1 ANNEX a Overview of Read! Fest 2021 Literary Trails • Titled 'The Curious Adventures of the Salaryman', the Interactive

ANNEX A

Overview of Read! Fest 2021

Literary trails

• Titled ‘The Curious Adventures of The Salaryman’, the interactive trail will bring participants on a multi-sensory reading experience through the various pitstops of the trail at the following locations and starting points: o East Coast Park: East Coast Lagoon Food Village o West Coast Park: Near MacDonald’s o National Library Building Plaza (ground floor) • Led by a digital protagonist navigating his own adventure to reinvent himself from his tiresome routine, daring explorers will be invited to embark on journeys of self-discovery inspired by the festival theme of Reboot. • The trails will be available from mid-July to September 2021.

Artist impressions of the Physical Markers

Reading Encounters at the Public Libraries

• Reboot-inspired installations will be set up at Woodlands Regional Library, Jurong Regional Library, Tampines Regional Library, Yishun Public Library, Seng Kang Public Library, Serangoon Public Library and Toa Payoh Public Library. Participants can engage with the mini activities at the stations meant to inspire Singaporeans to reflect upon the festival theme and gain new perspectives. • Book displays will be put up across all public libraries to encourage Singaporeans to learn more about the 12 featured titles, related titles and topics of the festival.

Woodlands Regional Library (L3) Tampines Regional Library (L2)

Festival Programmes • Festival programmes will be anchored by Read! Fest’s 12 key books and topics. Curated in the English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil, Read! Fest programmes comprise of talks, panel discussions, workshops by international and local authors, practitioners, artists and thought leaders. • This year’s Read! Fest offers over 60 programmes, mostly held online. Examples of featured authors this year are Elif Shafak (UK), Austin Kleon (US), Okky Madasary (Indonesia), Chen Qiufan (China), and So Dharman (India). From myths, minimalism to work and AI, join them to explore thoughtful ideas for our time.

Read for Books Charity Drive • Read for Books is a charity book drive that aims to raise awareness in reading and share the gift of reading with the less privileged. From 10 to 26 July 2021, for every 10 people who read for 15 minutes, one book will be donated to selected beneficiaries from NLB’s WondeRead programme and ItsRainingRaincoats. • This year, members of the public may take part in the Zoom Read for Books where librarians will share their favourite books with the participants. Schools, companies, organisations, individuals are also encouraged to hold their own Read for Books session at their own time. • After completing their session, participants may upload their photos of their reading activity or screenshots of their online session to www.go.gov.sg/rfb-submit by 6 August 2021, 11.59 pm. • Read for Books 2021 is supported by Scholastic Education International (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Kinokuniya Bookstores of Singapore Pte. Ltd, and Popular Book Co (Pte) Ltd.

Big Book Giveaway - To galvanise the community to read more, read widely, and read together, the Big Book Giveaway (BBG) is an annual community event by NLB where members of the public are given access to free pre-loved books that enrich their reading journey. These pre-loved books can be brought home for free on a while stocks last basis. - In light of the pandemic, the sixth edition of BBG has transitioned to a series of smaller giveaways called “mini-BBGs”, held both by partner organisations and in public libraries. The mini-BBGs in public libraries will take place from 15 to 18 July. - Partners will hold the mini-BBG on their own premises tentatively over the July period, depending on how each organisation is adapting to social distancing measures. Please visit www.go.gov.sg/nlb-bbg6 for more information.

ANNEX B

12 Key Titles of Read! Fest 2021

No Information on the books and authors 1 Keep Going: 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad by Austin Kleon Whether you are just starting out or starting over, how do you stay the course in a crazy world? Packed with tips, sketches and quotes, bestselling American author Austin Kleon outlines simple ways to get into a daily routine to disconnect with the world and connect with what truly matters. Timeless and practical, this guide is for anyone seeking a more productive and meaningful life.

