Roxane Gay is an icon for our times. Big, black, queer and intellectual, Roxane rounded off the final weekend of the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) with a number of talks and events surrounding her work. Best known for her bestselling essay collection Bad Feminist and memoir Hunger, Roxane’s writing deals primarily with issues of identity, femininity (or society’s expectations of it) and how our views of the world have … Continue reading Singapore Writers Festival 2019: Bad Feminist Roxane Gay Speaks About Bodies, Pop Culture and the Importance of Media Literacy

The 22nd edition of the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) concluded on 10 November after a stellar 10-day line-up of literary events and programmes headlined by influential Singapore and international writers, speakers and thinkers. Organised by the National Arts Council (NAC) to champion and grow appreciation for literary arts and culture in Singapore, the theme “A Language of Our Own” explores the ways in which verbal, … Continue reading Singapore Writers Festival 2019 Closes with Literary Stars and Contemporary Topics, Marking New Festival Director Pooja Nansi’s Inaugural Edition

“I like writing because I don’t like talking very much,” says author Min Jin Lee. “I was really one of those quiet Asian kids as a child, and it was something I had to work through when I realised that in America, if you don’t know how to talk well, people will think you’re stupid, and I definitely didn’t want people to think that about … Continue reading Singapore Writers Festival 2019: An Interview with Min Jin Lee, Author of Pachinko and Free Food For Millionaires

In the grand tradition of the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF), the ever-popular Festival Debate segment saw a full house at the Arts House Chamber, a historically appropriate venue (as a former space for Parliament to debate policies) to stage it. While still ostensibly taking on the same format as previous editions, something about this edition felt somewhat different, in part perhaps because of the motion … Continue reading Singapore Writers Festival 2019: Festival Debate – This House Believes That Men Are Ruining Feminism

Opening weekend of the 2019 Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) has kicked off to a great start – helmed by some key anchor events and highlights, it’s no surprise to see various venues filled and buzzing with activity as the Civic District came awash with literary activity and a swarm of local and international writers gathering in Singapore. Perhaps one of the most anticipated authors of … Continue reading Singapore Writers Festival 2019: On the Nature of Language with Marlon James’ SWF Prologue and Pico Iyer’s Beyond Borders, Beyond Words