Paul has published five volumes of poetry. His first two collections, Curious Roads (1994) and Driving Into Rain (1998), won the Commendation and Merit Prizes at the Singapore Literature Prize competition. His other three collections are First Meeting of Hands (2006), Seasonal Disorders/Impractical Lessons (2014) and most recently, When the Lights Went Off (2018).
He was the Festival Director of the successful Singapore Writers Festival from 2011 to 2014, which brought literary A-listers from around the world as well as leading Singapore talents to the country’s main literary event. He was credited for bringing new life to the annual event with a greater visibility, new partnerships and a growth in audiences.
His poetry and other writings have appeared in The Straits Times, The New Straits Times, Project Eyeball, Silver Kris, Commentary, The Arts Magazine, Ars Interpres, QLRS.com, softblow.com as well as poetry anthologies including Writing Singapore: An Historical Anthology of Singapore Literature, No Other City and From Boys To Men, In Transit, among others.
His short stories include "The Cat Auntie of Lengkok Bahru" which was anthologised in "From the Belly of the Cat" published by Math Paper Press, and "Jasmine's Father", first published on QLRS.com, and translated into Italian for "Singapore", a collection of Singaporean stories published by il Saggiatore.
His poems “Observing Mother” and “Queen Sunandakumariratana” were set to song and performed at the Asian Composers League festival in Manila in 2015. He has also written the lyrics for songs, including "A World to Imagine", the theme song for ChildAid, a well-known annual charity concert organised by the Singapore Press Holdings, as well as 2012's National Day Song "Love at First Light". A dramatised reading of his play "Sleepwalkers" was also presented by Action Theatre in April 2005 as part of the inaugural Theatre Idols at the Esplanade.
Both his poetry and short stories have been used in Singaporean classrooms as texts.
In his earlier years, he was involved in the Ministry of Education’s Creative Arts Programmes and NAC’s Mentor Access Project where he mentored younger writers. He was also on the inaugural Life Theatre Awards judging panel.
Paul currently works at the National Arts Council, the government agency that champions and supports the arts.
