SHARING BORDERS: PROGRAMME REGISTRATION FORM SINGAPORE / MALAYSIA WRITERS SYMPOSIUM 2009 MONDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2009 8.15A M REGISTRATION 1.30PM PLENA RY 2 LIVING ROOM NAME 9.00 AM – 6.30 PM Traditional Influences on Contemporary THE ARTS HOUSE 8.55A M WELCOME ADDRESS LIVING ROOM Malaysian Drama ORGANISATION Free Admission Prof. Edwin Thumboo Featuring: Dr Ghulam-Sarwar Yousof / MALAYSIA To register, please email your contact details ADDRESS 9.00A M K EY NOT E 1 LIVING ROOM and state your preferred workshops to 2.15PM CONCURRENT WORKSHOP 6 LIVING ROOM [email protected]. Teaching Singapore Literature In Conversation with Wong Phui Nam: Featuring: Prof. Peter Nazareth / USA A Discussion on Malaysian Poets TEL MOBILE With the support of the National Arts Council, the National Library Board, and 9.45A M CONCURRENT WORKSHOP 1 LI V I NG ROOM Featuring: Mr. Wong Phui Nam / MALAYSIA EMAIL the Department of English Language and Literature, FASS, National University of Engaging Singapore Novels CONCURRENT WORKSHOP 7 SCREENING ROOM Featuring: Dr Eddie Tay / HONG KONG Singapore, the National Book Development Council of Singapore is organizing Sharing In Conversation with Mohammad A. Borders, a Singapore – Malaysia Writers Symposium, as part of the Singapore Writers CONCURRENT WORKSHOP 2 PL AY DEN Quayum: Festival. A milestone study of Singapore and Malaysian literature in English in two Engaging Singapore Short Stories A Discussion on Malaysian Fiction Please indicate your choice of workshop in order of preference. volumes will be launched at this event. Featuring: Dr Mohammad A. Quayum / MALAYSIA Featuring: Ms Suchen Christine Lim / SINGAPORE Allocation of workshop is on a first-come-first-serve basis. We reserve the right to allocate you to your 2nd or 3rd choice should 1ST 2N D 3R D Our literatures in English have come a long way While Bahasa was the national language in 3.00PM T EA BR EA K LIVING ROOM CORRIDOR CONCURRENT WORKSHOP 3 SCREENING ROOM your 1st choice be unavailable. CHOICE CHOICE CHOICE since their serious beginnings some sixty years Malaysia, the older writers continued to write in CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS 1-3 ago. The founding of the University of Malaya English, joined by a few younger writers such as Engaging Singapore Drama 3.30PM PA N EL DISCUSSION LIVING ROOM in October 1949 was a significant moment in the K. S. Maniam, Kee Tuan Chye, Ghulam Sawar Featuring: Ms Ovidia Yu / SINGAPORE Literature and Nationalism 1 / Engaging Singapore Novels { } { } { } intellectual, political, educational and cultural and Mohammad Haji Salleh before he embraced Featuring: 2 / Engaging Singapore Short Stories { } { } { } 10.30A M T EA BR EA K LIVING ROOM CORRIDOR life of both Malaya and Singapore. Nationalism Bahasa fully. On the other hand, in Singapore, Chairman: Assoc. Prof. Kirpal Singh Panel: Mr. Sunil Govinnage, Mr. Aaron Lee, Dr Lily Rose 3 / Engaging Singapore Drama { } { } { } in Asia was on the march. The strong desire for English grew increasingly influential, inevitably 11.00A M PLENA RY 1 LIVING ROOM R. Tope, Prof. Peter Nazareth, Mr. Alvin Pang freedom and identity, for the nation to rise and at the expense of other languages. While every Edwin Thumboo’s Poetry – The Private Voice CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS 4-5 lift its people out of colonialism and to fulfill attempt is made to sustain the literature in 5.30PM BOOK LAUNCH PL AY DEN Featuring: Dr Lily Rose R. Tope / PHILIPPINES 4 / Singapore Poetry – A Neighbourly Look { } { } a national vision, of the people for the people, Chinese, Malay and Tamil, economic and other Sharing Borders: Studies in Contemporary inspired whole generations, including writers. factors privilege English and therefore the 5 / Singapore Poets – The New Generation { } { } 11.45A M CONCURRENT WORKSHOP 4 LIVING ROOM Singaporean-Malaysian Literature I, edited by In our corner of Asia, the political vision growth of literature in it. Given the background Singapore Poetry – A Neighbourly Look Dr Mohammad A. Quayum and Mr. Wong Phui Nam was of an independent multi-racial Malaya that of its writers, Singapore’s literature in English is CONCURRENT WORKSHOPS 6-7 Featuring: Ms Isabela Banzon / PHILIPPINES Sharing Borders: Studies in Contemporary included Singapore. The early writers, especially the most multi-racial and in this sense the most Singaporean-Malaysian Literature II, edited by 6 / In Conversation with Wong Phui Nam: A Discussion { } { } those who continued to be productive – national. on Malaysian Poets CONCURRENT WORKSHOP 5 SCREENING ROOM Dr Gwee Li Sui Lim Thean Soo, Ee Tiang Hong, Edwin The Symposium would like to reflect this Singapore Poets – The New Generation RECEPTION 7 / In Conversation with Mohammad A. Quayum: A { } { } Thumboo, Wong Phui Nam and Lloyd broad reach of our literatures in English by Discussion on Malaysian Fiction Featuring: Dr Gwee Li Sui / SINGAPORE Fernando – were much concerned with the bringing together scholars and writers to address 6.30PM END history, politics, the ethnic destinies and the engagement of our literatures. 