I had the wonderful honor of presenting the novel Ponti, by the incredibly talented, funny, and insightful Sharlene Teo, at the patio of La Central in Barcelona. We chatted about ghosts, teenage trauma, and the weight of symbolic capital for so-called world literature authors coming from the Global South.
Ponti is a novel located at different moments of Singapore’s last 50 years and which combines teenage frenemy relationships, specific flavors of sorority, and contemporary tales of contemporary (and traditional) ghosts to explore how the weight of expectations (expectations associated with gender, family, and personal ambition) shape us throughout the years, making us question to what extent are we able to acquire agency in our own personal trip of identity building.
My thanks to Casa Asia and Tramoia Cultura (via l’Ajuntament de Barcelona) for organizing and sponsoring this event.
Jordi Serrano-Muñoz 