We asked 11 writers and translators of poetry, fiction and non-fiction to participate in an exquisite corpse-like Q&A session, with each person answering a question and then asking one. These writers, who hail from countries in the Asia Pacific such as Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Japan, are part of the 2021 cohort of […]
WrICE 2021: Writers Ask Writers, Asia Pacific edition Read More »
It’s 2021 – and you’re constantly being told to be your best self! There’s that pile of books waiting to be read, countless browser tabs open with must-read articles, and a list of podcasts that are supposed to make you smarter. But at the end of a long day, all you find yourself reaching for
Quiz: What’s Your Guilty Pleasure? Read More »
In the second of a two-part episode on the Singapore Writers Festival 2021, Nabilah Said chats with horror writer Wayne Rée about his love of gore and slasher fiction, the supernatural in Southeast Asia, and his opinions on Nickelback. Wayne is part of SWF panel Kill Your Darlings (and Everyone Else) on 14 Nov 2021,
Podcast 97: Writer Wayne Rée talks about gore and slasher fiction Read More »
In the first of a two-part episode on the Singapore Writers Festival 2021, Nabilah Said chats with author Grace Chia about her book The Arches of Gerrard Street, and her thoughts on writing crime while exploring themes surrounding the experiences of minorities and the Chinese diaspora in London, and exoticism. Grace is part of SWF
Podcast 96: Writer Grace Chia talks about crime and The Arches of Gerrard Street Read More »
In this video, part of the W.O.W (Women on Women) Classics project, Neo Wen Xin shares about “Where I Was”, a 2013 memoir by Singaporean activist Constance Singam. Constance Singam is known for being a longterm president of AWARE, and for championing the rights of various minority communities in Singapore. Wen Xin was mentored by
W.O.W Classics: Neo Wen Xin on Constance Singam Read More »
Singa-Pura-Pura boasts an eclectic collection of short speculative fiction from a minority ethnic group in Singapore, exploring worlds where robots are therapists, prayers are read from preloaded cards, and humans are migrating to Mars. Edited by Nazry Bahrawi, the stories consider various spiritual, social, and economic themes, with many leaving me with questions about where we
Where are the Malays?: Locating the Singaporean Malay in Singa-Pura-Pura Read More »
In this video, part of the W.O.W (Women on Women) Classics project, Goh Tze Yi shares more about “Crossing the Chopsticks and Other Poems” (1993), a book of poetry by second-generation Singaporean English poet Heng Siok Tian. Tze Yi was mentored by award-winning writer Elaine Chiew. W.O.W Classics is an effort by ArtsEquator and Chiew
W.O.W Classics: Goh Tze Yi on Heng Siok Tian Read More »
For every Singaporean who loves stories and words—whether you lovingly document your everyday experiences on Facebook, pen epic poems during your lunch breaks, or are a writer working on that great Singapore novel— there comes a time where you ask yourself the big questions: like, what is the meaning of life? Could I win the
Quiz: Which Singaporean writer are you? Read More »
In this video, part of the W.O.W (Women on Women) Classics project, Vanessa Chan shares more about “A Bad Girl’s Book of Animals” (1969), a book of poetry by Wong May. Vanessa was mentored by award-winning writer Elaine Chiew. W.O.W Classics is an effort by ArtsEquator and Chiew to introduce literary classics written by Singaporean
W.O.W Classics: Vanessa Chan on Wong May Read More »
In this month’s Cakap-Cakap (chit-chat), ArtsEquator speaks with poet and critic, Daryl Lim Wei Jie, who curated the poems featured in Local Flavours, an interactive site based on the concept of food delivery mobile apps. Produced by digital storytelling studio, Tusitala, it features 30 Singapore-based illustrators and poets and their works, which were inspired by 15
Cakap-Cakap: Interview with Daryl Lim for Local Flavours Read More »
As a resident of Yishun, I do not usually expect any sort of art exhibition to come to my town. As a town notorious for cat killing and the occasional murder, you wouldn’t expect any cultural experience to rank high on the list of places to go in Yishun, which was why I was pleasantly
Artistic intervention: An orange truck lands in… Yishun? Read More »
From now till 25 April, a truck carrying precious cargo will travel around Singapore, hoping to enchant you with its treasures and stories. Titled The Bottled City, this orange-hued truck contains art and design works curated and created in response to books by Singapore authors. Inspired by the concept of a cabinet of curiosities, the
So Lit: The Bottled City of mini objects travelling through Singapore Read More »
Not many people can endure the traumatic experience of losing a child to suicide, let alone be of sound mind to write about it in a painfully self-aware manner. In Loss Adjustment, Linda Collins weaves together the late Victoria’s journal with her own journey as a grieving mother into a heart-wrenching memoir. This book is
Tender reading: A review of Loss Adjustment by Linda Collins Read More »
Is it enough to be not unhappy? This is what Yeoh Jo-Ann’s Impractical Uses of Cake sets out to interrogate, framing the question in terms that speak to both existential crises at large as well as the uniquely Singaporean predicament of progress and prosperity. Yeoh’s novel pokes at the façade of the Singaporean Dream with
House of Cardboard: A review of Impractical Uses of Cake by Yeoh Jo-Ann Read More »
By Kathy Rowland (913 words, 4-minute read) Last November, when there was nary a thought for social distancing, and Corona conjured up visions of lime wedges and grimy bars, I reread Rex Shelley’s 1991 debut novel, The Shrimp People. Shelley was one of the literary pioneers featured in Artistic Director Pooja Nansi’s Singapore Writers Festival
Reading in Isolation: ‘Others’ is Not a Race and Interpreter of Winds Read More »
By Nabilah Said (2,500 words, 7-minute read) In 1968, Lee Kuan Yew uttered the words “Poetry is a luxury we cannot afford” to a roomful of University of Singapore students. There have been some quibbling over, even mythologising of, what he may have meant. To Prof Koh Tai Ann, then the young student whom he
5 Singapore poems not to quote out of context Read More »
