'Ba-Doom' by Daryl Qilin Yam

05/10/2025 26 min

Listen "'Ba-Doom' by Daryl Qilin Yam"

Episode Synopsis

This is a story about stories—the stories we tell ourselves and the stories we tell others. What actually transpires in Ba-Doom? A group of acquaintances sit in a bar and exchange stories of love. Strictly speaking, there is no plot. Action is replaced with conversation, which is only as substantial as language is—not very. Speech is ephemeral, like the memories it briefly resurrects, like Johan’s childhood encounter with love, like the line of condensate Mateo draws with his finger, like the names from past lives each character recalls, rising and evaporating...Listen to the sploosh! recording of “Ba-Doom” by Daryl Qilin Yam, a short story from Be Your Own Bae, published by Epigram Books (@epigrambooks). Author Bio: Daryl Qilin Yam (b. 1991) is a writer, editor and arts organiser from Singapore. He co-founded the literary charity Sing Lit Station, and serves as the managing editor of its publishing arm AFTERIMAGE. He is the award-nominated author of two novels, a novella and the bestselling short story collection Be Your Own Bae (2024).