Rachel Heng Explained

Rachel Heng
Caption:Reading at Fall for the Book, 12 October 2023
Birth Place:Singapore
Occupation:Writer
Education:BA (Comparative Literature), Columbia University; MFA (Fiction), The University of Texas at Austin

Rachel Heng (born 1988) is a Singaporean novelist and the author of The Great Reclamation and literary dystopian novel Suicide Club. Her short fiction has been published in many literary journals including The New Yorker, Glimmer Train, Tin House, and the Minnesota Review. Her fiction has received recognition from the Pushcart Prize, Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence, the New American Voices Award, and she has been profiled by the BBC, Electric Literature and other publications. Her second novel, The Great Reclamation, was published by Riverhead Books in March 2023.[1] [2]

Biography

Rachel Heng majored in Comparative Literature at Columbia University, graduating in 2011.[3] She then worked in the private equity industry in London.[4] She received a James A. Michener Fellowship to pursue a MFA in fiction and screenwriting at the University of Texas at Austin's Michener Center for Writers.[5]

Works

Heng's second novel The Great Reclamation was published by Riverhead in March 2023. It won the New American Voices Award 2023[6] and was longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence 2024,[7] as well as being named a New York Times Editors' Choice[8] and a 'Best Book of 2023 So Far' by The New Yorker[9] and Amazon Books.[10]

Her first novel Suicide Club was published by Hachette's Sceptre imprint in the UK, and Macmillan's Henry Holt imprint in the US in July 2018. The manuscript won a six-figure publishing deal after a bidding auction between international publishers.[11] The novel is a piece of dystopian fiction set in a world of compulsory state-managed longevity, and satirizes contemporary culture's obsession with health.[12] The plot centers on a group of rebels called the "Suicide Club" which circulates secretly-filmed videos of their own suicides as a form of release and protest against the health-obsessed establishment.[13] The novel was inspired by dystopian pieces such as George Orwell's Animal Farm and Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. Heng's novel was named a most anticipated novel of the summer by The Huffington Post, Gizmodo, The Irish Times, The Millions, Bustle, NYLON and Elle.[14] Critics have compared Suicide Club favourably to Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go, Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club and Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray.[15] Suicide Club is pending translation into 10 languages worldwide.

Heng's short fiction has been published widely in literary journals such as The New Yorker,[16] Glimmer Train, Tin House, Prairie Schooner, The Offing, Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, and The Minnesota Review. Her fiction has received a Pushcart special mention and Prairie Schooners Jane Geske award.[17] She has written essays and features for The Telegraph,[18] The Rumpus,[19] Grazia[20] and Catapult.[21] Her essay 'On Becoming A Person of Colour' was one of The Rumpus's top read posts of 2018,[22] a 2018 Staff Pick[23] and has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.[24] She was listed by The Independent as one of ten emerging authors to look out for in 2018[25] and has been profiled by outlets such as the BBC, Electric Literature[26] and The Straits Times. In 2021, she was longlisted for the Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award.[27]

