Changing Stories: Week 1 of the Singapore Writers Festival
My first weekend at the Singapore Writers Festival had been very nourishing. Further to the energy buzzing through the air which got me very excited about rubbing shoulders with my fellow literatis, I also felt like I had truly stepped out from each and every event with my perspectives sharpened and my thoughts nuanced. Not to be a chronic overthinker but even what seemed like a fuss-free fan-meeting for BookTok’s current IT girl Chloe Gong, turned out to be very insightful as her passing comments on how she was interested in making Colonialism the “big bad” of her novel got me thinking about our relationship with space as the event was held in the Arts House, Singapore’s oldest government building and possibly oldest building altogether, where the colonial government used to gather for parliamentary debates. With her delightfully violent stories taking center stage in this setting that had been characterized by oppression and injustice, I can’t help but feel like the tables had turned and that we are now ready to re-think why anyone would pick up a pen (or a keyboard) at all.
As Rajeev Patke had mentioned in his keynote speech, the act of writing is in itself a form of resistance to our reality, regardless of whether one is overtly protesting or advocating for a cause, and this is clearly evident in the way the programme actively encourages us to broaden perceptions of reading and writing. Of the 11 events that I had attended, the panel that resonated with me the most was unsurprisingly, Breaking the Colonial Gaze. What surprised me however was the way it exceeded even the Festival Gala, A Singaporean Canon — Can or Cannot?, in addressing concerns over how literature can remain relevant and nurture a sense of belonging for a nation. From nor’s suggestion of lying as a decolonization strategy in order to challenge linearity and disrupt binary notions of truth to their shared observation with Nurul on how photography may be read as an act of colonial violence, the panel swiftly touches upon the two cornerstones of literature, form and content, in ways that the talk before never managed.
While the speakers attempting to answer the question of whether it is possible to create a Singaporean canon or not had went in depth on the complications behind canon formation, its attempt at contextualizing the discussion was lacking. Strangely enough, there was resistance towards naming any “Singaporean” text even after the floor, which was filled with many prolific Singaporean writers, had named works by Singaporean writers and also news articles setting out a list of the top 50 most important Singaporean works. Aside from being a missed opportunity to make the conversation relevant to the topic and also its immediate audience and grow the industry, this to me would have also been a great platform to consider the possibility of defining “Singaporean-ness”, a question that is becoming increasing complex given the rise of immigration and third-culture kids that find themselves caught between worlds. Additionally, when yet another member of the audience asked about the importance of international validation, the presence of local awards and prizes as a counterpoint was ignored altogether. Would a book that’s well-received outside of our sunny shores be considered a landmark Singaporean text if Singaporeans never cared about it until it became famous? The question of reception is one that must be considered, especially since international books consistently outsell local books. Is there going to be a shift in what we can consider to be Singaporean then?
Despite all this, something good that came out from this line of questioning was the acknowledgement of The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye, a graphic novel, as a canonical text. While an earlier attempt by the audience to consider the possibility of placing short stories within the canon had been largely swept aside, the recognition of other forms of narrative is crucial and ought to have been discussed in further detail. Must the canon include novels only? Especially when there had been significant change in reading habits and consumption patterns over the years? Given that the festival highly emphasized other forms of writing such as film, art and music, the way this was not scrutinized in further detail was very ironic. As affirmed by the following panel on Breaking the Colonial Gaze, my believe is that colonialism and de-colonization strategies must take centre stage for any conversation on the matter to even be meaningful.
That aside, as someone who is deeply interested in the study of games as a form of literature, the festival absolutely delivered. Further to the gaming session Jio Play Game: Ready Player One, All On the Table: Adapting Southeast Asian Myths to Games was also very insightful. I can’t remember if it was Joaquin Kyle Saavedra or Curious Chimeras who said it but in addressing the fidelity towards myths in their gaming experience, their assertion that the original legend will always be there and that the creative freedom to explore how folklore can adapt to our modern times would not detract from it. Not only is this an empowering notion, it also chimes very well with the dynamism underscoring myths due to its oral tradition.
While it had overall been a thoroughly enjoyable weekend, what frustrated me the most (as a massively overbearing nerd) was the way that there were so many things happening. Yes there is more than 300 events but I wasn’t too happy about how I couldn’t attend so many of them as they were happening simultaneously. Live Service Go! — A Chat with Game Industry Experts especially was something that would have been right up my alley if I had known about it earlier. Oh well, I can’t always have things my way! I’ll just have to be a lot more strategic next weekend with Jeanette Winterson and Ted Chiang all appearing.
Before I sign off, here is a list of events I had attended:
Meet Me Here if the World Ends — Poems of Refuge
Latest Drop: Why Artists Collab
Who’s Got the Mic? — The Persona in Spoken Word
Connecting The Dots : On Meanings Through Mediums
And here is a list of events that I wish I had attended:
A Southeast Asian Cyberpunk Dream
Ctrl + Alt + Hist with Benjamin Chee
A Different Version of Events: Playing with Parallel Universes
A Speck in the Universe: The Human Obsession with Exploration
Please do not hesitate to reach out to me if you would like to talk about them!
