Late-night scavenging notes

Starting with first prize in the prose category of the Singapore Intercollegiate Literary Awards and the Lianhe Zaobao Gold Medal, young author Chen Kaiyu has dedicated himself to prose, focusing on themes of gender identity, bodily memory, and emotional desire. "Late-Night Scavenging Notes," a collection of 36 essays totaling 120,000 words, is divided into five sections: "The Well," "The City Where Lovers Are Invisible," "Night Fog," "Late-Night Scavenging Notes," and "The Metamorphosis," exploring the subtleties of interpersonal relationships and the pain of growing up.

I give you the youthful collagen you crave, and the love and warmth I seek. Gently taking what I need, I may not actually gain anything, but neither does it mean I've gained nothing. We are both discarded objects, each other's scavengers. To obtain what we desire, we shamelessly demand, and unreservedly give. Kindness and loneliness, sometimes real and sometimes fake, are so alike.

"Seeking truth at all costs is, after all, dangerous, and taking personal risks seems to be Kaiyu's deep motivation for writing."

——《The Prose Installation of Scavengers》 ◎Dong Qizhang

Dong Qizhang, Gong Wanhui, Weng Wanjun, Chen Yuxin, and Zheng Tianjing all recommended

Chen Kaiyu

Born in Kuala Lumpur in 1997. Graduated from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with a Bachelor of Chinese Studies (minor in Creative Writing). His works have appeared in Bungeishunju, Liberty Times, and Wenyicheng.

Sometimes I fear a light sleep, sometimes I fear a sudden awakening. In between, I write prose, occasionally poetry and stories.

Preface to the Prose Installation of Scavengers / Dong Qizhang (Hong Kong writer)

Volume 1/ Family at the Bottom of the Well
• Desire Fruit
• Half light
• Sustainable renovation
• Passersby
• The Well
• Those who stayed
• Cats in quarantine
• We no longer scavenge together
• Psoriasis is my
• First Face

Volume 2/ The City Where Lovers Are Missed
• Sunny day
• River Boys
• Land reclamation
• Lost in Taipei
• Two Rivers: He said he wanted to go to a sauna
• Between: The City Where Lovers Are Missing
• Half tenant
• White shirt wearing instructions
• Off-season travel
• Wildlife
• Current forecast

Volume 3/ Night Fog Moment
• borrow fire
• Late-night scavenging notes
• Night fog
• Lost Property

Volume 4/ Late-night Scavenging Notes
• Epistolary
• Antiperspirants
• Green Story
• Interval
• Negative relatives
• Unlock
• Postscript of the old machine
• Occasionally passing by Ou's grave
• Terminal memory
• Smell, memory, writing

Postscript: Chronology of Writing the Postscript to Metamorphosis