Dr Ismail S. Talib has been lecturing in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore since 1986. He has been the regional editorial representative of the Journal of Commonwealth Literature for the bibliography of Singaporean literature (which later includes Malaysian literature) for more than twenty years now. Among his recent publications is a chapter in Volume 10 of The Oxford History of the Novel in English. He also has research interests in narratology and film.