The Infinite Library and Other Stories
by Victor Fernando R. Ocampo
Very pleased to announce that The Infinite Library and Other Stories is now back in print in Singapore! You can get it online at https://lnkd.in/gf78f56Z
“Ocampo’s collection is simultaneously a meaningful addition to the genre of speculative fiction and a powerful manifesto laying out the possibilities of Southeast Asian literature.“ – Elise J. Choi, book review for Necessary Fiction
Thank you to Olivia Ho for including my short story “Big Enough for the Entire Universe” in her article “Pocket Cities in Singapore Speculative Fiction”. This story first appeared in the OG Fish Eats Lion anthology (Math Paper Press, 2012) edited by the inimitable Jason Erik Lundberg .
Read about it here.
Postscript: Thank you to Kirsten Han and Alysha Chandra for inviting me to speak on the panel “The Uses if Storytelling” with playwright Alfian Sa’at and Kelly Leow, who co-produced the AWARE podcast saga at Singapore’s first ever Independent Media Fair. Thank you also to my publisher Jee Leong Koh of Gaudy Boy press for hosting the well-attended event. The fair was organized by Singapore Unbound, a New York City-based literary arts organization that promotes freedom of expression and equal rights, with Sydney-based literary magazine Mekong Review
The original post:
What is the role of storytelling in journalism? In what ways are art and propaganda the same or different? Please join us at the Projector X: Picturehouse for an author reading and discussion, titled ‘The Uses of Storytelling’, to be held from 4.30 – 6.00pm at the Singapore Independent Media Fair on 1 July 2023. Admission is free! Register here – https://lnkd.in/gYwgHZpJ
Remember that a free, independent media allows the public to make informed decisions, hold leaders accountable and hear a diversity of opinions free of corporate and government influence.
Brought to you by Mekong Review and Singapore Unbound
Event Details:
How is storytelling related to journalism and other media products? Is there any difference between art and propaganda? What kind of stories make the most impact on their readers/listeners?
Panelists: Alfian Sa’at (Playwright, Poet, and Writer), Kelly Leow (Co-Writer and Co-Producer, Saga, the AWARE Podcast), and Victor Fernando R. Ocampo (Speculative Fiction Author)
Moderator: Koh Jee Leong (Founder, Singapore Unbound, and Publisher, Gaudy Boy)
Thank you to Singapore’s Creative Arts Program (CAP) and the Ministry of Education for inviting me to run a workshop on Interactive Fiction with some of the most gifted and creative secondary school students in Singapore.
The workshop was held at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts last 30 May 2023. I had the pleasure of working with 16 students whose ages ranged from 13 to 17.
The objectives were:
Along the way we talked about electronic literature, hypertext, adventure-based and puzzle-based text games, choice-based interactive fiction, visual novels, conversational agents as well as Web 3.0 interactive fiction such as Art Roleplay Games. We also discussed everything from Jorge Luis Borges’ “The Garden of Forking Paths” (which inspired the concept of hypertext), to early interactive fiction narratives like Will Crowther’s Colossal Cave Adventure, Trubshaw and Bartle’s Multi-User Dungeon, and Douglas Adams’ Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, to visual novels like Steins:Gate, Doki Doki Literature Club and Disco Elysium. We even managed to talk about local Singaporean projects such as Catherine Lim’s very early internet novella The Leap of Love (Lycos Asia, 2000) and Benjamin Chee and Wayne Rée’s Internal Damnation, an interactive fiction companion piece to their seminal Work-Life Balance graphic novel (Difference Engine, 2022)
I was pleasantly surprised that one of the kids had actually read and liked my blockchain ride and die story on Fish Eats Lion Redux. Happy that my work isn’t as obscure as I think it is.
Looking forward to seeing one of these kids develop a crazy good Interactive Fiction narrative in the future!
The Infinite Library and Other Stories 