September 2019 – The Infinite Library and Other Stories

SWFVersionThree_V1_Black Wow, where did the year go? It’s hard to believe we are coming to that time of year when the Singapore Writers Festival comes a cracking. I have two events this year, the details of which are listed below:

[Conversations] Is Science the New Religion?

Sat, 9 Nov, 11.00am – 12.00pm, Asian Civilisations Museum, Ngee Ann Auditorium

Yuval Noah Harari theorized that religion is humankind’s greatest invention. But do spiritual belief and faith still have a place in this age of science and technology? This conversation considers the relationships between science fiction, science, faith, hyperreality, and the future of humankind.

Featuring: Chen Qiufan (Stanley Chan), Neon Yang, Tony Estrella

Moderator: Victor Fernando R. Ocampo

[Conversations] Ruling the Galaxy

Sat, 9 Nov, 5.00pm – 6.00pm, The Arts House, Living Room

When writing about intergalactic empires and space adventures, to what extent do writers need to be mindful of scientific plausibility? Should they abide by space travel rules at all? Three writers discuss why they’ve chosen to set their stories in space and how they’ve imagined an entire interstellar universe.

Featuring: Victor Dixen, Boey Meihan, Victor Fernando R. Ocampo

Moderator: Jason Erik Lundberg

I guess I can share this now.

I will be attending Milford Writer’s Conference this September at Dyffryn Nantlle (the Nantlle Valley) in the Snowdonia National Park, Wales. Oddly enough this will be the first professional writing workshop that I will attend (not having the confidence and the wherewithal to do so previously).

The Milford Writers’ Conference, is an annual science fiction writer’s event founded by SF Grand Master Damon Knight (among others) in the mid-1950s. It’s both a residential workshop and a writers’ conference where published SF writers convene over the course of a week to both intensively critique stories and novels excerpts, as well as to workshop ideas on all aspects of SF writing. Past participants have included James Blish, Samuel Delaney, Harlan Ellison, Carol Emshwiller, Neil Gaiman, Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, Judith Merril, Robert Silverberg, Bruce Sterling, Kurt Vonnegut, Gene Wolfe and many other familiar names.

Here’s a cool shout-out for Milford from none other than George R. R. Martin.

This has been one of the busiest years for me ever — now that I am responsible for the entire APAC and the Middle East. My work in the Mobile Identity space has been extremely challenging and tech-heavy, so one of the things I am most looking forward to is the chance to be unplugged — at least for a week. The workshop is being held inside a national park where there is limited Wi-Fi availability and absolutely no mobile phone reception. If I need to call work, I have to invest coinage to use a pay phone (imagine that).

Snowdonia is the home of Arthurian legend and the Nantlle valley is the site of one of the tales in the Mabinogi, one of the oldest collections of British Celtic myths. I really hope this inspires me to complete the novel that I have long been working on seemingly forever.

Interestingly. I will be the first writer from Singapore to be part of Milford. Rochita Loenen-Ruiz was the first Filipino to attend and I am proud to follow in her pioneering footsteps. Am a bit nervous, but definitely looking forward to being there.

Dymuna bob lwc i fi!

Month: September 2019

My Singapore Writers Festival 2019 Schedule

Attending Milford 2019