Saturday 20 May 2017

This weekend: literary events in Singapore

Asian Books Blog is based in Singapore – the Lion City. Lucía Damacela keeps an eye on local listings. A sample of literary events taking place in Singapore this weekend

Migrant Poetic Tales

Saturday, 20 May 2017
5pm to 6pm
Booktique
CityLink Mall, #B1-17A, 1 Raffles Link, Singapore 039393
Free Admission (tickets through Peatix)

A dialogue between Singapore poets, migrant workers and the community at large, this event features migrant writers from Bangladesh, The Philippines, India-Tamil, Indonesia and Singapore. The event is co-organized by Amrakajona Zakir, a two-time winner of the Migrant Poetry Competition.

Unveiling SG Poems - A Prelude to Poetry Festival 2017

Saturday, 20 May 2017
11am to 1pm
Blue Room, The Arts House
Free seminar and forum.

The seminar, led by Hazirah Mohamed, Gwee Li Sui and Subramaniam Kannappan, discusses Singapore poetry, based on the first anthology published by the Singapore Poetry Festival.

The anthology includes poems from finalists in the last two years’ competitions, and from poets featured at the 2015 Festival. The book is available for purchase at http://www.poetryfestival.sg/our-books

After the seminar, a forum with panelists Gwee Li Sui, Annaliza Bakri, Ramchander and Zhou Hao, will examine the role of poetry in today’s social landscape, particularly in its relation to politics. Moderated by Dr Azhar Ibrahim.

Meet-The-Author: Tea and Reading with Mahita Vas

Saturday May 20
2pm to 4pm
K+ (6 Scotts Square, 3rd level)
$29 (Peatix)

In an event organized by Books Actually, Singapore writer Mahita Vas will read excerpts and present her debut novel Rain Tree (Math Paper Press), about a young girl’s journey; her personal predicaments and the decisions she needs to make against the backdrop of a country achieving independence. Ticket holders receive a complimentary copy of Rain Tree. Tea and nibbles will be served.

Launch of Charmaine Leung’s Book 17A Keong Saik Road – A Personal Story

17A Keong Saik Road
recounts Singaporean Charmaine Leung’s childhood life in Keong Saik Road in the 1970s. This was a notorious red-light area in Singapore’s Chinatown. In a narrative that intertwines past and present, 17A Keong Saik Road is the journey of a girl put up for sale, who becomes a brothel’s madame, and the story of her daughter, growing up in that location. The book tells stories of stigmatised and forgotten women. Book is available at Ethos and Kinokuniya.

The launch of this book is fully booked, but the publisher and organizer of the event, Ethos Books, invites the public to a post-launch drink.

5pm to 7pm
The Paperbox Factory
6 Jiak Chuan Road
(The Cufflink Club)
Free admission

Posted by Lucía Damacela