S’pore Writers Fest 2014 looks at Beauty

SINGAPORE — Beauty will be in the eyes of those who behold this year’s Singapore’s Writers Fest (SWF), themed The Prospect Of Beauty.

The 17th edition of the annual literary event will take place from Oct 31to Nov 9. It will feature about 250 events and a line-up that includes 200 international and Singapore writers. Notable international names are travel writer and fictionist Paul Theroux, fantasy author Raymond Feist, feminist writer Naomi Wolf, current Booker Prize longlisted author Karen Joy Fowler, environmental writer Barry Lopez, comics writer David Hine and winner of the Man Asian Literary Prize, Su Tong.

Two renowned poets will also be in town: Former American Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Paul Muldoon, who has been commissioned to write a poem for the festival.

The strong presence of poetry this year is very much linked to the theme, said festival director Paul Tan, who is helming this final edition and is set to be replaced by poet-journalist Yeow Kai Chai next year.

“We consciously wanted more poets because of the theme, (which tackles) the culture of beauty, aesthetics, environment, feminism and, of course, the best of language, which lends itself to poetry,” he said.

A handful of talks are also set to touch on the recent controversy surrounding the National Library Board and children’s books. One of them, Dangerous Spines, tackles how society deals with content that certain groups find dangerous while The State of Literature discusses the role of the state in terms of funding and restricting content.

“We said we would address it and a good literary festival should address the issues of the day,” said Tan.

The festival will also pay tribute to notable authors who passed away. South American giant Gabriel Garcia Marquez will be the subject of a panel discussion, while Singapore author Gopal Baratham is this year’s Pioneer Author.

Other events include launches of popular playwright Michael Chiang’s book of plays and fashion personality Daniel Boey’s biography. Meanwhile, TODAY movie writer Genevieve Loh will be part of a panel discussion on writing reviews, while art writer Mayo Martin will take part in talks on art writing and Filipino poetry.

The festival won’t simply focus on all things beautiful. The idea of ugliness rears its head in a few events, such as one on the controversies surrounding football and the festival’s closing debate: True Art Is Always Ugly.

The Singapore Writers Festival 2014 will run from Oct 31 to Nov 9. Tickets and festival passes available at SISTIC and Bytes. For more information, visit http://www.singaporewritersfestival.com and the SWF Facebook page.