Voices from across the region
Malay female literary pioneers in the spotlight at the 25th Singapore Writers Festival.
THE Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) will return in full force for the first time since the pandemic, with more than 200 in-person programmes and headliners such as science-fiction author Ted Chiang, poet Claudia Rankine and The New Yorker writer Jia Tolentino.
There will also be an exhibition on Malay female literary pioneers, spanning 19th-century Riau to the present day.
Not An If But A Must!: Responses From Pioneering Malay Female Writers, thought to be the first of its kind in Singapore, spotlights the life and work of writers such as Raja Aisyah Sulaiman, Adibah Amin, Dr Hadijah Rahmat, Dr Sa’eda Buang and Rasiah Halil, as well as the collective Kumpulan Bebas Melata.
Festival director Pooja Nansi says very few female literary pioneers have been featured in the festival’s literary pioneer section since its introduction in 2007.
“When I took over in 2019, I realised that only two women had ever been featured as literary pioneers – which I think is a shame,” says Nansi, 40.
Last year’s festival celebrated the veteran librarian Hedwig Anuar.
Nansi sought the advice of the general advisory committee and, after a “long discussion about who we wanted to highlight, how could we responsibly highlight them and be inclusive”, it was decided that the festival would highlight Malay female voices from across the region rather than just one woman.
The annual festival runs from Nov 4 to Nov 20 at The Arts House and Civic District, as well as satellite venues across the island. This is the first time the festival – featuring some 280 writers, including 60 overseas authors – will span three weekends. Earlybird tickets are now on sale.
The literary pioneers exhibition is one of several multilingual programmes curated with the help of experts from the Chinese, Malay and Tamil literary communities.
In Celebrating Kuo Pao Kun, arts practitioners will discuss the influence the late theatre doyen had on their lives. Meanwhile, the bilingual discussion Reading Jin Yong In English will look at translations of works by the famous wuxia novelist.
Tamil programmes range from a look at World War II and Singapore Tamil historical fiction to a talk on the impact of Singapore food culture on Tamil literature.
This year’s theme, IF, is inspired by the title of Cyril Wong’s poem, If... Else.
Festival director Nansi said in a statement: “Every festival responds to its time, and the time that we are at in the world right now is fraught with conflict and uncertainty. There are many questions about where we are now as a global society and where we are headed towards as we cautiously make our way out of the pandemic.
“As the SWF reaches its 25th edition this year, we are embracing this milestone as we grapple with where the festival is and what its future holds in what feels like a deciding moment in the world. The word ‘if’ conveys a feeling of hope and a second chance as it allows for retrospection and ideation.”
Chiang, who will speak at the Mandala Club in Bukit Pasoh Road, is the acclaimed author of Story Of Your Life (1998). That novella, which was the basis for the 2016 film Arrival, features a linguist who tries to communicate with aliens.
Other festival headliners are Hong Kong writer Tung Chiao; Australian children’s author Andy Griffiths; and American author Lois Lowry, known for her dystopian novel The Giver. Booker Prize-nominated Canadian author Esi Edugyan and Indian artist Trotsky Marudu will also speak at the festival.
Fans of young-adult fiction can look out for programmes featuring Dustin Thao (You’ve Reached Sam), Chloe Gong (These Violent Delights) and Kass Morgan (The 100).
This year’s Country Focus is France. Francophiles can look forward to programmes featuring writers such as psychoanalyst Pierre Bayard, video game journalist Bounthavy Suvilay, and writer and film-maker Atiq Rahimi. – The Straits Times/asia News Network