New York, NY - This October 19th and 20th, the Singapore Literature Festivalreturns to New York City for a weekend of conversations featuring writers and artists from the Asian diaspora and beyond. The festival opens with a keynote talk on transnational theater and an exclusive film premiere at the Korean Cultural Center New York and continues on the second day with exciting panel discussions and a new opera at the Asian American Writers' Workshop.
Titled "Living Adaptations," the 2024 Singapore Literature Festival will consider writing for the stage and screen, the ethics of narrative, and adapting classics for a diverse contemporary audience, inviting everyone to join us in examining our multilingual existence.
"By presenting theater practitioners, filmmakers, and other artists from both Asia and America, we hope to explore how individuals and cultures adapt to and with other individuals and cultures in an effort to live together in a just, equitable, and creative manner," explained Jee Leong Koh, festival co-director, Singapore Literature Festival in NYC.
Lily Philpott, festival co-director, Singapore Literature Festival in NYC, adds, "We are beyond excited to welcome audience members to this edition of the Singapore Literature Festival. We'll be activating beloved community spaces in the city with our events, and looking forward to hosting a series of complex and kind dialogues."
Festival highlights
Timely, Stimulating Topics
The opening keynote address is given by ONG Keng Sen, artistic director of major Singaporean theater company T:>Works. Keng Sen will speak on his adaptation of Euripides's play about war, Trojan Women, into a modern opera based on the traditional Korean art form of Pansori and the contemporary musical genre of K-pop.
NYC Film Premiere
The festival will host the New York premiere of Ajoomma, a touching comedy film about a Singaporean widow's misadventures in Seoul. Starring HONG Huifang, YEO Jin-goo, KANG Hyoung-suk, and JUNG Dong-hwan, the screening is followed by a talkback with the writer-director HE Shuming.
Engaging Panels
Grace Jung, Simon Wu, and Dena Igusti will speak about their multilingual existence as writers, artists, and curators. Dev Benegal and Chai Vasarhelyi, joined by HE Shuming, will discuss their approaches to film editing. ONG Keng Sen, Rebecca Martínez, and Damon Chua will reflect on their adaptations of Western and Eastern classics for the stage.
New Opera
The festival closes with the staged reading of a new chamber opera. Written by Marcus Yi, Daughters of the Storm is a contemporary reinterpretation of King Lear, with an all-Asian, all-women cast.
Festival co-directors Jee Leong Koh and Lily Philpott and festival speakers are available for interviews on topics such as:
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The Festival co-directors on organizing the Singapore Literature Festival at a time of change in both Singapore and the United States;
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Artistic director ONG Keng Sen on drawing inspiration from different theatrical traditions;
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Filmmaker HE Shuming on the importance of international artistic collaboration;
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Opera librettist Marcus Yi on reworking Shakespeare to address contemporary concerns.
Please refer to Annex A for a list of Co-Presenters & Quotes, and Annex B for the Festival Program.
Check out the festival and RSVP here. Download press photos here.
About the 6th Singapore Literature Festival in NYC (October 19-20, 2024):
The flagship activity of the NYC-based literary non-profit Singapore Unbound, this independent, biennial festival is conceived and organized by a group of Singaporean and American volunteers—writers, artists, and creatives—who call New York City home.
Follow Singapore Unbound: Website | Facebook | X | Instagram I YouTube
Annex A—Co-Presenters and Quotes
"The Korean Cultural Center New York is honored to co-present the 'Keynote' and the 'Opening Night Screening of a Singapore-Korea film' with Singapore Unbound for this significant event. We are grateful for the opportunity to share and celebrate Korean culture with a wider audience. Collaborations like these help us connect diverse cultures through the arts, fostering deeper understanding and appreciation. It’s a privilege to be part of such a vibrant and enriching celebration."
- Taehyun Hwang, Film Program Director, Korean Cultural Center New York
“What a thrill to celebrate and support Singapore Unbound for their 2024 Singapore Literature Festival this fall. Having the festival’s luminous lineup of events on Sunday, October 20th take place at Asian American Writers’ Workshop feels like such an organic and symbiotic partnership. As community organizations who exist at the intersections of literature and the lives of Asian and Asian diasporic writers and readers, we are delighted to serve as a platform and shared space. Together, we’ll continue to uplift language, learning, and dialogue across experience, craft, genre, movement work, and the expansive futures we look toward. We extend our utmost gratitude to Singapore Unbound for seeing us and trusting us in this collaboration, and we hope you’ll join for this vital and generous weekend of events.”
- Devyn Mañibo, Deputy Director, Asian American Writers’ Workshop
“The Asian Cultural Council is delighted to support the 2024 Singapore Literature Festival. The mission of the Singapore Literature Festival, and Singapore Unbound as a whole, falls in line with our longstanding commitment to cultural exchange between artists, scholars, and arts professionals from the U.S. and Asia. We look forward to participating in the 2024 Singapore Literature Festival and to introducing director and ACC alum Ong Keng Sen’s oeuvre to a wider audience.”
