The Singapore Writers Festival 2024: Tears, Laughs and Existential Crises

In case you missed it, the Singapore Writers Festival 2024 (SWF 2024) happened a few weeks ago—a glorious collision of writers, readers and fans celebrating language, ideas and thought-provoking issues. Over a few days, we attended a host of panels at SWF 2024 ranging from tear-jerking to unbearably hilarious, or even both at once!

If you’re bummed ‘cause you missed out on some of the programmes you were looking forward to, you’ve come to the right place! We’re here to bring you through our journey and recap key ideas that stuck with us. So buckle up and get ready to dive into the talks that had us reflecting on what we know about what it means to read, write – and appreciate – books.

Dear Home

If there’s one thing we know as writers – words speak to the heart. But music? Music is profound; it speaks to the soul. So we couldn’t have kicked off our SWF journey in a better way than with this performance by Sushma Soma. Her graceful vocals and heartfelt presence created an ethereal ode to nature, setting the tone perfectly for the coming days. Accompanied by Isuru Wijesoma, who brought an unexpected softness with his electric guitar, Sushma took us on an emotional rollercoaster that ranged from melancholic to uplifting. Words simply can’t do it justice!

What we loved about Sushma’s performance was how she intertwined her stories with her music. We could hear the ache in her voice as she recounted the heartbreaking story of a pregnant elephant in Kerala who was tragically killed after consuming a fruit filled with firecrackers. This devastating incident touched Sushma so deeply that it inspired her to create songs exploring the natural world, which she performed from her album, Home. 

Her opening piece, a pure vocalisation of swaras (notes) free of lyrics, was a haunting example of music’s ability to move people. Her crisp vocal runs pierced through the air, filling the room with a melancholic resonance. With a slideshow of various wild animals in the background, every note was a call to action, a plea for compassion, and a celebration of life’s fragile beauty. Later, she softened the tone with a tender Tamil nursery rhyme about calling for the moon to bring a flower, sharing a thoughtful quote to “smell the flowers” because it’s a gift from our world – a gentle reminder that sometimes, even amid chaos, joy can bloom if we take the time to notice.

The evening ended on a high note that simply knocked it out of the park. Sushma, joined by a guest vocalist from Seattle – and, of course, Isuru – treated our ears to a medley of classic songs in various Indian languages. When the harmonies transitioned into familiar Hindi tunes, a rush of warmth washed over us, conjuring memories we didn’t even know we had. Long after the applause died down, we were wrapped in a feeling of shared nostalgia – to experience Sushma’s lilting voice and Isuru’s delicate, water-like finesse on the guitar was something truly special. You just had to be there!

Indigenous Narratives: Dismantling the Master’s House

Some stories are told, others demand to be heard – like the voices of the Indigenous Australians. In this SWF 2024 panel, Lystra Rose, a descendant of Guugu Yimithirr, shared her connection to her totem – cockatoos; no matter where she is, they seem to find her, especially when she needs a sign. Her words struck a chord when she pointed out the hypocrisy of the West validating other faith systems but not ones like hers. “Would you call Christianity mystical?” We could only let out a sad chuckle. 

To Lystra, her connection to her land is not a choice but a birthright. Her story revealed the gravity of a history so often erased when she shared that she’s the first in her family to be recognised under Australian law. Before that? Her father was part of “flora and fauna.” Hearing her voice break as she spat that out brought tears to our eyes.

Then came Ellen van Neerven, who captured the experience of being held from the tongue as a genderqueer person of Mununjali heritage. Reading poems from their collection Throat, they spoke of how indigenous writing often gives readers a visceral sense of not just where a person is from, but what that place has endured. And we sure felt it, through their deliberate, unwavering delivery! There was a resonance that tugged at us to feel the memory of the land and its scars, and by doing so, made us part of it. 

Lystra and Ellen spoke candidly about a responsibility often thrust upon them as Indigenous authors – to educate. How it can not only stifle creativity but highlight structural racism – like how non-Indigenous authors turned their backs to Lystra for hours! Infuriating. But “Fear can be your friend or your foe – it depends how you treat it.”, she says. Her mantra, born from a near-drowning experience, extends to their roles as artists and activists. And true allyship, they emphasised, is about asking, listening, and honouring the answers. Only with this humility will we be able to truly, not “decolonise”, but indigenise the world around us.

Longings, Loss and Loneliness

Longing, loss and loneliness are things that we all experience at some point in our lives. It’s a natural part of the human experience, whether it be feeling longing for someone you care deeply for, loss over losing a loved one or the pandemic of loneliness that’s all too common nowadays. Each writer at this talk brought their own story to the table, raw and unembellished. Helen MacDonald, a naturalist and writer known for her memoir H is for Hawk, spoke about the profound loss of her father and how she turned to the unfamiliar world of goshawk training as a way to cope. 