Bibliography

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Treisman. Deborah. 31 May 2021. Rachel Heng on Societal Cruelty. 3 August 2021. The New Yorker. en-US.
  2. Web site: The Great Reclamation. 3 August 2021. Rachel Heng. en-US.
  3. Web site: 27 June 2018 . Bookshelf . 17 March 2022 . Columbia College Today . en.
  4. Web site: What if burgers and beer were illegal?. Annabel. Rackham. 16 July 2018. . 1 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181116134420/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-44777785. 16 November 2018. live.
  5. News: Singaporean's debut novel scores six-figure sums from US, UK publishers in auction. Olivia . Ho . 18 July 2017. 1 December 2018 . . https://web.archive.org/web/20181201181050/https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/singapore-writer-scores-international-book-deals. 1 December 2018. live .
  6. Web site: Heng wins 2023 New American Voices Award . 2023-10-26 . George Mason University . en.
  7. Web site: JCARMICHAEL . 2023-10-16 . 2024 Winners . 2023-10-26 . Reference & User Services Association (RUSA) . en.
  8. News: 2023-05-04 . 9 New Books We Recommend This Week . en-US . The New York Times . 2023-10-26 . 0362-4331.
  9. Web site: 2023-01-25 . The Best Books We Read This Week . 2023-10-26 . The New Yorker . en-US.
  10. Web site: Amazon.com: Best Books of the Year So Far: Books . 2023-10-26 . www.amazon.com . en-us.
  11. News: Ryan . General. Singaporean Author Lands Six-Figure Deals From U.S., U.K. Publishers for Her First Novel. nextshark.com. 1 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181201135228/https://nextshark.com/singaporean-author-lands-six-figure-deals-u-s-u-k-publishers-first-novel/. 1 December 2018. live.
  12. News: Sarah . Gilmartin . Suicide Club by Rachel Heng: Who wants to live forever? . . 1 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180721152721/https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/suicide-club-by-rachel-heng-who-wants-to-live-forever-1.3564091. 21 July 2018. live.
  13. News: 'Suicide Club' Takes On the Tyranny of Wellness. Rosa Inocencio. Smith . . 31 August 2018. 1 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181201135149/https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2018/08/suicide-club-takes-on-the-tyranny-of-wellness/568936/. 1 December 2018. live.
  14. Web site: Rachel Heng in conversation w/Liz Moore. Blue Stoop. 1 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181201180822/https://www.bluestoop.org/events/2018/8/23/rachel-heng-in-conversation-with-liz-moore. 1 December 2018. live.
  15. News: Suicide Club: A Novel About Living by Rachel Heng. Stallings. M. Brianna . . 12 October 2018. 2 December 2018.
  16. News: 25 May 2021 . Rachel . Heng . "Before the Valley" . 17 July 2021. New Yorker. en-US.
  17. Web site: RACHEL HENG: Turning Rejections into Motivation - 88 Cups of Tea with Yin Chang web . 88cupsoftea.com . 1 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181201181102/https://88cupsoftea.com/podcast/rachel-heng/. 1 December 2018. live.
  18. News: I was a City worker addicted to exercise. Heng. Rachel. 10 July 2018. Daily Telegraph. 29 December 2018. en-GB. 0307-1235.
  19. Web site: Rachel . Heng . On Becoming A Person Of Color. therumpus.net. 29 December 2018.
  20. Web site: 'Clean Eating Is Just Another Way To Punish Ourselves'. 24 July 2018. Grazia. en. 29 December 2018.
  21. Web site: You Bet Your Life: 'Death Bonds,' the Investments That Want You Dead Rachel Heng. 2 August 2018. Catapult. en. 29 December 2018.
  22. Web site: The Rumpus Top 20 Of 2018. The Rumpus.net. 29 December 2018.
  23. Web site: What To Read When: Rumpus Staff Favorites 2018 - The Rumpus.net. therumpus.net. 29 December 2018.
  24. Web site: The Rumpus 2018 Pushcart Prize Nominees! . therumpus.net. 29 December 2018.
  25. News: Sarah . Bradbury. Emerging authors to look out for in 2018 . . 1 December 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20181201180920/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/emerging-authors-to-look-out-for-in-2018-best-novelists-man-booker-gone-girl-eat-pray-love-a8118151.html. 1 December 2018. live.
  26. Web site: What if You Could Live Forever?. Chen. Karissa. 12 July 2018. Electric Literature. 29 December 2018.
  27. Web site: Fifteen authors have been longlisted for the 2021 Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award The Sunday Times Audible Short Story Award. 17 July 2021. www.shortstoryaward.co.uk.
  28. Web site: A Fishing Family at Sea in a Changing Singapore . nytimes.
  29. Web site: Rachel Heng on her novel 'The Great Reclamation' . NPR.
  30. Web site: 2023-03-22 . My Decade of Temporary Homes . 2023-10-21 . Esquire . en-US.
  31. Web site: 2023-04-07 . Reshaping a Country: On Rachel Heng’s "The Great Reclamation" . 2023-10-21 . Los Angeles Review of Books . en.

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