Two faculty members from the Department of Dramatic Writing at New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia will be speaking at this year’s Singapore Writers Festival, which starts this weekend. SWF is one of Asia’s premiere literary events, an annual forum for some of the world’s major literary talents, as well as important voices in Singapore.
Shinho Lee, assistant arts professor and Tisch Alumnus, will be featured at three separate events at the Festival, starting with a screening of his award-winning film The Chaser at the Singapore Art Museum, followed by a discussion.
The second week of the festival, Shinho is a panelist on the discussion “From Page to Screen”, which looks at the art of adapting books into films. He will be joined by Viksa Swarup, who wrote the novel Q&A, which was the basis for the film Slumdog Millionaire.
The following day, Shinho will be leading a masterclass, “Screenwriting 101″, which will examine the fundamentals of screenwriting.
Shinho Lee has also been featured in a local newspaper, “The Straits Times” and more can be found here.
Chong Tze Chien, adjunct arts professor, will be featured on the panel “Are Singapore Playwrights Playing Their Cards Right?”, which will explore the current state of Singapore theatre and its role in both local and global culture. Celebrated playwrights Huzir Sulaiman and Eleanor Wong will join Tze Chien as a panelist and moderator, respectively.
Other interesting talks at this year’s Festival include a lecture by Bi Yeifu, who wrote the screenplay for Shanghai Triad, and multiple talks by Michael Chabon, award-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay.
The Singapore Writers Festival has featured many writers from around the world and delighted book lovers with literary celebrities such as Arnošt Lustig, Taichi Yamada, Neil Gaiman, David Mitchell, and Ma Jian. This year’s featured guests include Michael Chabon and Steven Levitt. SWF is one of the few literary festivals in world that is multi-lingual, focusing on the official languages of Singapore: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.
The festival runs from 22 – 30 October. Festival Passes can be purchased at $15, which allows access to more than 75% of all SWF ticketed events. Students can purchase a Festival Pass at only $10 (U.P $15) and are entitled to a 25% discount off other ticketed events.