- Judy Kim, Executive Director, Asian Cultural Council
“The theme for the 2024–2025 SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium (SEAC) workshop and field school, "Southeast Asian identities in popular culture and literature," explores how Southeast Asian identities are made “legible” across various cultural media. Participants will examine issues of representation and translation in contexts of transformation, including colonialism and post-colonialism, diaspora and migration, settler colonialism, indigeneity, and globalization. They will consider who is included or excluded in processes of representation, translation, and globalization. Our program will run in conjunction with the 6th Biennial Singapore Literature Festival in New York, organized by Singapore Unbound. The festival events will provide valuable resources for workshop and field school participants as they develop their scholarly and creative projects.”
- E. K. Tan, Associate Professor (Stony Brook University), Lead Faculty (SUNY/CUNY Southeast Asia Consortium)
Annex B—Festival Program
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19
Keynote: Tradition and the Contemporary Global Moment
Co-presented by the Korean Cultural Center New York
ONG Keng Sen has been Artistic Director of Singapore’s T:>Works (formerly TheatreWorks) since 1988. He was the founding Festival Director of Singapore International Festival of Arts (SIFA) and initiated the Young Curators Academy in Berlin. His production of Euripides’ Trojan Women, a collaboration with the National Theater of Korea, played at BAM Next Wave Festival in New York (2022) and Edinburgh International Festival (2023) to rave reviews. In his keynote address for the 2024 Singapore Literature Festival, he will expound on the challenges of adapting the ancient Greek play into a changgeuk (traditional Korean opera), while transmitting the essence of this powerful story about women who struggle to transform themselves in war from victims to survivors. In his exposition, he will draw out vital insights for theater today. Conversation after the talk is moderated by Judy Kim, Executive Director of the Asian Cultural Council.
Saturday, October 19, 3:00 - 5:00 PM
Korean Cultural Center New York (122 E 32nd St, NY, NY)
Opening Night: New York Premiere of Ajoomma
Co-presented by the Korean Cultural Center New York
A Singaporean widow obsessed with Korean soap operas travels abroad for the first time in her life and finds more than she bargained for in Seoul. Starring HONG Huifang, YEO Jin-goo, KANG Hyoung-suk, and JUNG Dong-hwan. Written and directed by HE Shuming. Mandarin; Korean; English; with English subtitles. Talkback with HE Shuming and Grace Jung (K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry into Why We Love Korean Television).
Saturday, October 19, 7:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Korean Cultural Center New York (122 E 32nd St, NY, NY)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 20
Panel 1: Multilingual Existence
Co-presented by the Asian American Writers' Workshop
Grace Jung (K-Drama School: A Pop Culture Inquiry Into Why We Love Korean Television), Simon Wu (Dancing On My Own: Essays on Art, Collectivity, and Joy), and Dena Igusti (Cut Woman) will join us to speak to their multidisciplinary approaches to art-making between spheres of identity, gender, race, culture, language, medium, and genre. This conversation will be moderated by writer and translator Aruni Kayshap (The Way You Want To Be Loved).
Sunday, October 20, 12:00 PM - 1:15 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop (112 W 27th Street, Suite 600, NY, NY)
Panel 2: Editing as Writing: The Making of Narrative Film
Co-presented by the Asian American Writers' Workshop
Explore the art of storytelling in film with this panel of accomplished filmmakers—Dev Benegal (Road Movie), Chai Vasarhelyi (Nyad), and HE Shuming (Ajoomma)—as they discuss the craft of writing and editing. Learn how they use moving visuals to narrate lived experiences and examine the political and ethical implications of shaping these stories on screen. Moderated by Ashish Ravinran (Chasing Cricket).
Sunday, October 20, 1:30 PM - 2:45 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop (112 W 27th Street, Suite 600, NY, NY)
Panel 3: Adapting Classics for the Stage
Co-presented by the Asian American Writers' Workshop
Literary classics are commonly supposed to be timeless, and yet they have been creatively reimagined for every new generation. What are the social, political, ethical, and artistic considerations for contemporary theatrical adaptations of classics from the East and West? Explore these questions with ONG Keng Sen (Salome), Rebecca Martinez (co-director, Public Theater's Mobile Unit: Comedy of Errors), Damon Chua (Warrior Sisters of Wu), and moderator Zizi Majid (Milk).
Sunday, October 20, 3:00 PM - 4:15 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop (112 W 27th Street, Suite 600, NY, NY)
Closing Event: Staged Reading of a New Opera, with Reception
Co-presented by the Asian American Writers' Workshop
Sisters of the Storm is a chamber opera that reinterprets Shakespeare's King Learwithin the context of an Asian-American family. Genevieve Wong is a retired Shakespeare professor grappling with dementia. As her condition worsens, Genevieve compels her three daughters to reenact the play, escalating the family's challenges in navigating eldercare. Librettist: Marcus Yi (Working for the Macbeths). Composer: Justine F. Chen (The Life and Death(s) of Alan Turing). Talkback with Marcus Yi and Shakespeare scholar Cordelia Zukerman.
Sunday, October 20, 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Asian American Writers’ Workshop (112 W 27th Street, Suite 600, NY, NY)
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