Show latest news, more from September 2009.
Singapore Writers Festival 2009 Presents UNderCovers
The Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) goes under covers this year with a host of events and writers that are expected to raise a whirlwind at The Arts House from 24 October to 1 November 2009. While readers can look forward to meeting face-to-face with luminaries such as Neil Gaiman, Taiji Yamada, Qiu Xialong and John Ajvide Lindqvist, this year’s SWF will also see the launch of new initiatives.
For the first time this year, SWF is putting together several outreach programmes in schools and during the Festival, introducing children’s literature and children’s writers from Singapore (Adeline Foo and Shamini Flint) and The Boy in Striped Pyjamas’s John Boyne; and focusing prominently on emerging and established Singapore and Malaysia writers.
Says Mr Philip Jeyaretnam, Chairman of SWF 2009 Steering Committee: “The new initiatives are aimed at showing our young readers that literature is fun and thrilling. At the same time, we are continuing with our mission to promote new and emerging Singapore and Asian writing to an international and wider audience. With such strong emphasis on Singapore and Malaysia writers this year, we are also pleased that for the first time in our history, SWF will be holding a press conference in Kuala Lumpur on 15 October to promote SWF to our fellow counterparts in Malaysia.”
The Festival also continues its strong Singapore focus with its Literary Pioneer series which will honour Professor Edwin Thumboo from National University of Singapore as the Literary Pioneer for 2009. As one of the early pioneers of Singapore poetry, Professor Thumboo has edited some of the earliest anthologies of English literature from Singapore and Malaysia and written five volumes of poetry: Rib of Earth (1956), Gods Can Die (1977), Ulysses by the Merlion (1979), A Third Map: New and Selected Poems (1993), and most recently, Still Travelling (2008). He received the Cultural Medallion in 1979 and the Meritorious Service Medal in 2006 in recognition of his contribution to the arts and culture scene of Singapore throughout his career as a lecturer, academic and writer.
Deputy CEO and Director of Literary Arts of the National Arts Council, Mr Khor Kok Wah says: “As an international literary arts festival with an Asian focus, the Singapore Writers Festival is more than just a platform for the most celebrated international and Singapore writers. The Festival also opens channels for emergent literary talent to develop and showcase their creative writings, and for the public to be inspired by the written word. We hope to continue to increase the reach of the literary arts through the various programmes and events SWF 2009 will offer, and establish the Festival as a worthy and meaningful literary festival in the Southeast Asian region.”
With its theme of UNderCovers and featuring more than 100 writers from Singapore, Asia and the West, SWF 2009 aims to explore a variety of genres that the theme evokes: from horror and thriller through children’s literature to emerging writers. Multi-disciplinary events such as film screenings, a dramatised reading and book launches will continue to be a feature of the festival as well.
Says Mr Phan Ming Yen, Assistant General Manager of The Arts House: “Following our successful collaboration in 2007, The Arts House is pleased to work with the National Arts Council again on SWF this year. This is especially so for since The Arts House’s opening, literary arts has been a core focus of The Arts House and events such as SWF is very much in line with our mission.”
“As such, the theme for the festival this year has allowed SWF to present to readers a rich variety of authors whose works – ranging from horror through crime to ‘serious fiction’ - are at once accessible and fun but yet also serve as a metaphor for social and humanitarian issues. This in turn we hope will allow the Festival to reach out to a wider audience and share with them the transformative power of the text.”
Ms Ginney Lim, SPH's General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications and General Manager of SPH Foundation says: "SPH and the SPH Foundation are proud to be the Official Sponsors of the Singapore Writers Festival once again. As Southeast Asia’s leading media organisation, we are pleased that this year's Festival places a strong focus on the region's writers. We believe our sponsorship of the event will create greater recognition and appreciation for the literary arts. We also hope that the SPH-NAC Golden Point Award will discover and nurture a new generation of writers.”
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