Released 30 April 2024 // Creative Non-Fiction // 72 pages
I embrace the disgust at my own image, my bodily burden. I understand myself as a monster, only capable of ugliness, an unwanted distortion without the potential to be loved. In time, the light wanes. There is no more tenderness, not for the self.
'The voice in Li's coming-of-age stories is steadfast and self-reflexive. "Can I bear to tell you my secrets?": Li wrestles with notions about one's masculinity and monstrosity to gift us this book.'
– Tim Tim Cheng, poet
'Daryl Li's wry, sardonic, self-deprecating voice rings clear and true, and never fails to strike the right chord in my ear. He is proving himself to be one of the most promising and compelling essayists of our generation in Singapore.'
– Daryl Qilin Yam, novelist and arts organiser
Tenderly, Tenderly - Daryl Li
Daryl Li is a writer of fiction and nonfiction based in Singapore. He is the author of The Inventors (Rosetta Cultures, 2023), Tenderly, Tenderly (Atomic Bohemian, 2024), and Minor Illusions (Querencia Press, forthcoming). His work has appeared in the Food Republic and The Second Link anthologies, as well as publications such as OF ZOOS, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, NANG, and Gastronomica.
The cover for Tenderly, Tenderly was designed by Maddison Colvin. You can learn more about her work and how to support her here.