalist; The Association of Writers & Writing Programs Intro Journals Project Nominee; Best of the Net Nominee; Zazzle "Today's Best" Award; Naugatuck River Review Narrative Poetry Semi-Finalist; The New Guard Knightville Poetry Semi-Finalist; Cinnamon Press "Concrete Poetry" Special Mention; Limnisa Bluethumbnail Short Story Contest Short List; Flash 500 Competition Short List; Margaret Reid Traditional Verse Short List; Pank 1001 Awesome Words Short List; Strokestown International Poetry Prize Short List; Cutbank Patricia Goedicke Poetry Prize Publication Choice; University of Canberra Vice-Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize Long List; National University of Singapore Sociology Book Prize

More Information

Gives readings:

Yes

Travels for readings:

Yes

Identifies as:

BIPOC, Christian, Other

Prefers to work with:

Any

Fluent in:

Chinese, English

Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.

Last update: Jun 04, 2022