programme download - Singapore Writers Festival

PROGRAMMES 2 – 3 NOVEMBER SWF 2012
FRIDAY | 2 NOVEMBER
OFF THE PAGE: Snake
2 nov 2012 – 13 feb 2013 | FREE
lawn, Sam
This special SWF commission draws parallels with
the famous Greek statue Laocoön and His Sons, an
influential artwork from 2nd century BC, now
revered and referenced throughout the western
art world as the epitome of the human anatomy
and expression. With quotes from writers such
as Chinua Achebe and Shirley Lim, visual artist
Gerald Leow explores our fraught relationship with
the English language, our adopted tongue that
is now the most widely-used global language. Is
Laocoön’s struggle with the encroaching snakes a
mirror of our latent discomfort with the words we
speak and write?
BRAND NEW BOOKS:
Straw, Sticks, Bricks by Cyril Wong
The Invisible Manuscript by Alfian Sa’at
Stone Monkey by Ng Yi-Sheng
A View of the Ground by Jason Wee
fri 2 nov | 8pm – 9pm | FREE
Big Steps, School of information Systems, Smu
Four remarkably different works will be launched
as the Festival opens. Listen to Cyril Wong’s prose
poems that remark, instruct, exclaim and curse at a
world long settled into its desire-ridden forms; Alfian
Sa’at’s fragments of poetry and prose that bring to
life a voice that was once young, hopeless and naked;
Ng Yi-Sheng’s missives about a displaced, cultureshocked
Singaporean in New York; and Jason Wee’s
musings on landscape in all its political and ecological
dimensions. Don’t miss this first book launch of SWF!
SATURDAY | 3 NOVEMBER
PANEL: The Ties that Bind
featuring: Philip jeyaretnam, charlson Ong,
che Husna azhari, Seno gumira ajidarma
mOderated By: koh tai ann
Sat 3 nov | 10am – 11am | FESTIvAL PASS
glass Hall, Sam
With all of Southeast Asia’s diversity, can one speak of
a common sensibility that the region’s authors share?
Come join this literary interlogue that celebrates how
our different arts, languages, literatures and cultures
inform one another.
PANEL: Life Lessons from Sports
featuring: Shehan karunatilaka, mick foley,
rohit Brijnath
mOderated By: Simon reynolds
Sat 3 nov | 10am – 11am | FESTIvAL PASS
ilovebooks.com Pavilion, campus green, Smu
Behind the accomplished sportsman is often a
fascinating tale waiting to be told. Discover how these
leading authors uncover the drama behind wrestling,
cricket and sharp-shooting to draw larger lessons
about life itself.
Mick Foley’s appearance is supported by the United States
Embassy, Singapore.
PANEL: Counter Texts – Facts of Fiction
featuring: Brian castro, rosaly Puthucheary,
troy chin
mOderated By: carolyn camoens
Sat 3 nov | 10am – 11am | FESTIvAL PASS
the ixora room, tPm
What happens when the lines between fiction and fact
blur and our pasts are re-imagined? What powers are
invested in the author, who has the ability to conjure
up words and realise new realities? Do books always
provide an avenue of escape?
REAM TO REEL: The Hours
featuring: michael cunningham
mOderated By: tan kheng Hua
Sat 3 nov | 10am – 12.30pm | FESTIvAL PASS
moving image gallery, Sam @ 8Q
Director: Stephen Daldry | Cast: Nicole Kidman,
Julianne Moore, Meryl Streep | 2002 | 114 mins | USA
and UK | M18 (sexual references)
Based on the book by celebrated writer Michael
Cunningham, The Hours tells how the creation of Virginia
Woolf’s depression-themed novel, Mrs Dalloway, set
in 1920s England echoed across eras and continents.
As Woolf recuperates from a nervous breakdown, her
new novel and the lives of a 1950s American housewife
contemplating suicide and a new-millennium posh
lesbian publisher caring for her dying friend cross paths.
Relive this critically-lauded movie, which won Nicole
Kidman the Academy Award for Best Actress.
