But Is the Book Better?: Eating Air, Wed 28 Nov, Sat 1 Dec

I'm off to the Georgetown Literary Festival in a bit, but before I do that, I'd like to advertise a little something I've got coming up. It's a screening of the fabulous 1999 motorcycle gangster movie at the Arts House, after which there'll be a talk about my novelisation thereof!

But Is the Book Better?: Eating Air
Venue: Screening Room, the Arts House
Date/Time: 28 Nov, 7.30pm; 1 Dec, 3pm.
Free admission
(on a first-come-first-served basis)

My talkback is on 1 December, with director Jasmine Ng! More info here.

Singapore Uncensored: A Panel on the Yale-NUS controversy

I'm speaking via Skype on this panel, specifically on the issue of gay rights in Singapore, though I should also be dropping a few lines on academic freedom. Unfortunately, it's a closed door event at Yale University, in New Haven.



Date: Thursday April 19, Luce Hall
Time: 4pm (i.e. Fri 4 am Singapore time!)
Co-sponsored by the Malaysian and Singaporean Association, and the Council on Southeast Asian Studies

Leave questions at http://tinyurl.com/yalenus.

Lines of Flight Literary Festival, Sat 17 March

Hi everyone,

NTU is holding the Lines of Flight Literary Festival. to promote our creative writing program. The event will take place this coming Saturday afternoon, 17 March.


The festival is a day-long celebration of creative writing at NTU, featuring performances, workshops, readings, panel discussions, and an open mic evening. Special guests include the NTU/NAC Singapore Writing Residents Timothy O’Grady, Grace Chia Krakovic and myself.

Please consider stopping by! More details at the link below.

https://wis.ntu.edu.sg/pls/webexe/REGISTER_NTU.REGISTER?EVENT_ID=OA12022816144677

The whole event takes place from 11am to 7:30pm, and I'm on two panels:

2PM: Panel Body and voice:performing writing, writing for performance.Readings, performance and discussion by Jay Bernard (poet),Quah Sy Ren (playwright), Ng Yi-Sheng (poet, playwright), Jocelyn Chua (playwright,performer)

3.15PM: Panel Lyric sounds: music and the line. Readings and discussion by Grace Chia Krakovic (poet), Jen Crawford (poet); Kristina Marie Tom (poet) Ng Yi-Sheng (poet,playwright)

And I'm running a 4:30 Creative Non-Fiction workshop! Seeya there!

Updates on events next weekend!

From Print to Screen to Print – Book-to-Movie Adaptation and Back

Sun 19 Feb, 11am-1pm

Rendezvous Hotel (Ballrooms 1, 2, 3)
Presentations by children's writer and screenwriter Adeline Foo, author of the bestselling trilogy of The Diary of Amos Lee, and poet/playwright Ng Yi-Sheng on the movie novelisation of Eating Air. Part of the All In! Young Writers Media Festival.

http://allin2012.eventbrite.com/

http://www.bookcouncil.sg/_allin2012/allin_120208

Debate: This House Would Not Sacrifice Cultural Heritage For Progress

Saturday 18 February, 2-3pm

Singapore Art Museum (SAM), Glass Hall
A satirical, slap-your-knee, high octane debate featuring Dr. Gwee Li Sui (TellTale, Man/Born/Free), Adrian Tan (The Teenage Textbook), Ng Yi-Sheng (GASPP) and many others! Enjoy beverages from SOHO Coffee as well!
https://www.facebook.com/events/345683598784594/

This Saturday, I'm hosting a talk with Singapore's top theatre reviewers!


It's the 4:30 Open Panel Discussion noted below:

Open Roads: Stage Talk -Theatre Talks Back and Open Panel Discussion
Saturday 28 January 2012, 2-6pm
Theatre Talks Back, 2-4pm
Open Panel Discussion, 4:30-6pm
The Substation Theatre
Admission: Free
This is an InHouse event

Open Roads: Stage Talk was a programme initiated by The Substation in collaboration with The Flying Inkpot Theatre and Dance in 2010 to invite members of the public to come together and converse about local plays. After two successful runs in 2010 and 2011, Open Roads: Stage Talk comes to a close.

*To end the programme on a high note, local theatre reviewers have been gathered for a final pow-wow session– an open panel discussion about the current state of theatre criticism and their personal processes of reviewing performances. Join Life! journalist Corrie Tan, TODAY journalist, Mayo Martin, local online arts journal The Flying Inkpot‘s Matthew Lyon and freelance reviewers, Ng Yi-Sheng and Tara Tan in an open discussion about local theatre. Look forward also to the first of our Theatre Talks Back sessions, where invited theatre practitioners will talk about their recent productions in a Q&A presentation.

