Creative writing is taking centre stage as booklovers gather to attend the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) organised by Arts House Limited. This November, you can enjoy more than 200 programmes featuring over 300 presenters and 40 international authors. Here are some festival highlights!
#1 Cat Bohannon – keynote speaker
This isn’t your average lecture or keynote speaker. Cat Bohannon will be delving into her bestseller, Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution (2023), and our evolutionary past. Expect a discussion that challenges conventional history and offers a brand-new perspective on how the female form has shaped the success of humanity.
Cat has a PhD from Columbia University in the evolution of narrative and cognition. Her essays and poems have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, Science Magazine, Scientific American, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Best American Nonrequired Reading and Poets Against the War.
#2 Baek Sehee – Korean literature
This one is for booklovers with a soft spot for Korean literature! Baek Sehee studied creative writing before working for a publishing house. However, it was 10 years of psychiatric treatment for dysthymia (persistent mild depression) that became the subject of her essays and her first book I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki. This is your chance to go deeper into her works. And also start to understand her creative process and find out more about her life.
#3 Esi Edugyan – historical fiction
Esi Edugyan has an impressive list of accolades. These include being the 2023 Chair for the Booker Prize and having two Booker-shortlisted novels herself. Washington Black has been a finalist in the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and been selected by both The New York Times and Barack Obama as one of the best books of 2018. Her work is now being made into a limited television series by Hulu/Disney.
During the Singapore Writers Festival, you can learn from Esi about the process of unravelling and reclaiming violent histories of oppression. Expect the discussion to touch on how historical fiction can tackle complex issues of identity, freedom and power and writing with care and sensitivity.
#4 Meet Geronimo and Thea Stilton – for youngsters
For young booklovers, Geronimo and Thea Stilton have travelled from Topazia to Singapore to share their tales and tails! Geronimo Stilton is the publisher of The Rodent’s Gazette, Mouse Island’s most famous newspaper. In his spare time, he enjoys collecting antique cheese rinds and telling stories to his nephew Benjamin. At the festival he will share stories from his book A Thousand Wonders which is all about his adventures in Italy.
Afterwards, the first 200 ticket holders to queue up will be able to meet-and-greet with both Geronimo and Thea for an autograph and photo! All child ticket holders will be given a Geronimo Stilton friendship certificate. (Note: this event is for ages 6 and above.)
#5 Shehan Karunatilaka – creative writing about conflict
Unpacking the tumultuous state of Sri Lanka in 1989 seemed easier than tackling its equally complex present for Sri Lankan-born Shehan Karunatilaka. That thought led to the birth of his 2022 Booker Prize-winning The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. It’s a part ghost story, part whodunnit, part political satire. Listen in as Shehan and Pooja Nansi discuss the fleeting nature of memory and finding humour even in the throes of violence.
#6 Krystal Sutherland – Gothic horror
Step into a world of abandoned apartments, decaying wounds and feminine power. Krystal Sutherland is a Carnegie Medal and YA Book Prize nominee and New York Times and indie bestselling author. You may also recognise her as the author of Our Chemical Hearts, which was adapted into Chemical Hearts, a film by Amazon Studios. In this SWF session, she’ll discuss the nitty gritty of creative writing in the gothic horror genre. Not one for faint-hearted booklovers!
#7 Festival Closing Debate: Can we live without plastic?
This SWF session features Suffian Hakim, Joses Ho, Arianna Pozzuoli and others. These Singapore writers will wage a war of wit and words over the question: Can we live without plastic? And what are the contradictions between fake and real? The two teams include The Plastics and The Authenticators.
The Singapore Writers Festival theme
The beauty of literature is the opportunity it presents for us to escape from our lives, connect to others and explore new ideas and environments. When else can you experience this? When you immerse yourself in nature. This year, the Singapore Writers Festival theme, In Our Nature, has been inspired by this experience. Expect creative writing discussions to touch on concepts like global climate change and the natural world we live in. And also delve into the good and bad of human nature through literature.
When and where
The Singapore Writers Festival programme will be spread across Friday to Sunday over two weeks – 8-10 November and 15-17 November. Throughout each week, there are also special exhibitions available to explore at your own pace.
Check the SWF programme details to find out where each presentation will be hosted. Locations include The Arts House, Victoria Theatre & Victoria Concert Hall, Asian Civilisations Museum, and RJ Paper.
How to get tickets
To enjoy 150 programmes and keynote speakers at the Singapore Writers Festival, you’ll need a Festival Pass for $30 or a Youth Pass for $15, only available with a valid student ID.
However, some select individual programmes at SWF require a seperate ticket. These are priced at an affordable range of $10 to $40 per programme.
Early Bird promo! Make sure to book before 14 October to get 20% off both tickets and passes.
To find out more about the Singapore Writers Festival, SWF keynote speakers and to get your festival passes and tickets, visit singaporewritersfestival.com.
Enjoyed reading about this event for creative writing fanatics and booklovers? Find more interesting activities in Singapore in our Things To Do section.
