By The Book: Sing Lit – Read Our World celebrates with Sing Lit Blk Party this February

Sing Lit: Read Our World will be hosting a one-day hybrid event, Sing Lit Blk Party on 26th February 2022, Saturday. Taking place at HAPPEN @ Jalan Besar and Sing Lit Station, these creative spaces will be transformed to allow the community to gather and celebrate the local literary scene. Singapore literature lovers can expect 6 programmes; consisting of 2 panel discussions, 1 trivia session, 1 online game, 1 mental health workshop and 1 inaugural adventure quest. 

Some of the event highlights include the panel discussion Sing Lit Multiverse: The Many Lives of a Story which explores how Sing Lit titles are being adapted to films, television series and video games. Chong Lingying, Publisher of Asiapac Books will moderate this session with panellists Balli Kaur Jaswal, Suffian Hakim and Lee Thean-jeen as they discuss their experience in the space.

Long have book-lovers known the magic a story can bring as readers find themselves transported to another world. Whether serving as a friend during lonely seasons or a reflection of our internal struggles, books can serve as portals to different worlds. In collaboration with the Singapore Association for Mental Health’s Creative Mindset Hub, Sing Lit Blk Party will host a 2-part mental health workshop – held at the Sing Lit Station premises – where participants explore the themes of Forgiveness, Thankfulness, Love and Letting Go while meditating on the poetry anthology “to let the light in”. 

Besides panel discussions and workshops, attendees on ground at HAPPEN can also look forward to all-day interactive fringe activities in-between the main programmes. This includes a video game (What’s The Matter, Mister Monster?), based on the short story “SIN” by Ng Yi-Sheng, from his collection of short stories, Lion City (Epigram, 2018). Attendees will be brought to a fictitious setting where a fog has settled over Singapore, bringing with it otherworldly creatures. As civil servants in the inaugural Fog Creature Assimilation Taskforce (FCAT) working for the complaint desk, attendees will resolve disputes between the Singapore citizens and these creatures.

For the first time ever, Sing Lit Blk Party will be launching the Sing Lit Level Up Quest which will start from the event day but extend till 31 March 2022. In this interactive activity, participants have three different pathways to explore the hidden troves of Sing Lit and forge their own literary adventure.  Those who complete the journey will be able to receive a bespoke hard enamel pin** with each track having its own unique design.

“The Sing Lit Blk Party is yet another example of how the revamped Sing Lit: Read Our World celebrates the works of our fellow Singaporean creatives and artists,” said Charlene Shepherdson, Station Control of Sing Lit Station, “We hope that this hybrid event will spark new ways of looking at local literature and help Singaporeans realise the possibilities in making our local scene come alive.”

The Sing Lit Blk Party takes place on 26th February 2022. Tickets to Sing Lit Blk Party can be purchased here.