For her, writing was a lifeline, a way to pull herself through the fog of grief. But it wasn’t easy – both as a goshawk trainer and using it as a coping mechanism for her world-shattering loss. Putting pen to paper proved particularly arduous for her, as she relayed that her biggest pain point was that if she wasn’t being raw, unfiltered and genuine, whatever she wrote wouldn’t feel ‘right’. 

For acclaimed author Paolo Giordano, on the other hand, things were a different story. His story wasn’t about death – rather, it was about the longing for a life he would never have. After his wife decided not to have children after numerous attempts, Giordano had to grapple with the idea that fatherhood, at least in the traditional sense, was no longer in the cards.

He described the experience with his trademark dry humour, stating wryly that he was the type to take things as they came. Writing became his way of processing those feelings, turning a deeply personal moment into something for everyone to feel. He realised such feelings were universal to every human at some point in their lives, and poured that emotion into his writing.

For human connection specialist Simone Heng, the stakes of vulnerability were particularly high. Her first book, Let’s Talk about Loneliness: The Search for Connection, explored human connection in the age of loneliness and was rooted in her experiences, with the early passing of her father and having to care for her dementia-stricken mother. Her personal experiences with loneliness shaped her writing, as someone who had to – and still has to – navigate the challenges of life, such as caring for her mother mostly by herself. 

Simone finished her section by talking about how she worries that her next book won’t be as impactful as the first, noting that she’ll know she’s on the right track if a sense of anxiety and shame arises when she bares her feelings out on the page.

As someone who has lost a family member, their stories hit us like a gut punch. However, this talk honestly forced me to rethink how we’ve coped with our own grief. These fellow writers reminded me that it’s in those raw moments in life where the emotions to create great stories and to heal properly are born! 

The Remedy of Humour

Let’s lighten things up a bit and dive into the art of humour; after all, who doesn’t like a good laugh at the end of the day? In this panel, Singaporean writer Sebastian Sim and Sri Lankan author Shehan Karunatilaka explore how injecting humour allows readers to see things through a different lens, whether it’s talking about the political state of society or the absurdity of different situations. 

It’s difficult to directly address controversial topics as a writer in Singapore. Yet, by packaging it with satire and humour, Sebastian Sim is able to be more brutal and honest in his takes. Adopting a more satirical manner makes audiences perceive it less seriously. Beyond that, it paints these communities in question as more than their circumstances – these stories are more than a sob story; these people have their fun in life too. 

Shehan Karunatilaka, who grew up in Sri Lanka, takes the grim and depressing nature and makes it funny, after all, it’s a much more peaceful method to solve arguments. We all know the trope of the main character travelling to a less fortunate place and having an epiphany, but what about the stories that originate from said places? Through a more sarcastic and sardonic voice, he explores stories from a viewpoint that many don’t consider. 

Oftentimes with humour writing, how do you know when you’ve gone too far? When not to talk about something? Together, the two authors explain how there shouldn’t be a limit on what you write about – once self-censoring starts, it becomes quite obvious. The most important point is to approach it with tact and skill. Just like how a lot of research is required for non-fiction texts, just as much is required in order to make the jokes land correctly. 

With humour, it’s complicated yet straightforward at the same time, especially in the context of Singapore. So next time you pick up a book, laugh along with the jokes but keep a keen eye open – who knows if they are referring to an actual person in the midst of all the exaggeration? 

Womanhood and Gender Roles in Fiction

It’s the 21st century; you’d think a conversation like this would already be unnecessary and done to death. After all, why should there be a distinction between male and female writers — at the end of the day, they are all just writers. 

Yet, here we are. In this panel, these three authors defy gender norms through their characters, subverting expectations and stereotypes in their own communities. Pilar Quintana, Meihan Boey and Vinita Ramani dive into their female characters and break down just exactly how they are a far cry from usual female fictional characters. 

There are many facets to womanhood in society, even in its stereotypes. Pilar Quintana, a Columbian writer, uses her experience and emotions of motherhood in the book The Bitch. Having grown up in a conservative environment, speaking out about the frustrations and negative aspects of motherhood was considered taboo – yet that was where she found her inspiration to write. She takes topics and things that society tells women they are not to talk, think, or speak about, and puts them out for the world to see. 