Austin Kleon is a writer, artist, speaker, and New York Times bestselling author. His work has been featured on NPR’s Morning Edition, PBS Newshour, TIME, The Atlantic, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. His books include Steal Like An Artist and Show Your Work! as well as Newspaper Blackout, a collection of poems made by redacting the newspaper with a permanent marker. His art has been called “brilliant” by New York Magazine, and The New Yorker said his poems “resurrect the newspaper when everyone else is declaring it dead.” Austin speaks on creativity, visual thinking, and being an artist online.

2 How To Stay Sane in an Age of Division by Elif Shafak

With injustice, suffering and endless crises happening around us, it often feels like the world is falling apart. How can we stay sane and keep a hold of hope in this age of division? In a powerful, uplifting plea for conscious optimism, prize-winning British- Turkish novelist and activist Elif Shafak draws on her own memories and uses the power of stories to reveal how we can nurture democracy, build empathy and restore our faith in a kinder and wiser future.

Elif Shafak is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist. She writes in both Turkish and English, and has published 19 books, 12 of which are novels. Her work has been translated into 55 languages. Her latest novel 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in this Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize. Her previous novel, The Forty Rules of Love was chosen by BBC among 100 Novels that Shaped Our World. Shafak has been conferred Doctor of Humane Letters by Bard College in 2021 and holds a PhD in political science.

Shafak is a Fellow and a Vice President of the Royal Society of Literature, and a twice TED Global speaker. Shafak was awarded the medal of Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, an award of recognition by France for significant contributions to the arts and literature. In 2017 she was chosen by Politico as one of the twelve people “who will give you a much-needed lift of the heart”. Shafak has chaired the Wellcome Prize and judged numerous literary prizes, including the PEN Nabokov PrizePEN/Nabokov Award for Achievement in International Literature.

3 Kerumunan Terakhir by Okky Madasari In this dark tale, prize-winning Indonesian novelist Okky Madasari reflects on the experience of human confusion in the digital world. Journey with Gen Y youth Jayanegara as he seeks out one online crowd after another, creating a complex and rewarding life online to escape his unhappy relationship with his father. As Jayanegara falls for the allures of cyberspace, he gradually loses his sense of reality as his physical and virtual worlds collide.

Okky Madasari is an award-winning Indonesian author and academic. Known for her novels that depict social and political conditions in Indonesia, she won the Khatulistiwa Literary Award in 2012 for her third novel, Maryam. She has written five novels and one short story collection, and a series of children’s novels. She is currently a PhD candidate at NUS.

4 人生算法 Ren Sheng Suan Fa (Algorithms for Life) by 陈楸帆 (Chen Qiufan) What happens when artificial intelligence (AI) gains control over its own destiny and that of humankind? Through six short science-fiction stories, Chinese writer Chen Qiufan explores the alternate futures and ethical dilemmas of machine sentience. Find out what happens when AI gains the power to induce human pregnancies, create art, become our romantic partners and control human behaviour.

Chen Qiufan (a.k.a. Stanley Chan) was born in Shantou, Guangdong province. Chen is a science fiction writer, columnist, and online advertising strategist. Since 2004, he has published over thirty stories in Science Fiction World, Esquire, Chutzpah! and other magazines, as well as a novella, The Abyss of Vision (2006), and novel, The Waste Tide (2013). He has won Taiwan’s Dragon Fantasy Award, China’s Milky Way Award for Science Fiction and Nebula Award, and a Science Fiction & Fantasy Translation Award along with Ken Liu. His fiction has been translated into English and Italian and published in Clarkesworld, Interzone, Fantasy & Science Fiction and other magazines. He lives in Beijing and works for Google China.

5 The Way Through the Woods: Of Mushrooms and Mourning by Long Litt Woon

If anyone had told me that mushrooms would be my lifeline, the thing that would help me back onto life’s track, I would have rolled my eyes. What had mushrooms to do with mourning? After 32 years of blissful marriage, Norwegian anthropologist Long Litt Woon is wracked by grief at her soulmate’s sudden passing. In two parallel journeys, Long traverses an inner landscape of mourning and an outer exploration of the fascinating world of mushrooms to survive her grief and rekindle her zest for life.

