{{Short description|Singaporean poet}} {{Infobox writer |image = Robert Yeo at Select Books, Singapore - 20140111-01 (cropped).jpg |image_size = |alt = |caption = Yeo giving a talk in January 2014 |native_name = |native_name_lang = |birth_name = Robert Yeo Cheng Chuan |birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1940}} |birth_place = |death_date = <!-- {{Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> |death_place = |resting_place = |occupation = Poet, playwright and novelist |language = English |nationality = Singaporean |education = |alma_mater = |period = |genre = |subject = |movement = |notableworks = ''The Adventures of Holden Heng'' (1986); ''Are You There, Singapore?'' (1974); ''One Year Back Home'' (1980); ''Changi'' (1996) |spouse = Esther Leong |partner = |children = |awards = BBM (1991), S.E.A. Write Award (2011) |signature = |signature_alt = }}
'''Robert Yeo''' (born '''Robert Yeo Cheng Chuan'''; 1940) is a Singaporean poet, playwright and novelist.
==Career== Yeo is a retired lecturer of the National Institute of Education and Nanyang Technological University. In 2011, he is a teacher of creative writing at the Singapore Management University<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.smu.edu.sg/sites/default/files/smu/news_room/smu_in_the_news/2011/sources/ST_20110808_1.pdf | title=Charting his Routes | accessdate=4 December 2018}}</ref> and mentors the Mentor Access Programme of the National Arts Council. In 1978, he attended the University of Iowa's International Writing Program and was a Fulbright Scholar in 1995.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nlb.gov.sg/golibrary2/e/singapore-literature-book-club-27267229 | title=Singapore Literature Book Club | accessdate=4 December 2018}}</ref> For more than a decade, from 1977 onwards, he was chairman of the Drama Advisory Committee which helped develop theatre in Singapore, especially English-language theatre. For this work, he received the ''Bintang Bakti Masyarakat'' (Public Service Star) in 1991, and was awarded the S.E.A. Write Award in 2011.
He has published four poetry collections: ''Coming Home Baby'' (1971); ''And Napalm Does Not Help'' (1977), ''A Part of Three'' (1989) and ''Leaving Home, Mother'' (1999) and has been included in several anthologies, including ''Five Takes'' (1974).
His venture into novel writing resulted in a sole book: ''The Adventures of Holden Heng'' (1986) about the sexual education of its anti-hero.
Yeo has written six plays: ''Are You There, Singapore?'' (1974), ''One Year Back Home'' (1980), ''Second Chance'' (1988), ''The Eye of History'' (1991), ''Changi'' (1996) and ''Your Bed is Your Coffin''. All the plays except the last have been staged in Singapore. ''Are You There, Singapore?'', ''One Year Back Home'' and ''Changi'' are collectively known as "the Singapore trilogy". ''The Singapore Trilogy'' was staged as a single adaptation by The Second Breakfast Company in 2021. The work included revisions and new writing done in consultation with Yeo<ref>{{Cite news |date=2021-03-03 |title=Robert Yeo's The Singapore Trilogy staged as a single play |url=https://www.straitstimes.com/life/arts/robert-yeos-the-singapore-trilogy-staged-as-a-single-play |access-date=2026-03-01 |work=The Straits Times |language=en |issn=0585-3923}}</ref>.
Yeo has also edited collections of short fiction, plays and textbooks, a memoir, as well as the libretto for an opera, ''Fences'' (2012).
==Works==
===Poetry collections=== *''Coming Home Baby'' (1971, Federal Publications) *''And Napalm Does Not Help'' (1977, Heinemann Educational Books (Asia)) *''A Part of Three'' (1989, Select Books) {{ISBN|9810010788}} *''Leaving Home, Mother'' (1999, Angsana Books) {{ISBN|9813056312}} *''The Best of Robert Yeo'' (2012, Epigram Books) {{ISBN|9789810718404}}
===Novels=== *''The Adventures of Holden Heng'' (1986, Heinemann Publishers Asia; 2011, Epigram Books) {{ISBN|9971640899}} {{ISBN|9789810899349}}
===Plays=== *''Are You There, Singapore?'' (1974, National University of Singapore Society) *''One Year Back Home'' (1980, National University of Singapore Society) *''Second Chance'' (1988, 1992, TheatreWorks) *''The Eye of History'' (1992) *''Your Bed is Your Coffin'' (Unstaged) *''Changi'' (1997, National University of Singapore Society) *''The Singapore Trilogy'' (2001, Landmark Books) {{ISBN|9813065508}}
===Libretto=== *''Kannagi–The Ankle Bracelet'' (2009, 2014) *''Fences'' (2012)
===Non-fiction=== *''Routes: A Singaporean Memoir, 1940-75'' (2011, Ethos Books) {{ISBN|9789810875367}}
===Anthologies=== * Gwee Li Sui, ed. ''Written Country: The History of Singapore through Literature'' (2016, Landmark Publications) {{ISBN|9789814189668}}
==Personal life== Yeo is married to Esther Leong, who he met on the set of ''Are You There, Singapore?'' in 1974, when she played the character Hua after responding to an audition call in the newspapers.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Tan|first1=Corrie|title=Classic Singapore plays #2 - Are You There, Singapore?|url=http://stcommunities.straitstimes.com/show/2014/10/01/classic-singapore-plays-2-are-you-there-singapore|accessdate=2 October 2014|agency=The Straits Times|publisher=Singapore Press Holdings|date=1 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006090421/http://stcommunities.straitstimes.com/show/2014/10/01/classic-singapore-plays-2-are-you-there-singapore|archive-date=6 October 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}} *[http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/bib/singlit/poetry-indiv.html#Robert Yeo Bibliography] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026045653/http://www.lib.nus.edu.sg/bib/singlit/poetry-indiv.html#Robert |date=26 October 2006 }} of critical writings about Yeo {{Commons category|Robert Yeo}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}} {{use dmy dates|date=January 2014}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yeo, Robert}} Category:1940 births Category:Living people Category:Recipients of the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat Category:Singaporean dramatists and playwrights Category:Singaporean novelists Category:Singaporean male writers Category:Singaporean people of Chinese descent Category:Singaporean poets Category:S.E.A. Write Award winners Category:Singaporean non-fiction writers Category:International Writing Program alumni Category:Male non-fiction writers