Lessons from the Singapore Writers Festival 2019

I’m not a writer. I’m not in the Singapore literary scene. Well, I studied English Literature in secondary school and junior college but that’s about it. My primary creative outlet is photography, specifically documentary photography. Yet, I make a point to attend the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) year after year.

And it’s not just me. Hundreds of people show up — students in school T-shirts, old people, families — people who also aren’t in the literary scene.

Why is this so? Is it because the written word is more universal than photographs? But we see as much as, if not more than, we read or speak. Certainly, the medium itself cannot account for this observation. As I participated in SWF, I kept thinking about why it seemed more “democratic” than the photographic equivalent – the Singapore International Photography Festival (SIPF).

The best art festivals have something in store for everyone. All genres, price points and levels of expertise, from the critics and connoisseurs to the uncles and aunties who don’t know what a sonnet is.

SWF does this remarkably well. On the first floor of the main event building, comic books and non-fiction titles are on display at the Festival Bookstore, almost as a reminder that this isn’t the Singapore Literature Festival but the Singapore Writers Festival. Upstairs, dialogues with acclaimed local and international authors such as Alvin Pang, Haresh Sharma, Min Jin Lee and Marlon James take place. There are also Mandarin, Malay and Tamil events on a variety of topics ranging from dialects, identity and migration to technology and the future. Outside, there’s an open area called the POP Stage where anyone can just plonk themselves on a bean bag and enjoy storytelling, dance or the latest indie rock performed by local musicians. Hungry? There are even chartered food trucks parked on the lawn's edge. The SWF stays true to its literary mission, but also offers so many fringe activities that anyone – even the illiterate – can find something relatable and interesting. I myself attended a panel discussion titled “The Plausibility of Passion” (pictured above) about how the panelists balance their day jobs with their creative projects. Although the panelists were all writers, this was a discussion any budding artist would want to attend because the insights were so universal. I really loved how I could walk out of a talk on the practical aspects of writing and into a debate on larger themes that affect literature and society such as feminism, gender, race, sexuality, body shaming and apartheid.

“Writing as Author-Journalists” featuring (right to left) Ashwini Devare, Akshita Nanda, Yeoh Jo-Ann and moderator Kristina Marie Tom.

“Festival Gala: Language and The Body” featuring (left to right) Joel Tan, Kagiso Lesego Molope, Roxane Gay and moderator Carolyn Camoens.

The Festival Bookstore, which stocks all kinds of books, not just fiction.

In contrast, SIPF is ostensibly insular. The Festival exclusively prioritises fine art, street and documentary. Where are the wildlife, landscape and food photographers? Where are the students who want to share their projects? Where are the Ah Peks, Ah Mms? Where are the content creators, graphic designers and admen? Where are the local Instagram influencers? The last edition of SIPF in 2018 featured 41 photographers, of whom 6 were Singaporean. And among the 6, only 3 shot their projects in Singapore. This is dismal and miserably impotent as far as attracting the local crowd is concerned. If it’s just going to be a bunch of foreigners swirling their wine glasses and talking about “studium” and “punctum”, I’m out. Nothing wrong about that, but you can sell a VIP Pass for people into that kind of highbrow stuff.

Besides, the SWF Festival Pass costs $25 while SIPF’s costs double. $50 is way above what the average Singaporean would pay for an arts event (which is probably around $20). Of course SIPF needs to break even, but even their price discrimination isn’t appealing: students pay $300 for 10 Festival Passes in bulk. That’s $30 per student! Who’s going to find nine other schoolmates interested enough to get onboard? The bulk purchase only makes sense for fine art classes or an entire photography CCA, and even that is unlikely.

Frequency is also an important factor. SWF is annual, SIPF is biennial. Is this due to a lack of funding? Or is it because SIPF is organised by DECK — an independent art space — and not the National Arts Council, so organising such a huge event requires much more effort without the economies of scale that government institutions have?

Anyway, I have enjoyed every bit of SWF — from the comical to the satirical, the historical to the confessional — and just wonder why Singapore doesn’t have a Photoville of sorts.

Up next on my calendar, the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) which opens on 21 November. ∎