Long Litt Woon, born 1958 in Malaysia, is an anthropologist and Norwegian Mycological Association-certified mushroom professional. She first visited Norway as a young exchange student. There she met and married Norwegian Eiolf Olsen. Her book The Way Through the Woods. Of Mushrooms and Mourning has been sold to 16 countries. Currently, she lives in Oslo, Norway.

6 毂ல் (Sool) by ச ோ.தர்மன் (Cho Dharman)

Uncover the value of ancestral Indian wisdom in this tribute to a time before modernisation. In this award-winning novel, Tamil writer Cho Dharman captures the rhythm, customs and beauty of rural village life in India at the cusp of its independence. Sool weaves in rich details of holistic agricultural and irrigation methods, native vegetation and animal species, as well as strong community relationships.

Cho Dharman is a Tamil writer. He has authored thirteen books, won several awards and much critical acclaim for his novels, non-fiction and short stories. Cho Dharman published his first short story in 1992, followed by a novel, Dhoorvai. He also wrote a monograph of noted villu paattu (storytelling artform) artiste Pitchaikutti. The novel Koogai received critical acclaim and it won him the Iyal Award of the Canada-based Tamil Literary Garden. The novel was translated into English as The Owl. In 2019, he won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Sool, depicting the life of the ordinary people, traditional knowledge, agricultural practices and water management.

7 Hard at Work: Life In Singapore by Gerard Sasges and Ng Shi Wen

A bus captain, a funeral director, a farmer, and even a Thai disco singer—these are just a few of the diverse people at work in Singapore. What are their jobs like, why did they choose them, and what do they dream of? Through the stories of more than sixty working people, historian Gerard Sasges, photographer- educator Ng Shi Wen and contributors to the Hard at Work project offer a raw, unfiltered look into what work and life are really like in Singapore.

Gerard Sasges is a historian, educator, and chronicler of everyday life. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore. His work explores the history of capitalism and its relationship to technological, social, cultural, and environmental change in Asia.

Ng Shi Wen is a photographer, educator, and entrepreneur. She is the founder of Photo Rikiki and has taught at the National University of Singapore and at Singapore’s School of the Arts. Using words and light, she seeks to transcribe stories of people finding their way in a constantly changing city.

8 Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking by Samin Nosrat

Four simple and universal elements—salt, fat, acid and heat—are all you need to cook anything delicious. Award-winning Iranian- American chef Samin Nosrat’s simple yet revolutionary philosophy demystifies these elements to bring you on a culinary adventure. Promising to be your compass in the kitchen with illustrations, infographics and recipes, this could be the last cookbook you will ever need to read.

Samin Nosrat is a cook, teacher, and author of the James Beard Award-winning New York Times Bestseller Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat. She is an Eat columnist at The New York Times Magazine and the host and an executive producer of the Netflix original documentary series based on her book. She lives, cooks, gardens, and laughs in Berkeley, California.

9 可是我偏偏不喜欢 Ke Shi Wo Pian Pian Bu Xi Huan (But It's Really Not For Me) by 吴晓乐 Wu Xiaole In a society with rigid gender expectations, is it possible for women to break free of norms and recover a unique sense of identity? In this intimate and insightful collection of essays, Taiwanese writer Wu Xiaole examines gender roles and relationships through her experiences of being a woman. Explore topics such as misogyny, career aspirations, romance, self-image, singlehood, childlessness, menstruation and fraught female relationships.

Wu Xiaole exploded onto the literary scene with her first novel, On Children, which has recently been adapted into a TV series. She loves parrots and looking closely at things most of us take for granted.

10 Mitos Peribumi Malas (The Myth of the Lazy Native) by Syed Hussein Alatas

Why were indigenous people blamed for being unproductive, and how was this ideology justified under colonial rule? Relook the misperceptions we have of our communities through Malaysian sociologist Syed Hussein Alatas’s influential book. In it, he traces the origins of colonial bias and challenges erroneous Eurocentric views of the nature of Southeast Asians.

The late Professor Dato' Dr. Syed Hussein Alatas was a Malaysian academician, sociologist, founder of social science organisations, and politician. He was Vice-Chancellor of the University of Malaya in the 1980s and formed the Parti Gerakan Rakyat Malaysia (Gerakan). Syed Hussein wrote several books on corruption, multi-racialism, imperialism, and intellectual captivity as part of the colonial, and postcolonial, project, the most famous being The Myth of the Lazy Native.