12.30PM LUNCH the cultural directions of both Malaya and There will also be An Evening with Edwin Not provided Singapore. Subsequent political developments Thumboo (27th October) and Dissecting the that led to merger and separation that gave Merlion (1st November) which will also be the Singapore its independence in 1965 refocused occasion for launching an anthology of merlion PLEASE TURN OVER FOR literary energies. poems, old and new. REGISTRATION OPTIONS REGISTRATION FORM (cont’d) SPEAKERS Prof. Peter Nazareth / Ms Ovidia Yu / Dr Gwee Li Sui / Dr Mohammad A. Registration Options USA SINGAPORE SINGAPORE Quayum / MALAYSIA Peter Nazareth is Professor With well over 30 plays to her Gwee Li Sui is a literary critic, Mohammad A. Quayum You can register using any of the following options: of English and Advisor to the credit, Ovidia Yu is one of the poet, and graphic artist. has taught at universities International Writing Program at most prolific, versatile and He has previously lectured at the in Singapore, Malaysia, the University of Iowa. His father international of Singaporean National University of Singapore Bangladesh, and the US, and ONLINE www.bookcouncil.sg Sharing was born in Goa, his mother was born in Kuala playwrights. Her play, The Woman in a Tree on the for a number of years. His range of academic is currently professor of English at International Lumpur, and he was born in Kampala, Uganda. His Hill is the first and so far only Singapore play to writings covers the Reformation, early modern Islamic University Malaysia. He is the author or SINGAPORE-MALAYSIA WRITERS SYMPOSIUM 2009 MAIL Sharing Borders: Singapore – Malaysia Writers Symposium 2009 work includes two novels, three radio plays produced receive an Edinburgh Fringe First award. Ms Yu has science, the Enlightenment, European Romanticism, editor of nineteen books, and his scholarly articles National Book Development Council of Singapore by the BBC and six volumes of literary criticism, received the Singapore Youth Award for Literature, Protestant theology, critical theory, and modern have appeared in distinguished literary journals in most recently Edwin Thumboo: Creating a Nation the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry German and Singaporean literature. He also wrote the UK, the USA, Australia, Canada, South Africa, 50 Geylang East Avenue 1 Through Poetry. He has edited Pivoting on the Point of Award and the Fulbright Award. Singapore’s first graphic novel, Myth of the Stone, Singapore, Taiwan, India, and Malaysia. Singapore 389777 Return, subtitled Goan Literature: A Modern Reader, in 1993 and published a volume of verse, Who Borders to be published in January 2010 by Goa 1556. Assoc. Prof. Kirpal Wants to Buy a Book of Poems?, in 1998. His poems Dr Lily Rose R. Tope / FAX +65 6742 9466 Singh / SINGAPORE have been featured in various anthologies and PHILIPPINES Dr Eddie Tay / Kirpal Singh is a poet, literary international journals. Lily Rose Tope teaches at HONG KONG and cultural critic, and the Department of English EMAIL [email protected] Eddie Tay is the author of two university lecturer in English Dr Ghulam-Sarwar and Comparative Literature, poetry collections, _Remnants_ language and literature, has Yousof / MALAYSIA University of the Philippines. and _A Lover’s Soliloquy_. written and published three collections of poetry Dato’ Dr Ghulam Sarwar She is author of (Un)Framing Southeast Asia: 26 OCTOBER 2009 For Enquiries He currently teaches poetry and and edited many literary journals and books. He was Yousof is one of Malaysia’s Nationalism and the Postcolonial Text in English in children’s literature at the Department of English, a founding member of the Centre for Research in most distinguished scholars, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines and various 9.00 AM – 6.30 PM (MONDAY) Chinese University of Hong Kong. New Literatures, Flinders University, Australia in and one of the world’s leading articles on Southeast Asian and Philippine literatures National Book Development Council of Singapore HE RTS OUSE 1977, the first Asian director for the Commonwealth specialists of traditional Southeast Asian theatre. in English. T A H Tel: +65 6848 8290 Ms Suchen Christine Lim / SINGAPORE Writers’ Prize in 1993 and 1994, and chairman of He joined the Cultural Centre, University of Malaya Free Admission E-mail: [email protected] Prize-winning author, Suchen the Singapore Writers’ Festival in the 1990s. He is (UM) as Professor in 2002. Currently he is Adjunct Mr. Aaron Lee / Christine