Meihan Boey, author of The Formidable Miss Cassidy, goes against another facet of stereotypes: the traditional depiction of a woman. Growing up in a traditional Asian household and under ‘tiger parenting’, she has been modelled to be a ‘good girl’ – something Meihan wanted to break out of. By painting her female characters as “monstrous”, power is given back to them, allowing them to do things they usually cannot in society. Through characters like the Pontianak, a symbol of protection and vengeance for women, the act of going against social norms is celebrated in Meihan’s stories. 

Vinita Ramani meanwhile presents the idea of going against societal norms through a different approach. Rather than outright creating an alternate universe, how can women go against societal stereotypes in the mundane every day? Through several stories in The Grand Arcade, she explores how conformity in society also allows some sort of agency; so rather than fighting against norms straight on, understanding why they exist and figuring out how to break them down and apart. 

In an environment where simply existing as female is questioned, it’s not possible to change how society thinks in a snap. As Vinita shares, it’s scary writing stories so vulnerably in a self-referential way and putting them out for the public to see. These stories are not completely autobiographical, but they are still a part of who you are – it’s still a struggle many female authors go through. At the end of the day, these three authors are just writing what they want to write and hoping it will stir feelings and move readers. Creating a story that people can relate to in such a messy society… isn’t that much more comforting?

Sisterhood and Female Friendship: Choosing Your Family

Sisters. A bond that’s transformative. A bond that twists and turns – challenging us in ways that no other relationship can – yet one that holds unparalleled depth and strength. Authors Krystal Sutherland and Anittha Thanabalan brought this truth to life in this panel, weaving personal experiences into their conversation about the messy but beautiful dynamics of sisterhood.

Discussing her gothic horror novel, House of Hollow, Krystal portrayed sisterhood as raw and poignant – a connection forged through love but tested with jealousy and frustration. Writing from the perspective of her younger sister, she captured the weight of having an overprotective, helicopter sibling – a role she played as the oldest of three sisters. 

But as the characters confronted their shared traumatic past, they started communicating more openly about their fears and insecurities. Differences faded, understanding blossomed, and the bond grew into something far more enduring than their struggles – something fierce and empowering. 

Meanwhile, Anittha’s perspective centred on empathy and resilience, painting a soft portrait of female relationships that evolve with time. One moment from her young adult book, It Had To Be Her, stuck with us – the imagery of a family needing to be “cut open” to bring the sisters together. It was a striking testament to how adversity, while it can strain bonds, has the power to mend and fortify them too. A self-described “keeper of friends,” Anittha left us reflecting on how we navigate our own relationships. To her, it’s not about surface-level transactions but about consistent – and mutual – care and nurturing to allow everyone to flourish.

Together, Krystal and Anittha depicted how sisterhood and friendship transcend shared history. They are acts of choice – consciously choosing each other, time and again, with effort and understanding.  This sentiment resonated with us, much like the growing number of books today celebrating sisterhood and female friendships. And as Krystal noted, it’s thanks to the rise of female voices in literature that we’re seeing portrayals of female relationships shift beyond outdated catty stereotypes to compassionate, nuanced narratives. We’re holding our friends a little tighter after this!

Waves of Change: A Deep Dive into Ocean Conservation

If you think ocean conservation is just for marine biologists or activists, think again! At this panel, writers Alison Sky Simmance Budden and Rebecca Giggs showed us how words, imagination, and a little bit of fun can be essential in helping the ocean. 

For Alison, the ocean isn’t just work – it’s a meaning for life. And with a twin sister named Ocean, the world’s waters are something near and dear to her heart. She relayed how, growing up in London’s dense, urban environment, her dreams have always been connected to the seas. As Alison grew up to become a marine biologist, she realised more than ever the dire state of oceanic affairs. Her solution? Start with the next generation. Alison writes children’s books that blend adventure, discovery, and fun characters! 

Rebecca’s conservation journey began with a tragic, beached whale near Perth, a moment that inspired her to write Fathoms: The World in the Whale – a narrative nonfiction book that uses the whale as a lens to explore climate change and humanity’s relationship with the ocean. 

Using historical contexts interspersed with her personal experiences with whales, Rebecca expertly delivered a message of how whales are a reflection of the entire ocean and humanity’s impact on it. 

When we asked how a local writer could translate marine conservation into a local context, the panellists lit up! They eagerly spoke about Singapore’s rich marine biodiversity, from thriving ecosystems to the presence of rare corals in our waters, and how these things can be championed to form a uniquely local conservation message. They even had a cheeky jab at the oft-spotlighted otters! They also floated a suggestion that a conservation story set in Singapore could have an otter as the villain, as they dominate the public’s attention when it comes to caring about our natural spaces.

So, whether it’s writing a children’s book, reducing plastic waste, or just learning about Singapore’s underwater wonders, their message was clear: The ocean needs writers like us to tell its story!

