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Quote by Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“I really felt neurotic - it was a neurotic reason - but I had to teach very, very well. That sucked up a lot of oxygen from my time and my creative thinking.”

Quote by Shirley Geok-lin Lim

Author

Shirley Geok-lin Lim

Shirley Geok-lin Lim is a Singaporean-born writer known for her profound insights into multiculturalism and her rich literary works. Her writings often focus on themes of race, gender, and identity, which have resonated with readers worldwide. more

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“I had to do the academic writing. At a top research university, publishing of a certain kind is very important. So your friend is right. You can't do three things well.”

Writing Wells Kind Important Certain Three Research University Academic Publishing Three Things Academic Writing

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“Even after the mothering dropped because my son grew up, the writing - the muse - was always the third wheel, the lowest on the priority list.”

Writing Son Grew Grew Up Thirds Lists Priorities Wheels My Son Muse Lowest Mothering

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“It's why muse is so impatient with me. I don't ever go to her until after the teaching or whatever is over.”

Teaching Muse Impatient

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“In that way, I don't understand myself. It might have to do with my own conflicts, where to place my body as a child, which I have carried over to now. In this way I'm constantly dislocated.”

Way Children Body Might My Own Conflict

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“I don't know where to place my body. Everyone notices that about me. I'm very restless.”

Knows Body Restless

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“I'm nomadic. Even when I'm a visiting professor here at the City University of Hong Kong, in this campus flat, I'm constantly getting up, sitting down, picking this or that up. You can't do that and be a writer. You need to be able to sit still.”

Needs Stills Able Cities Sitting University Flats Professors Visiting Campus Sitting Down Hong Kong Nomadic

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“You need to be distracted.”

Needs Distracted

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“In short, for me - I'm kind of projecting onto you - distraction has become a modus vivendi, a way of life. Rather than complaining, I am recognizing that I couldn't do what I wanted to do because I'm distracted.”

Way Kind Wanted Complaining Distraction Recognizing Distracted

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“One arrives at a recognition that one needs to be distracted.”

Needs Recognition Distracted

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim

“This distraction is what one wants, which is very, very bad for the muse, because the muse hates not being in the line of sight. It's no longer an external conflict, like, oh, I have all these demands and I don't like them. The split is in the self. This may explain why, when I was in Santa Barbara before I went to Singapore and then now to Hong Kong, there was a writing moment when I was writing a poem a day. I had never done that before.”

Want Writing May Self Done Moments Hate Lines Demand Conflict Sight Distraction Splits Muse Santa Singapore Hong Kong Barbara Santa Barbara

Author:Shirley Geok-lin Lim