The Theatre Talks Back session is hosted by invited theatre practitioners who will talk about their recent productions in a Q&A presentation. Cake Theatrical Productions will be showing a video presentation of Decimal Points: 4.44 and talking about the trials and tribulations of putting together the first co-presentation between The Substation and Cake Theatrical Productions.

ROJAK 17, this Fri 18 Feb, @ 5 Magazine Rd, Central Mall

Dearest friends,

Come to ROJAK 17! (I'll be hosting.)


Welcome to our first ROJAK of 2011, this Friday,18th February, co-curated by BBH and FARM. It promises to be alot of FUN, with live performances scattered throughout the night.

We are hosted by BBH at their lovely courtyard space at 5 Magazine Road (Central Mall). Syndicate will start spinning at 7pm, and presentations starts at 8pm. Come early to support and see!

Our presenters for the evening, are, in no particular order:

1. Syndicate, Visual & Music
2. Colin Seah, Architecture & Design
3. Yuki Mitsuyasu, Jewellery Design
4. Quek Kiat Sing, Chinese Art
5. Hunn Wai, Product Design
6. Douglas Hamilton & Adrian Chan, Advertising
7. Abednego Trianto, Photography
8. Andree Weschler, Fine Arts & Performance
9. Felix Ng, Design
10. The Observatory, Music

Remember to bring drinks and beer to share for the beloved ROJAK dinghy. Bring your friends and family too! It's all in the spirit of ROJAK sharing. :)

P.S. This salivatingly-fabulous poster is designed by BBH (lotsa thanks!!)

PANEL DISCUSSION: From Ideas to Theatre Idols

(I'm moderating this!)

Meet three past winners of Theatre Idols, an annual event where staged readings of original new plays are held and the winner decided by public voting for a full staging of his/her play. These upcoming talented playwrights - Jacke Chye, Edgar Liao and Yak Aik-Wee - will chat about their experiences writing plays and taking part in Theatre Idols and also discuss real challenges facing new playwrights in the Singapore theatre scene.

Organised by the National Arts Council's Mentor Access Project and supported by The Arts House.

Free Admission.

Friday 11 February 2011,
7pm - 8.30pm ,
Arts House Play Den

Event details from: http://www.theartshouse.com.sg/event_details_2011.php?id=43. For enquiries, contact The Arts House at: 6332 6900.

Writing the City - Launch event on Tues 2 November at Arts House



Like it says! Don't forget to RSVP!

@ School in Bengaluru!

As promised, here are photos from my workshop at Widia Poorna Pragna School:







And a few from Jnana Vijnana Vidyapeetha:










Sadly, no shots from the last school, whose name escapes me for the time being (though it was terribly posh). Camera breakdown, doncha know. The assistant teacher said she might mail me some, but don't hold your breath.

UPDATE: The last school's name was MES Kishore Kendra Public School. Wrote 'em all down in my notebook.

Experiencing Singapore Literature: An All-Night Symposium by the National Library

Back from Bali! I'm gonna talk about the events I'm doing for the Singapore Literature Festival real soon, but first, here's a special side event that I've been planning with the National Library, happening on the night of Fri Oct 30 to the afternoon of Sat Oct 31. I'm pretty stoked.


Join us for a Symposium on 30-31 October! Forget about sitting and listening to boring discussions. We will be bringing you unique Experiences which are more exciting and on a bigger scale! As the name suggests, we want YOU to Experience literature. Come along and meet the ‘greats’ of the literary circles!

For more details and registration to the different segments of the Symposium, please access our blog at http://blogs.nlb.gov.sg/esl/symposium/.

Supper Club,

Starts 11.30pm Friday 30 October to 6.30am Saturday 31 October
Kick off at Possibility Room, Level 5, National Library Board
*open to those aged 16 years and above

Breakfast Club & Explore Singlit,

Starts 9.30am to 2.00pm on Saturday 31 October 2009
The Pod, Level 16, National Library Building

Admission to the two segments are free and on a first-come-first serve basis as seats are limited. Registration is from now till 20 October 2009. Supper, Breakfast and Lunch arrangements are included accordingly to the different segments.

*Your registration is complete when you receive a confirmation email from us. Seats are limited, so please register only if you can really join us.

Rethinking the Nanyang

There's a public forum happening at 3:15 on Sat 25 September at the National Library on the Nanyang Artists (i.e. folks like Liu Kang, Georgette Chen and Cheong Soo Pieng who established a natively Malayan school of painting here in the '50s). Come if you like.