SWF featured author Michael Cunningham will be present
for a post-film dialogue.
Supported by the United States Embassy, Singapore.
Curated by The Arts House
PANEL: Hitting the Bookstands
featuring: chitra Sankaran, krys lee, Shermay loh
mOderated By: jane nardin
Sat 3 nov | 10am – 11am | FESTIvAL PASS
the Salon, nmS
New voices in Asian literature talk about getting their
first book out—the endless slog, rewrites and pitches—
to get to the final payoff when the book is launched,
read and reviewed!
BRAND NEW BOOKS:
An Independent Life by Chong Wing Hong
Sat 3 nov | 11.30am – 12.30pm | FREE
festival Pavilion, campus green, Smu
An Independent Life is the last of the three volumes
of columns written by Chong Wing Hong over 15
years at Lianhe Zaobao. The title of this third volume
emphasises the author’s belief that readers still look
for independent observations on the world around
them.
PANEL: Girl Power & Women Warriors –
Load your Magazines!
featuring: Sharon lim, Ong Soh chin, tara Barker
mOderated By: trina liang
Sat 3 nov | 11.30am – 12.30pm | FESTIvAL PASS
glass Hall, Sam
Do women’s magazines subtly prescribe gender roles
and undermine women’s self-determination with their
focus on fashion, beauty and a consumerist lifestyle?
This panel of industry veterans discusses if you can be
a feminist and still enjoy women’s magazines.
PANEL: The Peranakan Wields the Pen
featuring: desmond Sim, josephine chia,
Walter Woon
mOderated By: Phan ming yen
Sat 3 nov | 11.30am – 12.30pm | FESTIvAL PASS
the ixora room, tPm
How does one define the Peranakan sensibility? Is it an
attention to detail or larger-than-life characters? Join
this panel of true blue Peranakan authors to discuss
the characteristics of this rich and unique culture,
and see if there is a connection between heritage and
aesthetics.
PANEL: Translation in Theatre
featuring: robin loon, candace chong,
jeremy tiang
mOderated By: kok Heng leun
Sat 3 nov | 11.30am - 12.30pm | FESTIvAL PASS
exhibition gallery 2, Basement, nmS
Bridging the different worlds of English and Chinese,
translators create new audiences for theatre. These
writers, who have translated the works of Singapore
playwrights and classics such as Titus Andronicus,
shed light on the challenges and rewards of translating.
This session is in English and Mandarin.
座谈会:剧场中的翻译
嘉宾: 伦尚人, 庄梅岩, 程异
主持人:郭庆亮
十一月三日, 星期六 | 11.30am - 12.30pm |
作家节通行证
exhibition gallery 2, Basement, nmS
翻译为英语与华语两个世界之间搭建起桥梁,为剧
场创造了新的观众。参加本座谈会的几位翻译家都
曾翻译过新加坡本土作品与世界经典作品(如Titus
Andronicus)。他们将与我们分享翻译过程所带来的
挑战与乐趣。
此节目将以中英文两种语言进行。
PANEL: Walking with A R Wallace
featuring: Paul Sochaczewski, john van Wyhe
mOderated By: Stephen mccarty
Sat 3 nov | 11.30am – 12.30pm | FESTIvAL PASS
ilovebooks.com Pavilion, campus green, Smu
Often over-shadowed by Charles Darwin, Alfred
Russel Wallace played a crucial part in the theory of
evolution. Follow his adventures across Southeast
Asia and Singapore with historian-scientist John van
Wyhe and journalist-writer Paul Sochaczewski as they
tell us more about the intrepid explorer and naturalist.
WORKSHOP: It’s Not About You –
Writing a First Novel
inStructOr: Brian castro
Sat 3 nov | 11.30am – 1pm | $15
Seminar room 3-2, School of information Systems, Smu
This master class by top Australian novelist Brian
Castro looks at the pitfalls of trying to get published
– what you should, as well as should NOT, try to do.
Tips on how to save a lot of time and anxiety, as well as
plenty of food for thought and provocation, promise
to help new writers get a good start.
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