Has #BookTok Ruined Reading?

Ah, BookTok – the chaotic corner of TikTok where Colleen Hoover reigns supreme, roman-tasy is a genre now, and apparently, everyone has a velvet chaise lounge for aesthetic reading videos. But has this social media phenomenon ruined reading? Or is it just the latest chapter in the evolution of book culture? At the Singapore Writer’s Festival 2024, speakers Chloe Tong, a librarian by trade, and Bren and Kess, part of the trio behind Bookstagram and BookTok account WordWanderlust, tackled the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of BookTok.

For Chloe, BookTok is less about ruining reading and more about reshaping how people interact with books. “It’s at the forefront of trends,” she explained, “from makeup and social commentary to, yes, books.” While BookTok hasn’t drastically impacted her work as a librarian yet, she foresees it becoming a bigger influence in how libraries curate their shelves.

Right now, her library displays books based on popularity, upcoming festivals, and cultural events like National Day. Surprisingly, romance novels are perennial favourites, particularly among the older crowd!

But not all genres thrive equally. Singapore Fiction Literature struggles to find its audience, with the exception of the old classic – True Singapore Ghost Stories. Meanwhile, nonfiction and finance books are flying off the shelves, likely because Singaporeans love finding ways to save and make more money. Chloe’s verdict? She doesn’t care what people read, as long as they’re reading.

Bren and Kess, two parts of the three-person team behind Words Wanderlust, offered a peek behind the BookTok curtain! For Bren, BookTok has broadened her horizons. “I wouldn’t have touched cosy romance or fantasy without it,” she admitted. Kess, on the other hand, isn’t a fan of mainstream BookTok picks but still appreciates how the platform has diversified her music and reading habits.

When it comes to content creation, though, the struggle seems real. Between the fickle BookTok and Bookstagram algorithms, stressing over hashtags and posting schedules, nothing seems consistent. Their advice for creators? “Stop overthinking. Just post. No one knows what works anyway.”

So, has BookTok ruined reading? The short answer: no. The long answer: also no.

While it’s easy to criticize BookTok for hyping the same cliche, cringey tropes or turning reading into a cheesy aesthetic, the panellists agreed that its impact has been a decided positive. Whether it’s introducing new genres, making books more accessible, or simply getting people to read again, BookTok has reignited a cultural love for literature.

After all, as Chloe reminded us, “It doesn’t matter what you’re reading – just that you’re reading.”

Happy (n)Ever After?

As the world progresses, it’s a common fear that AI will eventually take over. In this competition of our own creation, is this fear unfounded? Will it ever reach the levels that we so commonly see in movies and TV? Anton Hur and Hassan Hasaa’Ree Ali dive into the reality of the AI and technology that currently exists in our society as well as the kind that exists in speculative fiction. 

Off the bat, Anton makes it clear: the AI that is commonly present in movies and books does not exist. That is a general AI that can learn and feel, whereas the AI that exists now is a narrow AI. It uses machine learning to accomplish whatever it is being created to do and requires a specific set of data. TL;DR – it’s just a machine with no mind of its own.

Through a mini experiment Hassan conducted, it’s easy to get AI to generate a poem or an essay talking about a poem, but it lacks the nuances and vibe that come from human writers. So, it can’t exactly replace the writers of the world – no one wants to read stories that have no heart and soul. And you can’t exactly insert a heart or teach an AI to appreciate poetry. 

Well, that’s it, right? AI just isn’t as spectacular as they are presented in the media. Not exactly… While general AI is still some ways away, technology that is often thought to be impossible is very much becoming more plausible now. For example, in Anton Hur’s Towards Infinity, nanotechnology is used to cure cancer, and in real life, that’s slowly becoming a possibility as well. So the technology used in sci-fi books and speculative media – who knows? You might pick up a book in the future talking about the exact technology used before it even existed!

So, there you have it – our whirlwind of a look back at Singapore Writers Festival 2024! Whether it was discussing poignant issues such as gender roles and saving the planet, or how humour can help even the staunchest die-hards see other perspectives, it was an incredibly eye-opening experience all around.

If this has motivated you to continue writing your work-in-progress novel or finish reading that book that’s been lying unread on your desk for months, then be sure to check out the SWF 2024 official website to get some inspiration! Already looking forward to SWF 2025? Us too! Not to worry, follow the Singapore Writers Festival on Instagram to get the latest updates. 

Until next year, keep reading, keep writing, and see you at SWF 2025!

Photos by Ethan Yeo of the DANAMIC Team. Additional visuals courtesy of Arts House Limited and Moonrise Studios.