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'William ‘Billy’ Sing was born in 1886 to an English mother and Chinese father. He and his two sisters were brought up in Clermont and Proserpine, in rural Queensland. He was one of the first to enlist in 1914 and at Gallipoli became famous for his shooting prowess. In his new novel, Billy Sing, Ouyang Yu embodies Sing's voice in a magically descriptive prose that captures both the Australian landscape and vernacular. In writing about Sing's triumphant yet conflicted life, and the horrors of war, Yu captures with imaginative power what it might mean to be both an outsider and a hero in one's own country. The telling is poetic and realist, the author's understanding of being a Chinese-Australian sensitively informs the narrative.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Fuck You, Australia : A Review of Ouyang Yu's 'Billy Sing'
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: The Lifted Brow [Online] , October 2018;
— Review of Billy Sing : A Novel 2017 single work novel -
Billy Sing : A Failed Transnational Hero
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , June no. 22 2018;'Born in 1886 to an English mother and Chinese father, William ‘Billy’ Sing and his two sisters were brought up in Clermont and Proserpine, in a rural part of Queensland. Sing’s father was a drover and his grandfather was a Shanghai gold digger. Sing was a sniper of renown during Gallipoli war, his life has been remembered in both literary works, social media and an ABC TV mini-series, The Legend of Billy Sing. However, Billy’s Chinese ancestry, failed marriage and haunted war memories had not been fictionalized until Ouyang Yu published his novel, Billy Sing, in 2016.' (Introduction)
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A Review of Billy Sing by Ouyang Yu
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Westerly , vol. 62 no. 2 2017; (p. 337-339) -
New Dimensions Enrich Gallipoli Sniper's Saga
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1 April 2017; (p. 16) -
Ouyang Yu : Billy Sing
2017
single work
column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 8 April 2017;'Ouyang Yu’s fifth novel is a fictionalised retelling of the life of William Edward “Billy” Sing, a Chinese-Australian soldier who achieved fame as a crack-shot sniper at Gallipoli. It’s also a dark and somewhat unhinged work, full of wild diatribes, grotesque visions, bitter jests and facile word games.' (Introduction)
-
Fuck You, Australia : A Review of Ouyang Yu's 'Billy Sing'
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: The Lifted Brow [Online] , October 2018;
— Review of Billy Sing : A Novel 2017 single work novel -
Ouyang Yu : Billy Sing
2017
single work
column
— Appears in: The Saturday Paper , 8 April 2017;'Ouyang Yu’s fifth novel is a fictionalised retelling of the life of William Edward “Billy” Sing, a Chinese-Australian soldier who achieved fame as a crack-shot sniper at Gallipoli. It’s also a dark and somewhat unhinged work, full of wild diatribes, grotesque visions, bitter jests and facile word games.' (Introduction)
-
New Dimensions Enrich Gallipoli Sniper's Saga
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 1 April 2017; (p. 16) -
A Review of Billy Sing by Ouyang Yu
2017
single work
essay
— Appears in: Westerly , vol. 62 no. 2 2017; (p. 337-339) -
Billy Sing : A Failed Transnational Hero
2018
single work
review
— Appears in: Mascara Literary Review , June no. 22 2018;'Born in 1886 to an English mother and Chinese father, William ‘Billy’ Sing and his two sisters were brought up in Clermont and Proserpine, in a rural part of Queensland. Sing’s father was a drover and his grandfather was a Shanghai gold digger. Sing was a sniper of renown during Gallipoli war, his life has been remembered in both literary works, social media and an ABC TV mini-series, The Legend of Billy Sing. However, Billy’s Chinese ancestry, failed marriage and haunted war memories had not been fictionalized until Ouyang Yu published his novel, Billy Sing, in 2016.' (Introduction)