S’pore Writers Fest features NTU works

With new material to present, writers from NTU are getting more exposure at this year’s Singapore Writers Festival

By Holly Matthews

WORDSTAR: Asst Prof Divya Victor is using the Singapore Writers Festival as a platform to showcase her students’ poetry.
PHOTO: NG KAI YUAN

A 57-year-old photograph displayed at the National Gallery portrays a construction worker hard at work as he builds a temporary exhibition hall at the old Paya Lebar Airport.

Taken by Wu Peng Seng in 1958, the photo depicts the crisp silhouette of the builder against a cream background.

The photo inspired School of Humanities and Social Science assistant professor Divya Victor to write three poems that was read on 1 Nov at the soon-to-be-opened National Gallery.

Asst Prof Divya said her poems, which look at Wu’s photograph from three different perspectives, utilised the technique of ekphrasis, the use of one art form to discuss another, forcing her to look at the art differently.

“It’s a wonderful way of looking at something. You aren’t looking at it just passively, or critically, but as someone who is going to be a producer of art yourself,” she said.

The poetry reading was one of 13 events which Asst Prof Divya and eight other NTU faculty and students participated in during this year’s Singapore Writers Festival (SWF). The festival runs from 30 Oct to 8 Nov.

This year, the SWF brings together more than 260 authors and presenters to 17 venues over 10 days, presenting events in four languages: Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil.

Speaking of the three poems she wrote for the event, Asst Prof Divya said that it is important that visitors consider themselves not just passive recipients of culture, but also as active contributors.

“You can’t keep taking. You have to feel responsible for pushing culture forward by producing something,” she said.

Asst Prof Divya will also be helping three budding writers from NTU to showcase their work in the festival by reading their poems at Singapura Campur, a free event taking place on 7 Nov at the Arts House.

The selected students, Shaun Tan, Chloe Tong and Nurul Sofia Bte Assahari, are from her Introduction to Creative Writing, and Creative Writing Poetry courses. Asst Prof Divya said she explicitly chose poems that weaved Singapore in, be it culturally, linguistically, or otherwise.

A student whose work will be read said it was a pleasant surprise to be featured in the festival.

“I’ve been working on improving my poetry for awhile now, and it’s a good sign to be featured at the Singapore Writers’ Festival,” said Shaun Tan, 22, a second-year student from the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information.

The other five NTU faculty members involved in the SWF include NTU-NAC Writers in Residence (WIR) Pooja Nansi, Madeleine Thien and Yeo Wei Wei, Assistant Professor Barrie Sherwood, and part-time lecturer and former WIR Yong Shu Hoong.

They will be participating in panel discussions, readings of their work and writing workshops.

Three of the writers will be presenting new works at the festival. Ms Yeo will unveil her debut collection of short stories entitled These Foolish Things & Other Stories, while Mr Yong will be promoting his literary project, The Adopted: Stories from Angkor.

The writers were brought together by Asst Prof Sherwood, also from HSS, who joins the festival’s steering committee for the first time.

Mr Yong, who is also taking part in an SWF special event, Eye/Feel/Write II, said participating as a local writer is a unique balance between being a guest of the festival, and playing host to international writers coming to Singapore for the event.

“It’s an interesting sense of homecoming and being recognised by your own community, but at the same time you’re also meeting new people. You get a sense of how big the writing community is worldwide,” said the poet, who was a WIR in 2013, and still teaches creative writing part-time.

Mr Yong said an interesting feature of the SWF is that it is programmed in four languages, which is a challenge, but one that is worth the effort.

“It is a unique point that sets (SWF) apart from other festivals. Others may cater to, at most, the native language and English,” he said.

For more information on events and their locations, visit the SWF website at https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com