Shu-Ling Chua Shu-Ling Chua i(9785928 works by)
Gender: Female
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Works By

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1 Two Poems i "she swallows mahjong tiles, snaps the square table in two,", Shu-Ling Chua , 2024 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Suburban Review , 26 March no. 33 2024;
1 Shu-Ling Chua Interviews Cham Zhi Yi Shu-Ling Chua (interviewer), 2022 single work interview
— Appears in: Rabbit , no. 34 2022;
1 Mimi Kwa Shu-Ling Chua (interviewer), 2022 single work interview
— Appears in: Liminal , May 2022;

'Mimi spoke to Shu-Ling Chua about family, forgiveness, gratitude, and learning to face her past.'

1 (Im)material Inheritances Shu-Ling Chua , 2020 single work essay
— Appears in: Going Down Swinging Online 2020;

'My phone’s lock screen is a photo of Ah Ma in her late teens at the beach, leaning against a fishing boat dragged on shore. She wears a short-sleeved white shirt tucked into high-waisted shorts. Her smile is enigmatic, framed by a puff of curls. I study the lighting, her careful grip on the boat’s rim, her elegantly bent leg. Shoulders back and chin tilted ever so slightly, Ah Ma glows with quiet self-assurance. When I first saw the photo, I had teased Mum, “Who’s this sexy lady?” I was shocked to learn she was my grandmother and wondered if glamour had skipped a generation.' (Introduction)

1 1 y separately published work icon Echoes Shu-Ling Chua , Sydney : Somekind Press , 2020 22546679 2020 selected work essay

'ECHOES is a curious and lyrical collection of personal essays from writer, essayist, critic and poet Shu-Ling Chua which references art and literature, pop culture and nostalgia. It gathers small joys, from a figure-hugging ‘disco dress’ to learning to sing Koo Mei’s ‘Bu Liao Qing’ 不了情 to the swish of washing machines. And asks: what does one unknowingly inherit?

'In the title story, Echoes, inspired by old Chinese pop songs and their modern versions, Shu-Ling unexpectedly discovers past and present colliding despite the limits of language and translation and the gaps that remain there. 'Years later, I had presumed consuming the same cultural products would help me piece together her life. There is however a river—linguistic, cultural, historical—I cannot cross.'

'In (Im)material Inheritances, Shu-Ling considers glamour and the way we dress for the world, delighting in the feminine, while peering at old family photographs searching and longing for the material links with her mother and grandmother. And finally in To Fish for the Moon, Shu-Ling takes us on a watery journey from her share house washing machine to her great-grandparents' laundry business in Malaysia, to red date tea and a bathtub, examining the minute detail of our domestic lives, the habits and rituals, their origins and secrets, sorrows and delights, and shining a light on their place and meaning.' (Publication summary)

1 Kylie Maslen, Show Me Where It Hurts Shu-Ling Chua , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 31 October - 6 November 2020;

— Review of Show Me Where It Hurts : Living With Invisible Illness Kylie Maslen , 2020 single work autobiography

'Drawing on personal experience and pop culture, Show Me Where It Hurts explores the isolation and frustration of living with chronic pain and mental illness, not to mention battling a medical system steeped in misogyny. “Pain – both physical and mental – is more than a number or shaded area on a chart,” writes Kylie Maslen. Her carefully researched essays demand the reader to see her as a whole person, one whose life is both similar to and different from theirs. She dates, enjoys swimming in the ocean, and has spent countless hours in waiting rooms, in hospital and resting at home.' (Introduction)

1 Andrew Kwong, One Bright Moon Shu-Ling Chua , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 4-10 July 2020;

— Review of One Bright Moon Andrew Y.M. Kwong , 2020 single work autobiography
1 Vivian Pham : The Coconut Children Shu-Ling Chua , 2020 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 7-13 March 2020;

— Review of The Coconut Children Vivian Pham , 2017 single work novel

'Set in 1990s Cabramatta, The Coconut Children opens with charismatic 16-year-old Vince Tran celebrating his release from two years in juvenile detention. His laughter, “thundering through the entire neighbourhood”, drips with stolen homegrown mango as his friends push him in a shopping trolley. The procession passes his childhood friend Sonny Vuong, who dreams of being whisked away from her emotionally unpredictable mother. Instead, the dutiful Sonny finds solace in bodice-rippers, schoolyard gossip with her best friend and conversations with her good-natured father and sassy grandmother.'(Introduction) 

1 Empty Bed i "climb steps to upper level of ding ding", Shu-Ling Chua , 2020 single work poetry
— Appears in: Rabbit , no. 29 2020; (p. 40-41)
1 Amra Pajalić : Things Nobody Knows But Me Shu-Ling Chua , 2019 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 18-24 May 2019;

— Review of Things Nobody Knows But Me Amra Pajalić , 2019 single work autobiography biography

'Things Nobody Knows But Me opens with Amra Pajalić learning, at age 16, that her mother’s illness is in fact bipolar disorder, and proceeds to build back to this moment. Through interlinked vignettes, she presents complex portraits of maternal grandmother Adevija, mother Fatima and her child self, and examines the fractured relationships between all three. The episodic structure compartmentalises key events, supporting Pajalić to juggle multiple perspectives effectively, while also providing much-needed emotional respite. As she pieces together her family’s past from their accounts – Adevija’s marriage is the result of blackmail and Fatima’s is arranged – the author experiences, and demonstrates, the power of storytelling.' (Introduction)

1 From the Other Side Shu-Ling Chua , 2019 single work autobiography
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 78 no. 1 2019; (p. 45-51)

''It's too sweet and gentle,' I say of the pink. 'I want it to pop. I want what you're wearing.' 

'I turn from the mirror. 'It's a bit watermelon candy,' the salesgirl agrees. She returns with another tube of lipstick, its surface sanitised. I wipe my lips clean and try the fourth shade, a dark don't-fuck-with-me crimson. I smile, then laugh at my reflection. My first Dior lipstick.' (Introduction)

1 Through the Looking Glass Shu-Ling Chua , 2018 single work prose
— Appears in: Meanjin Online 2018;
1 Fate : A Fickle Partner Shu-Ling Chua , 2017 single work essay autobiography
— Appears in: Pencilled In , no. 1 2017; (p. 18-19)

' My heels clipped the pavement, tap-tapping a secret code: What are you looking for?"

I swept past Knightsbridge, where Canberra's young professionals (public servants, mostly) line up for half an hour, sometimes longer, to dance.I turned left before the bus interchange, surveyed the precocious smokers outside Academy Club, then right down a laneway into Garama Place.' (Introduction)

1 Them Spitting Eels Shu-Ling Chua , 2016 single work prose
— Appears in: Peril : An Asian-Australian Journal , June no. 24 2016;
1 Not What I Wished for Shu-Ling Chua , 2016 single work short story
— Appears in: Seizure [Online] , July 2016;
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