What’s Happening at SWF 2025!

The Singapore Writers Festival 2025 is just around the corner!
To help plan your schedule, check out these programmes that are supported by the ACWP.

Programmes featuring our Visiting Writers

Myth, Machine and Memory
7 Nov 8.30pm to 9.30pm

Two visionary voices in speculative fiction come together to explore the intersections of myth, identity and technology. Ken Liu, acclaimed author of The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories and The Dandelion Dynasty, and Neon Yang, known for their genre-defying Tensorate Series and The Genesis of Misery, delve into the narrative power of science fiction and fantasy to reshape history and speculate on futures yet to come.

Festival Keynote Talk: Ken Liu – The Future of Art in the Age of AI
8 Nov 1.00pm to 2.00pm

Is “AI art” just meaningless slop that threatens the work of human artists? Or is there more to computer-generated content? Drawing on the history of the mechanisation of human craft, science fiction author Ken Liu devises a framework for productively speculating about AI’s future in the creative fields. As an artist who cares deeply about the human spirit in art and the possibilities opened up by new tools, Ken highlights the potential and challenges behind how AI may change the way we think about and create art.

Tomorrow’s Architects: A Sci-fi Conversation Between Friends
9 Nov 11.00am to 12.00pm

Two friends – a technologist and an economist who are both award-winning sci-fi authors – explore their visions on humanity’s path forward. Where do their forecasts for progress, human nature and our collective future converge? Where do they differ?

在诗与远方之间：罗智成的创作漫谈
Lo Chih-Cheng – Between Poetry and the Far Horizon
8 Nov 5.30pm to 7.00pm

诗人、作家罗智成，以其独特的诗性语言和深邃的哲思，创作出《梦中书房》《南方以南》等经典作品。他的文字既充满旅人的开阔视野，又蕴含对生命与文化的深刻凝视。

罗智成将分享他的创作历程，探讨诗歌如何捕捉流动的风景、如何将旅行的感悟升华为永恒的诗句。从台北的咖啡馆到远方的异国街角，文字如何成为他记录世界的方式？写诗，是否也是一种心灵的旅行？

罗智成作家的出席获得亚洲创意写作项目的支持。

Poet and writer Lo Chih-Cheng is known for his distinctive poetic language and profound philosophical insight, as seen in his acclaimed works such as The Study in Dreams and South of the South. His writing reflects both the wide horizons of a traveller and a deep contemplation of life and culture.

In this session, he will share his creative journey and explore how poetry captures fleeting landscapes and transforms the insights of travel into timeless verse. From Taipei’s cafés to distant street corners abroad, how has writing become his way of recording the world?

没有人是一座孤岛：宝岛与狮岛的对话
No One Is an Island: A Dialogue Between Taiwan and Singapore
9 Nov 4.00pm to 5.30pm

从《地球之岛》到《个人之岛》的大疫年期间，“岛”是罗智成诗集若隐若现的意象，它也是众多宝岛写作人长期落力经营的空间。狮岛的写作人又是如何在作品和言说中重新定位、再现和反思新加坡仅是岛屿的地理事实？这场座谈会将随心所欲从不同的岛屿历史和文化位置出发进行探索，在后冠病时代掀开的全球新冷战和关税战当下，在AI也能创作和取代自身的时代里，人们该如何跟病毒、异己和AI共存？我们何以还能继续共同生活？在辩证、边缘和自我批判的“异教诗学”中，我们何以还能在自由和安全的思辩中重新思考“创作”与“生存”？

From Island of the Earth to Island of the Self, the “island” is a recurring, elusive image in Lo Chih-Cheng’s pandemic-era poetry – also a space long cultivated by writers from Taiwan. How have Singapore writers redefined, reimagined and reflected on the simple fact of Singapore as an island?

This panel explores diverse island histories and cultures, asking: In a post-pandemic world marked by a new Cold War, trade wars and the rise of AI, how can we coexist with viruses, differences and machines? In a “heretical poetics” of dialectics, marginality and self-critique, how can we still rethink creation and survival between freedom and security?

More programmes supported by ACWP

Writing Sci-Fi in Asian Languages
16 Nov 11.00am to 12.30pm

Join authors Ridhwan Saidi, Balasubramanian Ponraj and Liu Yanzeng as they explore how Western science fiction has influenced and intersected with the Chinese, Malay and Tamil literary traditions. The panel will discuss how local myths, histories and cultural forms reshape familiar sci-fi tropes, offering unique visions of speculative futures.

Yang Tersurat dan Yang Tersirat The Written and The Hidden
15 Nov 5.30pm to 6.30pm

How do film and archaeology capture what it means to be human? Join an archaeologist and a filmmaker as they explore how their work connects to Malay culture and thought. From ancient artifacts to films that retell classic hikayat tales, these fields ask big questions about who we are, what we remember, and where we belong. Can a Sanskrit inscription or a movie script tell the same story about our shared truths? Listen in on a lively talk about how mixing old and new ideas keeps culture alive – honouring the past while inventing the future.

