In their latest announcement, the Singapore Writers Festival, which will be happening on Nov 3-12, teased the upcoming line-up for audiences interested in purchasing festival passes during the Advance Sale on Aug 14—introducing five international writers as the headliners of the festival. The writers, each leaders in five different genres across multiple languages, join the eight Irish authors first announced at one of the festival’s POP events last week.
Meet the five faces you’ll get to meet—again, in person—with the Festival Pass.
Tony Parsons (UK)
British novelist, broadcaster and journalist Tony Parsons is perhaps most famous for his book Man and Boy, which won the British Book of the Year in 2001, and was later adapted into a film by BBC One in 2002. He has also published a series of best-selling novels that chronicle the woes of thirty-something men in modern society—a genre he affectionately brands “Men Lit”.
Perumal Murugan (India)
Murugan is a Tamil author, scholar and literary chronicler with six novels, four collections of short stories, and four anthologies of poetry to his name. His novels depict social issues embedded in traditional Indian society; his novel One Part Woman, which was later translated to English, deals with taboo and social stigma with regards to childbearing in Tiruchengode, India.
Lu Min (China)
Born in Dongtai, Jiangsu province, Chinese novelist Lu Min is touted as one of the most critically acclaimed writers of her generation. Among her numerous awards, she has won the 5th Lu Xun Literary Prize for short fiction and made the list for 20 best writers under 40 in People’s Literature magazine. Exploring the human condition in contemporary Chinese fiction, her works include Dinner for Six, Father on the Wall and The Banquet Companion—some of which have been translated into German, French, Japanese, Russian, English and Arabic.
Ken Liu (USA)
Liu is an American science-fiction and fantasy writer, whose accolades include numerous awards in the sci-fi genre, such as the Nebula, Hugo and World Fantasy awards. He is also an acclaimed translator, having translated numerous works from Chinese to English, including Liu Cixin’s The Three-Body Problem (2015), the first translated work ever to win the Hugo Award for Best Novel. At the recent Star Wars Celebration 2017, it was announced that Liu would be writing an official Star Wars novel called The Legends of Luke Skywalker.
Datin Saidah Rastam (Malaysia)
Closer to home, Malaysian composer Rastam is well-known for her work written for theater, film, dance and television. She recently composed and directed Malam Terang Bulan, a concert series staged in Sep 2016. She also authored a book titled Rosalie and Other Love Songs, a preservation project on Malayan music recordings, manuscripts and oral history.
The Singapore Writers Festival will take place in the Civic District this Nov 3-12. Early-bird Festival Passes priced at $20 (U.P. $25) will be available from Aug 14 here. More information about the festival here.
