Transnational Series: Philip Holden

Join the for an in-store event with author Philip Holden to discuss and honor the release of .

"Quietly disquieting, these stories shimmer with unsettling currents . . . Philip Holden's prose, meditative and thoughtful, has a sharp bite to it." —Jeremy Tiang, author of State of Emergency, winner of the Singapore Literature Prize

Set in Singapore, Vancouver, London, and the spaces in between, the short stories in Heaven Has Eyes offer an imaginative, penetrating look at the complexities of migration, belonging, and a desire to find a home in the world.

In tender, luminous writing, Philip Holden explores piercing psychological questions about what it is like to be haunted by one's past. Deeply moving and emotionally rich, the stories weave together love, loss, grief, miscommunication, forgetting, and remembering—pushing the boundaries of realism, making and unmaking our sense of home.

This updated edition, containing four new stories, is also charged with speculative daring, grappling with the entangled strands of forgotten or suppressed political histories. Pierre Trudeau and Lee Kuan Yew, later to become the prime ministers of Canada and Singapore respectively, converse as young men over beer in a smoky pub. An aging politician yearns to reconcile the tough policy choices he made with the socialist ideals he championed in his youth. A young therapist in London tries to help a traumatized political exile from Singapore. Couples in transnational marriages struggle to make sense of where they belong—or where they want to belong—while venturing out to raucous political rallies, into abandoned mines, and on fraught plane journeys.

Philip Holden’s life has spanned three continents, with its centre of gravity in Singapore, where he taught and researched Singapore and Southeast Asian writing at university in a three-decade long career. He is the author of critical, historical, biographical, and fictional writing, exploring the connections between social and historical narratives and questions of identity, belonging, and agency. Before his academic career he worked in children’s theatre, as a union organizer, and as a residential social worker with refugees. Now a registered clinical counsellor, he explores the intersections of storytelling and mental health through work in Guided Autobiography and in facilitating lived-experience stories.

The Transnational Literature Series at Brookline Booksmith

The Transnational Series focuses on stories of migration, the intersection of politics and literature, and works in translation and is supported by the independent bookstore Brookline Booksmith. Subscribe to the Transnational Series newsletter for information on upcoming events, book recommendations, and more.

What You Need to Know to Attend

RSVP to let us know you're coming! RSVPs don't guarantee a seat, but you'll be alerted to important details about the program, including safety requirements, cancellations, and book signing updates.

Reserve a Book

• Books will be available for purchase at the event, but you can ensure that you get a copy by preordering on this page. You can pick your book up after 6:30PM on the day of the event.
• Can't make it to the event? Preorder the book here to have it signed, and choose to have it held or shipped from the store! Book orders are processed for pickup or shipping after ticket sales have closed.

Livestream!

Barring technical difficulty, this event will be livestreamed to our store YouTube channel.

Event Accesibility

This event will take place at street level. If possible, the event will be livestreamed to YouTube. ASL interpretation may be provided (based on the availability of interpreters) but must be requested at least 2 weeks in advance of the event. Seats are limited. Please email dGlja2V0aW5nIHwgYnJvb2tsaW5lYm9va3NtaXRoICEgY29t as soon as possible if you require ASL interpretation, guaranteed seating, or other accommodations. We will do our best to serve your needs!

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING COVID & IN-PERSON EVENTS:

Please note that any Brookline Booksmith in-person event may be canceled by the bookstore, publisher, or author based on concerns about health and safety around the time of the event. Wherever possible, any in-person appearance canceled due to COVID will be moved to the Brookline Booksmith Zoom as a webinar at the same date and time, and all tickets and registrations will be transferred to the online event. Book signing details may change. Refunds may be requested in the case of a virtual pivot or event cancelation.

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