Buka Tirai! Curtain Up!
15 Nov 11.00am to 12.30pm

Ikuti penulis drama, novelis dan pengkarya filem Ridhwan Saidi meneroka titik pertemuan cereka spekulatif dengan penceritaan teater. Melalui bengkel ini, peserta akan menekuni cara Ridhwan menulis skrip teater berunsur ‘experimental’ serta memahami teras penulisan pentas dan naskhah yang bersifat berbilang disiplin. Tidak kira anda penulis berpengalaman yang mencari kaedah baharu ataupun pengkarya setahun jagung, bengkel ini boleh mendedahkan semua kepada teknik-teknik bernilai bagi mencipta naratif utuh di luar kebiasaan.

Join acclaimed playwright, novelist and filmmaker Ridhwan Saidi as he delves into the intersection of speculative fiction and theatrical storytelling. In this hands-on workshop, participants will discover Ridhwan’s approach to experimental playwriting, exploring the multidisciplinary nature of writing for both stage and page. Whether you’re an experienced writer looking to expand your toolkit or new to playwriting, this workshop offers valuable techniques for creating compelling, unconventional narratives.

ஊக நுண்புனைவுக் கதைப் பயிலரங்கு
Tamil Speculative Microfiction Writing Workshop
15 Nov 4.00pm to 6.00pm

சிங்கப்பூரின் கடந்தகாலத்தை முற்றிலும் வேறுபட்ட கண்ணோட்டத்தில் பார்க்கும் அனுபவம் எப்படி இருக்கும்? இந்தப் பயிலரங்கில் பங்கேற்பவர்கள், வரலாற்று மாந்தர்களாக நடித்தும் நுண்புனைவுகளைப் படைத்தும் வரலாற்றை மறுகற்பனை செய்யலாம். சிங்கப்பூரில் வெவ்வேறு காலக்கட்டங்களில் வாழ்ந்தவர்களின் வாழ்க்கைகளில் நுழைந்து அவர்களின் மாற்று எதிர்காலங்களை ஆராயலாம்.

இந்த நிகழ்ச்சியில் பாலசுப்ரமணியன் பொன்ராஜ்ஜின் பங்களிப்பிற்கு ஆசியப் படைப்பிலக்கிய எழுத்துத் திட்டம் ஆதரவு வழங்குகிறது.

Ever wondered what Singapore’s past might look like through a different lens? In this workshop, participants will reimagine history through immersive role-play and micro-fiction writing, stepping into the lives of people who lived in Singapore across different eras, and exploring alternate futures.

தமிழ் ஊகப்புனைவு குறித்த உரையாடல்
Speculative Fiction in Tamil Writing
16 Nov 4.30pm to 6.00pm

கனவுருப்புனைவு பொதுவாக ஒரு நவீன இலக்கிய வகைமையாகக் கருதப்படுகிறது. ஆனால் தமிழின் தொன்மையான இதிகாசங்களிலிருந்து தொடக்கக்கால அறிவியல் புனைகதைகள்வரை, சாகசத்தன்மை, எதிர்காலக் கற்பனை, தத்துவார்த்தநிலை ஆகியவற்றை நெடுங்காலமாக ஆராய்ந்துவருகின்றன. அடையாளம், தொழில்நுட்பம், தொன்மம் ஆகிய கருப்பொருள்களைக் கொண்டு இந்த வகைமையை இன்றைய வாசகர்களுக்காக மறுகற்பனை செய்யும் எழுத்தாளர்கள் இந்தக் கலந்துரையாடலில் ஒன்றிணைகின்றனர்.

தமிழில் கனவுருப்புனைவின் தற்போதைய நிலை என்ன? அதன் சாத்தியக்கூறுகளைத் தம் கற்பனையால் எழுத்தாளர்கள் எவ்வாறு விரிவுபடுத்துகின்றனர்? தமிழ் இலக்கியப் பண்பாட்டில் வேரூன்றியுள்ள இந்த வகைமையின் தோற்றத்தையும் அதன் பரிணாம வளர்ச்சியையும் கண்டறியும் இவ்வுரையாடலில் எங்களோடு இணையுங்கள்.

Speculative fiction is often seen as a modern genre, but Tamil literature has long explored the fantastical, the futuristic and the philosophical – from ancient epics to early science fiction. This panel brings together contemporary Tamil writers who are reimagining the genre for today’s readers, weaving in themes of identity, technology and mythology. What does speculative fiction in Tamil look like now, and how are writers expanding its possibilities in imaginative ways? Join us for a conversation that traces the genre’s deep roots and its evolving expressions in Tamil literary culture.