Singapore can be a city of literature

Director, The Arts House

We refer to Mr Kenneth Cheng’s commentary “The write stuff” (Oct 18). As the literary-arts centre in Singapore, The Arts House endeavours to be a home to local writers and is committed to developing and promoting them and their works.

We organise close to 150 literary programmes a year, including festivals, readings, workshops and talks, and feature about 200 writers, both local and foreign.

Emerging and established Singapore writers are invited to showcase and share their works with the public.

They can also hone their craft through writing programmes, in particular the six-month Singapore Creative Writing Residency.

Co-organised with the National University of Singapore’s University Scholars Programme, the residency gives a writer time, space and resources to create works. Playwright and writer Daniel Koh is one of two appointed to the residency this year.

The Arts House has, likewise, sought to create platforms to promote local writers to audiences abroad.

We launched the anthology, Man/Born/Free: Writings on the Human Spirit from Singapore, in Cape Town in 2011 as part of the Spotlight Singapore initiative.

Published by local publisher Ethos Books and edited by literary critic and poet Gwee Li Sui, the book brings together works originally written in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil across almost six decades of Singaporean life.

It features acclaimed writers like Edwin Thumboo, Isa Kamari, Catherine Lim and Alfian Sa’at. This was the first time local literary works were introduced to a wide South African audience.

We concur that Singapore does not lack talent. Mr Yeng Pway Ngon has won many accolades, most recently the Southeast Asian Writers Award. His novel Art Studio was named one of the top 10 Chinese books of 2011 by Hong Kong weekly Yazhou Zhoukan.

Writer O Thiam Chin has also been longlisted twice for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award. It is only a matter of time before we have a Man Booker Prize or Nobel Prize winner.

But, as Mr Cheng pointed out, we should embrace our writers and their works, and read their books. We could learn from the success of Ilo Ilo that we should celebrate our talent first, without having to seek the approval of others. To that end, we have launched a series that is aimed at promoting and celebrating local literature.

Sing Lit 101 delves into works written over the past few decades in any of the four languages, and dissects and debates them. Such works range from poetry to novels, plays, short stories and non-fiction.

It is open to all, from seasoned writers to someone who is only just discovering Singapore books. We hope to work with teachers to introduce this programme to schools.

We have our work cut out boosting the country’s literary-arts scene. But we are making strides, working together with the Singapore Writers Festival, publishers, local bookstores and literary organisations.

We are convinced that Singapore, in time to come, will not only produce writers who will make their mark internationally, but also be a city of literature where all would embrace reading and writing as a way of life.