11 Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

Modern digital life can be addictive and exhausting. So how can you reboot your relationship with all things online? Drawing on real-life examples from Amish farmers and Silicon Valley programmers, American writer and professor Cal Newport shows how digital minimalism can help you rethink your relationship with social media, rediscover the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnect with your inner self.

Cal Newport is an Associate Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University and the author of seven books, including the New York Times bestseller, Digital Minimalism, The Time- Block Planner, Deep Work and So Good They Can’t Ignore You.

12 மமய்நிகரி (Meinigari, The Myth of the Lazy Native) by கꮿலன் வைர믁த்鏁 (Kabilan Vairamuthu)

Go behind the scenes of reality television production to discover the power it has over our minds. This novel by Tamil poet and screenwriter Kabilan Vairamuthu draws on his real-life experiences to offer media industry insights that will appeal to visual media aspirants and contemporary Tamil youth. Meinigari unfolds cinematically through the eyes of five young people exploring the nuts and bolts of television production, the effects of pursuing popularity ratings, and the influence of the media over reality.

Kabilan Vairamuthu is a writer and a lifotainment freelancer. Lifotainment is a seamless blend of life and entertainment – a term coined by the writer himself. Television program design, scripting, lyric writing, anchoring and commercials are the lifotainment services offered by him. He is the son of the famous Tamil poet and lyricist Vairamuthu. He published his first book at 18. He is the author of five poetry collections, a short story collection and three novels. His novels are known for path- breaking structure and unique story backgrounds. The writer is also a lyricist walking in the footsteps of his father but with a different orientation towards society and poetry. Kabilan Vairamuthu represented Tamil Nadu at the Sahitya Akademi’s north eastern and southern poetry forum 2014 held in Kochi.

ANNEX C

Programme Highlights in Read! Fest 2021

DATE, TIME PROGRAMME DESCRIPTION Friday, In Conversation with Elif Shafak 25 June, Speaker: Elif Shafak (UK) 8pm – Moderator: Bridgette See 9.30pm, Online In a time of polarity, noise, and division in society and social media, how can empathy and listening help to allay angst and anxiety? Covering themes of storytelling, empathy, language, commuting between cultures and multiple identities or multiple belongings based on the book How to Stay Sane in an Age of Division by Booker Prize nominee Elif Shafak, join us for an in-depth conversation between the author and writer/producer, Bridgette See in this Read! Fest special.

Saturday, The Myth of the Lazy Native, Decolonization Discourse and Autonomous 26 June, Knowledge 11am – Mitos Pribumi Malas, Wacana Penyahjajahan dan Ilmu Mandiri 1pm, Online *Programme will be conducted in Malay. Speaker: Professor Syed Farid Alatas

In this keynote address, Professor Syed Farid Alatas will talk about how the book The Myth of the Lazy Native can be understood as being part of a larger effort to develop discourses that will replace Eurocentric discourses which had served the colonial powers and the interest of the ruling class in the postcolonial period. Identifying this problem leads to the call to establish autonomous knowledge in the Malay world.

Saturday, Understanding the Impact of AI through Science Fiction 26 June, 从科幻小说看 AI 的未来冲击 2pm – *Programme will be conducted in Chinese. 3.30pm, Speaker: Chen Qiufan (China) Online Moderator: Zhou De Cheng

In Chen Qiufan's collection of science fiction novels, he discusses the impact of artificial intelligence technology on the society. Science fiction offers a prediction on the future of mankind and it is closely related to our lives. The author will share his writing journey on the significance of reading science fiction, analyse the pros and cons of technological development, and suggest how we can adapt to the changes brought about by technology.

