What is Sing Lit? Why does it matter? How can it thrive? What do festivals and programming have to do with it all? Who better to unpack these juicy, soul-searching questions than the past and present Directors of the Singapore Writers Festival? Join Paul Tan, Pooja Nansi, Yeow Kai Chai, and Yong Shu Hoong in this (totally not SG60) special, where we cut through the noise for a candid, no-holds-barred conversation on the state of Sing Lit today. This session is held in collaboration with the Singapore Writers Festival.
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📍Venue: Online (Zoom) and Programme Rooms 1 & 2, Central Library
🏢 Address: 100 Victoria St, #B1-01 National Library, Singapore 188064
🗓️ Date: Saturday, 26 July 2025
🕛 Time: 11.00 am - 12.30 pm
🎟️ Admission: Free with registration
Register here on FormSG.
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About the Speakers
Paul Tan has published five poetry collections. His debut collection, Curious Roads (1994), won a Commendation in 1993 and his second collection, Driving Into Rain (1998), was awarded a Merit prize in 1998, as part of the Singapore Literature Prize. More recent collections of poetry are First Meeting of Hands (2006), Seasonal Disorders/Impractical Lessons (2014) and When the Lights Went Off (2018). His short stories have been published in Quarterly Literary Review Singapore and various anthologies. Among his professional appointments, he was Deputy CEO of the National Arts Council (2014 - 2021), and Director of the Singapore Writers Festival from 2011-2014. He currently works in the philanthropy sector and is the Chief Executive at the Community Foundation of Singapore.
Pooja Nansi is an award-winning poet, performer, and educator known for her impact on literature, performance, and cultural leadership. She is the author of three poetry collections and co-author of a teacher’s resource for Singaporean poetry. A Young Artist Award (2016) recipient and Singapore’s inaugural Youth Poet Ambassador, she currently teaches at Nanyang Technological University and is Chief Publisher at AFTERIMAGE Press. Her acclaimed performance work includes You Are Here (Wild Rice) and Thick Beats for Good Girls (Checkpoint Theatre). As the first woman and youngest Festival Director of the Singapore Writers Festival (2019–2023), she redefined the event’s inclusivity and reach. In 2024, she was conferred the Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, one of France’s top cultural honours.
Yeow Kai Chai is a poet and fiction writer, and editor. He has three poetry collections: Secret Manta (2001); Pretend I’m Not Here (2006); and One to the Dark Tower Comes (2020), which was awarded the 2022 Singapore Literature Prize. He was a journalist who had worked in the media in Singapore for almost three decades, in various publications such as The Straits Times (Singapore Press Holdings) and 8 DAYS (Mediacorp). He had taken on various roles such as Deputy Life Editor (Entertainment); Product Development Editor in charge of integration between the ST newsroom and digital platforms; and Editor-in-Chief at the commuter freesheet My Paper. He co-wrote Lilla Torg: A Scandinavian Journey (2023); Lost Bodies: Poems Between Portugal and Home (2016); and The Adopted: Stories from Angkor (2015). A co-editor of Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, he was Festival Director of Singapore Writers Festival from 2015 to 2018.
Yong Shu Hoong has won the Singapore Literature Prize for Frottage (2005), The Viewing Party (2013) and Anatomy of a Wave (2022), among the seven poetry collections he has authored. He is a co-author of collaborative works, The Adopted: Stories from Angkor (2015), Lost Bodies: Poems Between Portugal and Home (2016) and Lilla Torg: A Scandinavian Journey (2023). Currently the festival director of Singapore Writers Festival, he teaches part-time at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.