Terence Ang: “Aphasia Changed My Voice. It Did Not Silence Me.”
Terence Ang: “Aphasia Changed My Voice. It Did Not Silence Me.”
Six years after a stroke took his speech, the Singaporean poet’s AI-narrated audiobook has won a New York award, and his story is now reaching Times Square, a magazine cover and Gardens by the Bay.
“Six years ago, I was struggling to find words after my stroke. I could never have imagined that one day my book, my voice and my story would appear in Times Square.”
That is how Singaporean author Terence Ang describes this October. A giant digital billboard in New York’s Times Square has shown his poetry audiobook, Brokenness Becomes Beautiful: Inspiring Pieces of Poetry, which has been named the 2026 NYC Big Book Award Winner in the Audiobook: Poetry/Memoir category.
A voice, rebuilt
Ang had a haemorrhagic stroke in 2020 and developed aphasia, an acquired language disorder that can affect speaking, understanding, reading and writing. His ability to speak changed dramatically. His wish to tell stories did not.
Writing became the way he expressed what speech could not. It led to several books on stroke, recovery, identity and resilience. For his poetry collection, he took a further step. Narrating a full audiobook conventionally would have been extremely difficult, so he used AI voice technology to create a digital version of his own voice and let it read his poems.
The project is believed to be the first time an author living with aphasia has narrated his own poetry audiobook through a cloned version of his voice.
Ang is clear that the technology is not a cover.
“AI did not cure my aphasia and it did not replace me,” he says. “The words are mine. The poems are mine. The experiences are mine. Technology simply gave me another way to let people hear them.”
Times Square, and a magazine cover
Ted Olczak, publisher of Printed Word Reviews, was in Times Square to capture the billboard moment live. Ang also appears on the cover of the independent literary publication, in a multi-page story titled “Terence Ang and the Power of Being Heard”, and features in Olczak’s Publisher’s Letter.
The phrase carries weight for him. “When you have aphasia, people may hear the pauses, the hesitation or the words that do not come out correctly,” Ang says.
“But behind those difficulties there is still a person with thoughts, feelings, ideas and a story to tell.”
World Stroke Day: survivors take the stage
Ang’s October also included World Stroke Day on 29 October. He joined fellow survivors from the United States and Singapore for “World Stroke Day: Celebrating You Beyond Stroke”, an international virtual event run by the Stroke Onward Community Center. Instead of an expert-led programme, community members themselves presented, sharing experiences in art, advocacy, rehabilitation, creativity and professional knowledge.
Ang’s presentation shared the title of his advocacy message: “Aphasia Changed My Voice. It Did Not Silence Me.”
“Stroke survivors should not only be seen as patients,” he says.
“We are also writers, artists, professionals, advocates, caregivers, friends and people who still have knowledge and experiences to contribute.”
Five Vessels, One Journey
On 31 October, his story moves from words and technology into sculpture at Gardens by the Bay. Presented with the Singapore National Stroke Association, the installation Five Vessels | One Journey | Still Me is a collaboration with fellow stroke survivor Wendy Lim, who made the five sculptural vessels.
Built around Ang’s own journey, the vessels trace different stages of stroke and recovery, from the initial impact and struggle to healing, support and looking ahead. The work draws on kintsugi, the Japanese art of mending broken pottery so that the cracks become part of the object’s history and beauty. Poetry and reflections on self-acceptance, self-care and self-growth accompany the sculptures.
“Wendy took the ideas and emotions behind my journey and gave them physical form,” Ang says. “The five vessels carry the story in a way words alone cannot.”
Difficulty and possibility, side by side
Ang does not want his story read as a tidy triumph.
“I do not want people to look at my journey and think that stroke became easy,” he says. “It did not. I still live with aphasia. I still face challenges. But I have learned that difficulty and possibility can exist together.”
That, for him, is what the title means. “Recovery is not always about going back to exactly who you were before. Sometimes it is about accepting what has changed and discovering who you can still become.”
OCTOBER 2026 HIGHLIGHTS
Printed Word Reviews Cover and multi-page feature: “Terence Ang and the Power of Being Heard”
New York City, Times SquareBrokenness Becomes Beautiful celebrated following its 2026 NYC Big Book Award win, captured live from Times Square by Printed Word Reviews publisher Ted Olczak.
October 29 — World Stroke DayWorld Stroke Day: Celebrating You Beyond StrokeStroke Onward Community Center7:00–8:30 p.m. ET / 4:00–5:30 p.m. PT
October 31 — Gardens by the Bay, SingaporeFive Vessels | One Journey | Still MeA collaboration between stroke survivors Terence Ang and Wendy Lim, presented with the Singapore National Stroke Association (SNSA).
Time: 3.00 pm – 9.00 pmVenue: Flower Field Hall, Gardens by the Bay
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