SINGAPORE – Singaporean author Fang Ran, who co-founded the long-running Chinese literature periodical Equatorial Wind in 1986, died last Saturday at the age of 80.

The poet, novelist and essayist had suffered from ill health for the better part of the past decade and had been in and out of hospital.

This last stint was brought on after he fell and injured his head on Oct 23. With surgery ruled out because of a weak heart, he was administered anaesthetics and died at the National University Hospital.

His 66-year-old Singaporean wife, Qian Hua, said Fang had been diagnosed with colorectal cancer in September, and had a history of stroke and heart disease.

“He had been suffering for a while, but we all miss him. It is a testament to how much he loved his friends that we had so much support in the last few years whenever we needed help,” she said.

Born Lin Guoping in 1943, Fang is well known in local Chinese literary circles and was often invited on panels to give lectures on writing.

His final novella, Yong Heng De Shan Chun (The Eternal Mountain Village), was published in July.

With him unable to attend its launch at Union Book, a local bookstore at Bras Basah Complex, on July 22 due to a fall, the event still drew fellow writers and readers who gathered to discuss his writings.

Fang, along with his wife and several friends, had created a zine in their youth that over time evolved into the seminal Equatorial Wind. Now in its 111th issue, it is widely regarded as his legacy.

Fang and Qian, who is its co-editor, single-handedly kept the periodical going from 1988 to 2018 after a creative difference between Fang and other founders led to the rest of the team leaving.

Equatorial Wind created a space for emerging young writers to have their works published, said Alex Chan, who was among a team of editors who succeeded Fang in 2018.

Chan writes under the pen name of Yu Fan, and has known Fang for more than 30 years since he began submitting essays to Fang.

Fang always took the time to support his writing. One time, after Chan published a work following many years of inactivity, Fang immediately contacted him to welcome him back.

The 59-year-old said: “I’ve always thought he was friendly, gentle and a thorough gentleman. He was open to talking to us younger writers.”

Writer Wang Mun Kiat, 56, said that Fang and his wife were not well-off, but persisted in making sure Equatorial Wind kept going.

“They gave it their all for literature. The periodical also helped to increase interactions among writers in Taiwan, China and Singapore.”

Another writer, Ang Lai Sheng, 36, said that Fang was a man of principles, “with clear boundaries of what should and should not be done”.

He fondly recalls visiting Fang and Qian with Wang in 2014, and the couple hosted them without complaint. “Their candidness and sincerity moved me,” said Ang.

Qian’s favourite memory of Fang is more personal. Her parents had objected to their marriage as Fang was 14 years older than her and they thought he would not be able to provide for the family.

The two first met when Fang tutored Qian in English, and they got married in 1981. The couple have no children.

She said: “I don’t know when our love started, but it developed naturally. We beat the odds and let no one tell us otherwise.”