What Gives Us Our Names (Rosetta Edition)◎Alvin Pang

The beloved Sing Lit classic What Gives Us Our Names is finally being revised and published with photos taken by the author worldwide. From the water town of Zhou Zhuang to the suburbs of Calcutta, the pictures will allow readers a peek into the writer’s travel and experiences. Coupled with the text of What Gives Us Our Names, it will give readers a new angle and perspective on the timeless classic. 

About What Gives Us Our Names (Rosetta Edition)

He’d gotten the idea from a book, not unlike the one you last read and loved, whose lurid covers you have already forgotten. For a canvas, he used not his own skin but his very life, spending his days as if he were made up of the most telling bits of other people. To do this, he learned to watch quietly and look deeply, past the busy surfaces until he could discern the colours beneath, the ones that did not change. One by one he would name them as he wove them into his heart in the deep of night. He touched you once, borrowing pieces of your story in passing. They are here still, in case you wish to look.

About the Author

He has been known to edit, explore, curate, comment, photograph, perform, read, review, study, translate, travel, teach, dine, document, design, dream and adore cats. Generous spirits from many shores have feted his words in fellowships, feasts and festivities. Translators in over twenty languages have puzzled over his words. He once aspired to elusiveness, considering restlessness a virtue, and now accepts that life is brief, fluid and already unknowable. He has always needed glasses.

About Rosetta Cultures

Rosetta Cultures is an imprint by TrendLit Publishing that focuses on championing and bridging languages and the arts across cultures and communities.

Rosetta Cultures is currently based in Singapore, serving local and international readers.

Publication Information 

ISBN: 978-981-18-6986-0 (Paperback)
Publisher / Imprint: Rosetta Cultures 
Date of Publication: 1 May 2024
Suggested Categorization: Creative Prose, Contemporary Literature, Singapore Literature
Format: 19cm (H) x 13cm (W), 96 pages