Sharing Borders: Singapore/Malaysia Writers Symposium (26 Oct 2009)
Monday, 26 October 2009
9.00am – 6.30pm @ The Arts House, Singapore
Singaporean and Malaysian literatures in English have come a long way since their serious beginnings some sixty years ago. Nationalism in Asia was on the march. The strong desire for freedom and identity, for the nation to rise and lift its people out of colonialism and to fulfil a national vision, of the people for the people, inspired whole generations, including writers.
While Bahasa was the national language in Malaysia, the older writers continued to write in English, joined by a few younger writers such as K. S. Maniam, Kee Tuan Chye, Ghulam Sawar and Mohammad Haji Salleh before he embraced Bahasa fully. On the other hand, in Singapore, English grew increasingly influential, inevitably at the expense of other languages.
This symposium seeks to reflect the broad reach of Singaporean and Malaysian literatures in English by bringing together scholars and writers to address the engagement of our literatures.
Details here. The symposium is part of the Singapore Writers Festival.
This symposium is organised by the National Book Development Council of Singapore with the support of the National Arts Council, the National Library Board, and the Department of English Language and Literature, FASS, and the National University of Singapore.
A milestone study of Singapore and Malaysian literature in English in two volumes will be launched at this event.
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