As the European Union marks 60 years, the European Union Delegation to Singapore deepens its cultural connections with Singapore. On May 25-26, together with LASALLE College of the Arts, the EU launches its inaugural European Union Writers Festival (EUWF).
With EUWF, the EU Delegation to Singapore and LASALLE College of the Arts join their efforts to create a platform showcasing European authors based in Singapore. Through an opening event and a full-day of panel discussions on May 26, this festival will use literature and words to add to the rich Singapore-Europe dialogue and deepen long-established European connections in the city-state.
Says Dr Michael Pulch, European Union Ambassador to Singapore: “We celebrate literature with our inaugural European Union Writers Festival.”
Discussions to launch this festival started nine months ago and Dr Pulch adds the “aim is to create a platform for European writers and publishers based in Singapore to discuss their work and the many ideas that inspire writing in many forms.”
“We are delighted to partner with LASALLE College of the Arts. As we mark 60 years of the European Union and 40 years of EU-ASEAN ties, this collaboration strengthens our long-established connections with the city-state. It adds to the rich artistic and cultural dialogue between Europe and Singapore,” says Dr Pulch.
Professor Steve Dixon, (pictured above) President, LASALLE College of the Arts says they are honoured “to be the partner of choice for the European Union Delegation to Singapore in co-hosting this inaugural European Union Writers Festival on our iconic city campus”.
“This partnership reflects true creative collaboration where our faculty and students will actively contribute to and engage with notable European writers, publishers and directors. One of LASALLE’s strongest propositions is that we constantly seek to create avenues that ignite creativity, conversation and connection, for faculty and students, both inside the classroom and out of it. This writers’ festival is one prime example, with an esteemed partner,” says Professor Dixon.
EUWF is a celebration of culture and literature that has the natural potential to travel beyond borders.
Says Dr Darryl Whetter, (pictured above) Programme Leader, MA Creative Writing, LASALLE College of the Arts: “This cultural fusion is even more obvious here in the European Union Writers Festival’s combination of firsts: our MA Creative Writing is the first taught Creative Writing MA in Singapore and Southeast Asia, and we are delighted to co-host this inaugural version of the European Union Writers Festival in the first semester of the first year of this exciting new Creative Writing MA. Like all good stories, ours has a dramatic beginning and an interesting cast of diverse characters”.
Opening night
An opening night will kick-start EUWF on May 25. Taking place at the Campus Green at LASALLE College of the Arts, the opening night will give free rein to four fresh voices from Singapore and Europe. Opening readings will explore the many themes in European contemporary literature. It will also include Singapore poets who have travelled to Europe and have written poems in response to their journey there.
Following this opening event, a series of conversations with authors from Europe and full-fledged panel discussions will be showcased on 26th May.
From film script to screen
Promoting European cinema in Singapore has always been a core priority for the EU in the city state. The European Union Film Festival is Singapore’s longest running foreign film festival. It runs at the iconic National Gallery Singapore from May 11-21. In keeping with this tradition, the intertwining of film and literature will be in the limelight in two panel discussions during EUWF.
Following his contribution to 27th EUFF in Singapore, the German writer and filmmaker Michael Schindhelm will present his latest publication, Happy Tropics I at EUWF. It explores the changing cultural landscapes of the city-state.
Another roundtable on “The Craft of Filmwriting” will bring together a British screenwriter, Benjamin Slater, and a German film director and Associate Professor at NTU, Sebastian Grobler. Together with moderator Kenneth Tan, Chairman of the Singapore Film Society, they will address the opportunities stemming from the interpretation of film scripts, and how they shape the movie’s visual outcomes.
Arts And Literature
We often underscore the great difficulty to put into words the abstract endeavour of artistic creation. How do artists, curators and writers coping with this challenge use words to make artistic creation meaningful to others? This is the challenge arts writers and curators Anca Rujoiu, Melanie Pocock, Stephanie Burt, Silke Schmickl and Kathleen Ditzig take on.
The Fine Art of Publishing
As a major cultural hub in Southeast Asia, Singapore is home to several publishing houses. As such, the city-state is a unique platform where The Fine Art of Publishing can be dealt with in all its guises. This will fuel the conversation between Dominique Husken-Ulbrich, founder of the established publisher Husken-Ulbrich Books, and the Singaporean Edmund Wee, the founder of the well-known Epigram Books.
Reading and Writing in the Age of Social Media
Book lovers and wordsmiths can also look forward to the state of play of the literature in the context of the widespread use of social media tools and platforms. Singapore Literature-Prize-winning author Joshua Ip (Sonnets from the Singlish, 2015) will join Vladimir Todorovic, Associate Professor in the NTU School of Arts, Design and Media, to discuss how literature can reinvent itself and embrace the challenges posed by social media.
British Council Initiates and Supports the EUWF Accessibility Programme
Another first for this inaugural festival: the British Council is working with the European Writers Festival in an effort to present a more inclusive Festival by supporting the EUWF accessibility programme. The programme consists of introducing sign language interpretation for participants with hearing impairments at selected events. British Council is pioneering this programme as part of their wider Inclusive Arts campaign. Inclusion, diversity and equality are at the core of the British Council’s global cultural relations aims and part of building trust, respect and understanding between the UK and Singapore.
Says Dr Sarah Meisch Lionetto, Director of Arts, British Council Singapore: “With a programme of research, awareness raising events and projects, our work in the arts endeavours over the next few years to contribute to a dynamic and inclusive cultural scene in Singapore where disabled artists and patrons are able to access equal opportunities to participate in the arts.”