I'll be speaking the week after on Saturday 3 October, 3pm, same time, about the development of the musical "Georgette". Details forthcoming.

Art and Life Sessions (Free Forum)

LIFE: We The Citizens: Unsung Heroines, Unwritten Histories
ART: The Last Temptation of Stamford Raffles, I Am Queen
Date: Saturday, 16 August 2008
Time: 5.30pm – 7.00pm
Venue: Drama Centre (National Library), Level 3, Function Room 3

What is the Singapore Story and who are its leading actors? What other kinds of histories are waiting backstage for their turn? Can history be more than a monologue by the victorious and the powerful? How can we mine social memory and cultural works to create our own alternative histories?

Panelists:
Ng Yi-Sheng - Playwright, The Last Temptation of Raffles
Dr Quah Sy Ren - Playwright, I Am Queen, Deputy Head of Chinese, NTU
Dr Syed Khairuddin Aljunied - Lecturer, Department of Malay Studies, NUS and author of Rethinking Raffles: A Study of Stamford Raffles’ Discourse on Religions Amongst Malays
Tan Pin Pin - Filmmaker, Invisible City, Singapore GaGa

A Queer Singapore Literature Talk with Writers Johann S. Lee + Me

PELANGI PRIDE CENTRE PRESENTS

An Afternoon with Johann S Lee
(Author of 'Peculiar Chris' and 'To Know Where I'm Coming From')
& Ng Yi-Sheng
(Poet and playwright, also known for his documentary book, 'SQ21: Singapore Queers in the 21st Century')

Saturday, 29 December 2007
Pelangi Pride Centre @ Bianco (21 Tanjong Pagar Rd, Level 4)
4-6pm
RSVP to pelangipridecentre@yahoo.com

Pelangi Pride Centre is proud to present a special event on the last
Saturday of 2007 - an afternoon with author, Johann S Lee, and
Ng Yi-Sheng, poet and playwright.

Many of us will remember with great nostalgia, the feeling of reading
Singapore's first gay novel, 'Peculiar Chris' when it was released in 1992.
Relive your first furtive glances at Singaporean gay literature in this
afternoon with the author.

Also get a chance to quiz Johann about the motivations in writing his second
novel 'To Know Where I'm Coming From'. Why did he take so long before
penning this second book?

Yi-Sheng (who majored in Comparative Literature & Writing at Columbia
University USA and curated IndigNation), together with Johann, will
facilitate a discussion around the relevance of Singapore gay fiction.

Join us on Saturday, 29 December at Pelangi Pride Centre,
for an informal and interactive afternoon.

About Johann's Latest Book: 'To Know Where I'm Coming From'

"A gripping story of love, caught between the gay worlds of London and
Singapore, unashamedly describing queer life as it is today: sexy and
sordid, romantic and political, frustrated and ecstatic."
- Ng Yi-Sheng, poet and playwright

"Hauntedly captivating and quietly powerful. Set against a diorama of
nostalgia and irresistible change, Lee observantly explores the ache of
falling in love and falling apart. For a Singapore which has evolved since
Peculiar Chris, Lee's assured second novel revisits the notions of choice
and choosing in a manner which, to his readers, has become not just
necessary, but imperative."
- Daren Shiau, author

"Read his novel... for its sheer honesty and at times heart wrenching
moments... Its importance in staking a claim in the territory of the
narrative of the overseas gay Singaporean male as well as the matured
Singaporean gay male experience, is not to be underestimated."
- Trevvy.com

"To read this book is not just to know where the author is coming from, but
to recognise, as gay people in a postmodern Asia, ourselves. How we love,
where we hope to go. Who we are."
- Fridae.com

Peculiar Inspirations

Oh dear... My appearance at the Arts and Life Forum for Asian Boys Volume 3 kena clash with my SDEA play. :( I'll be speaking with a few other guests, including poet Teng Qian Xi...

Sunday 29 July 5.30pm
PECULIAR INSPIRATIONS: The Muse - Of Sirens And Tyrants
Many of our artists have been greatly influenced by other Singaporean artists. From actual mentors to literary forebears, the creative process often involves a dialogue with the past. But how do we engage with traditions without inheriting its baggage? Do we climb on the shoulders of giants, or find our dwarfed selves obscured by their long shadows?

We round up a group of artists--poets, playwrights and filmmakers, to discuss the book, the play, or the film, that first made then want to embark on their artistic careers.