Tuesday, The Way through the Woods: A Conversation with Long Litt Woon 29 June, Speaker: Long Litt Woon (Norway) 7pm – 8pm, Moderator: Bridgette See Online After her husband Eiolf’s unexpected death at 54, Long Litt Woon struggled to imagine a life without her partner and anchor for 32 years. Adrift in grief, she signed up for a beginner’s course on mushrooming—a course the two had planned to take together—and found, to her surprise, that the pursuit of mushrooms rekindled her zest for life. Join moderator Bridgette See as she talks to Long Litt Woon about her book, The Way Through the Woods: On Mushrooms and Mourning.

Wednesday, Is There Still Hope? Deliberating a Humanistic Vision of the Technological 30 June, Society 8pm – Masihkah Ada Harapan? Mempertimbangkan Visi Kemanusiaan 9.30pm, Masyarakat Teknologi Online *Programme will be conducted in Malay. Speakers: Hazman Baharom (Malaysia), Idris Rashid (Singapore), Okky Madasari (Indonesia)

Digital technologies – social media platforms, mobile technology, artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data – are increasingly dominating not just the individual and social space but the economic and political spheres as well. The panel will attempt to make sense of all this, with each speaker sharing his/her thoughts on the problems, challenges, and possibilities in this era of tech revolution.

Saturday, Staying Creative in Chaotic Times: 3 July, A Conversation with Austin Kleon 10am – Speaker: Austin Kleon (US) 11am, Moderator: Anngee Neo Online The world is crazy and creative work is hard. How do we keep going? Austin Kleon, author of the bestselling trilogy – Steal Like An Artist, Show Your Work, and Keep Going – will share his strategies for finding inspiration in everyday life and building creative resilience. Learn how to establish and maintain a creative habit; how to overcome perfectionism and anxiety; and the importance of unplugging and play in this talk moderated by illustrator Anngee Neo.

Saturday, Meet The Author : Kabilan Vairamuthu 3 July, *Programme will be conducted in Tamil. 6pm – 8pm, Speaker: Kabilan Vairamuthu (India) Online Meet our featured author, Kabilan Vairamuthu. He will share about his featured novel, Meinigari, short stories, Ambarathooni and other titles. He will also share about his writing experience.

Monday, Cultured Flavours and Fermentation 5 July, Speakers: Tan Ding Jie, Petrina Loh 7pm – 8pm, Online Learn the whys and hows of lacto-fermentation in this dialogue between a food scientist and a chef. They will share pro-tips on fermentation techniques to create interesting flavour profiles and extend the shelf life of foods. You might even get to see their cultured collections!

Saturday, Use Social Media like a Pro 10 July, Speaker: Dr Natalie Pang 10am – 11am, Despite social media’s engineered addictiveness, it remains an important tool Online for connection and networking. How do we extract value from social media without falling victim to its traps? In his book Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, Cal Newport suggests we use social media like professionals in the marketing world. Join this workshop to learn how you can use social media strategically through practical tips straight from a social media expert!

Saturday, Finding (Re)purpose: Work and Life in a Changing World 10 July, Speakers: Gerard Sasges, Ng Shi Wen 3.30 – 4.30pm, In what has been dubbed “Industry 4.0”, new technologies and the Online restructuring of political economies have transformed the way we live and work. Yet, how we should adapt to these changes remains unclear. In this talk, Gerard Sasges and Ng Shi Wen share accounts of working people in Singapore who have experienced major change, shedding light on how seemingly impersonal global processes play out in everyday life, and how to adapt and find (re)purpose in a changing world.

Sunday, Meet The Author: Cho Dharman 11 July, *Programme will be conducted in Tamil. 6pm – 8pm, Speaker: Cho Dharman (India) Online Meet our featured Author, Cho Dharman. He will share about his books and writing experiences. You will discover interesting anecdotes about him.

Saturday, Why read women's literature? 17 July, *Programme will be conducted in Chinese. 2pm – Speaker: Wu Xiaole (Taiwan) 3.30pm, Moderator: Guo Linjing Online Women’s literature portrays the situation that women experiences and captures their inners feelings, allowing readers to enter the female world and explores the unique charm and ideas of a women. In this sharing session, writer Wu Xiaole shares her work "But it’s really not for me" and discuss women's issues in the book. Let's explore the importance of female literature, and discuss whether men should read women’s literature.