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Women writers here are emerging into the spotlight

The literary scene has long been dominated by men. Despite notable female authors such as J K Rowling and, closer to home, Catherine Lim, the consensus is that women writers remain disadvantaged in a male-dominated literary world.

The literary scene has long been dominated by men. Despite notable female authors such as J K Rowling and, closer to home, Catherine Lim, the consensus is that women writers remain disadvantaged in a male-dominated literary world.

According to a 2013 Guardian article, a report by Vida, an American organisation for women in the literary arts, found that male authors and reviewers continue to take a disproportionate slice of the literary pie.

Elizabeth Jane Howard, the author behind the Cazalet tetralogy, also said that year that female authors had suffered “a hard time politically and sexually”, suggesting little had changed since the 19th century.

Still, the local scene has been seeing changes, with more young female writers emerging into the spotlight these days and publishers accepting more female writers.

Edmund Wee, chief executive officer of Epigram Books, said he is “gender-blind” when selecting manuscripts for publication. Some of Epigram’s bestselling titles in recent years have been by female authors: Adeline Foo of the Amos Lee series, Felicia Low (and her husband Adam Jimenez) of the Sherlock Sam series, and mother-and-daughter team Monica Lim and Lesley-Anne Tan for the Danger Dan and Gadget Girl series.

Eliza Teoh, director of Bubbly Books, author of the Ellie Belly series and mother of teenage author Gabby Tye, also said that there have “definitely been more women authors” in the children’s publishing scene. In fact, she added, they are disproportionately represented in the middle-grade fiction market: 80 per cent of the manuscripts that she receives are from female writers.

Kenny Leck, owner of Math Paper Press, said that, in his experience, most women write while in university, but “writing takes a backseat” after graduation because of the demands of work and “unbalanced” gender roles in the family.

To address this, he consciously seeks out female writers to publish, for example poets such as Amanda Chong (Professions, which is launching at the Singapore Writers Festival), Jennifer Anne Champion (Caterwaul, also launching at the Singapore Writers Festival), Tan Lixin (Keeping Skeletons, Before We Are Ghosts) and Jollin Tan (Bursting Seams, Derivative Faith).

Even then, female writers tell us that a full-time literary career is still a financial gamble. Spoken-word poet Champion said candidly that “what you get out of (performance poetry) is literally the applause, (there is) not much in terms of money unless you teach ... The means to put food on the table (is missing)”.

Lesley-Anne Tan, a 19-year-old who has co-authored 11 books for younger readers with her mother Monica Lim, agreed. The Yale-NUS College freshman, who earlier this year accepted a scholarship from the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore, said: “In Singapore, writing is still something you do on the side.”

 

BATTLING STEREOTYPES

 

The authors say they do notice that they need to try a little harder to address gender bias. They do so in the best way they can — through their work.

Tan said she and her mother consciously introduced the strong female character of Melody (or Gadget Girl) in the Danger Dan series — and giving her equal billing by the second series — because they wanted to tackle stereotypes.

She observed that, in the middle-grade fiction market, young boys were unlikely to pick up a book with a girl on the cover, and female characters were usually “secondary to male protagonists”.

In response to that “subtle gender bias in the market”, Tan and Lim made sure that their characters were different, for example, by giving Danny a traditionally “feminine fear” of insects. Readers might also realise that although “Danger Dan” took the top billing in the first series, he was in fact “an ordinary boy” with an over-active imagination — “the one with the super power is Melody”.

Tan pointed out that art and literature should address social issues — for instance, race and gender.

“You (as an artist) are not just there to showcase how well you can do your craft, you have to use your craft for something ... More than just providing entertainment, you are supposed to start a discussion of neglected topics in society.”

Quoting Albert Camus, she said: “Fiction is the lie (through which we) tell the truth.”

Tye, a 17-year-old whose trilogy RunHideSeek is now translated and sold in China, shared Tan’s sentiments. “When I first started writing my books, I was reading Percy Jackson, Eragon and Harry Potter, (which) all featured male lead characters. I like strong female characters who can fight and fend for themselves. That’s why I created a book with a female character.”

Both Champion, 28, and Chong, 27, also incorporate themes of power structures and gender in their poetry.

Champion said that issues of identity, race and class were important to her, and she took to performance poetry because the opportunity to “put ideas about power structures inside poetry and to make it funny was really appealing”.

Chong, who is a Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Attorney-General’s Chambers by day, has shown her passion for issues of social justice and gender equality in the different spheres in which she moves.

At work, she has legal expertise in gender justice. Outside of law, she co-founded non-profit organisation ReadAble in 2014 to support literacy skills in low-income communities, including migrant women. Her new poems “explore power dynamics in romantic relationships and women’s ancillary roles in historically male-dominated fields”.

On the issue of gender in literature, Chong said: “We can’t run away from the long history of women’s exclusion from intellectual and public life. Men have been the arbiters of literary merit, and represent the bulk of the traditional canon. I have struggled with whether writing about my experience as a young woman is universal enough to be read and valued by a wide audience. I have had to stop myself because I realise that, for generations, men have written about their own experience as universal without qualms.”

With publishers helping to make room on the SingLit shelf, it is a good time for female writers to stand up and be counted.

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