Explore the world of mystery thrillers, and uncover the secrets of writing complex characters, blending a story with quick action and seat-grabbing suspense, creative twists, weaved together in a hardboiled world of shadows and intrigue.
Camp Lit is proud to present the ninth edition of our annual creative writing holiday camp,
CAMP LIT 2025: WHODUNIT?
Taking inspiration from mysteries and crime thrillers, this 3-day, non-residential camp delves into different aspects of what makes such stories exciting and keeps people wanting more. In this year’s edition, learn how to build a gritty, hardboiled world that adds a suspenseful backdrop to a mystery thriller with Neil Humphreys; explore what goes into crafting the twists and turns of a mystery crime thriller plot with Jocelyn Suarez; try your hand at creating your own compelling characters with AJ LOW using tabletop roleplaying game character-creation techniques; discover how to write impactful and exciting action sequences with Suffian Hakim; and find out how the plots of mystery thrillers can be translated into comics and sequential art with Danny Jalil.
Take this chance to learn about mystery writing through workshops helmed by established local authors! Along the way, meet like-minded fans of mystery thrillers and join us in fun mini-games peppered throughout the camp, and even take part in a murder mystery game! Join us in creating your own whodunit…just remember to watch your back 👀👀
Camp Lit 2025: WHODUNIT? will be held at lyf Funan Singapore, our proud venue sponsor.
REGISTRATION IS OPEN
Camp Details
Dates: 25 - 27 Nov 2025
(9am - 6pm on 25 & 26 Nov, 9am - 7pm on 27 Nov)
Venue: lyf Funan Singapore
Earlybird registration: 29 Sep - 17 Oct
Standard registration: 18 Oct - 18 Nov
*Note that as a Public Arts Programme, MOE schools purchasing tickets for their students will be able to claim a 50% subsidy on the camp fees from the Tote Board Arts Grant. Find out more about utilising the grant here.
Workshops in Camp Lit 2025: WHODUNIT?
Building Setting in a Gritty Crime Thriller World with Neil Humphreys
In this two-hour workshop with best-selling author Neil Humphreys, discover the tips and tricks of world-building and using setting to generate and amplify suspense, fear and anticipation in mystery thrillers.
Neil Humphreys is one of Singapore’s best-selling authors. He has written 30 books. His works on Singapore - from Notes from an Even Smaller Island (2001) to Saving a Sexier Island: Notes from an Old Singapore (2015) – are among the most popular titles in the last 20 years. His book Be My Baby (2008) chronicled his journey to parenthood. Humphreys then penned two football novels Match Fixer (2010) and Premier Leech (2011). His Inspector Low crime fiction trilogy - Marina Bay Sins (2014), Rich Kill Poor Kill (2016), Bloody Foreigners (2021) - was released on paperback in the UK in 2022. Humphreys is currently working on an Inspector Low TV series with an international broadcaster.
Hidden Motives, Red Herrings, and Secrets with Jocelyn Suarez
In this workshop, learn how to craft compelling mystery thrillers through character psychology and suspense. We'll explore the anatomy of a mystery, from setup and secrets to clues, red herrings, and emotional payoffs. Discover how to build tension, pace your scenes, and shape distinctive voices through mini workshops and writing prompts. By the end, you'll understand the one truth every mystery writer lives by: everyone hides something, clues must play fair, and the most unforgettable endings leave readers questioning everything…even themselves.
Jocelyn Suarez writes poetry, prose and spoken word. Her works have appeared in collections such as My Lot Is a Sky, Anima Methodi, multiple SingPoWriMo anthologies, and online journals like Dying Dahlia Review, Eunoia Review and Pressure Gauge Journal. She participated in Sing Lit Station's Manuscript Bootcamp (Prose) in 2018, and is part of the poetry collective ATOM. Her debut novel, The Flesh Hunters, is a crime thriller longlisted for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize in 2020.
Roll with It: Stories Get Dicey! with AJ LOW
Geek out with authors Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low-Jimenez and use dice to roll up stats RPG-style. Create detectives and suspects with more sides than a die and use them to develop mysteries with prompts that roll your way. No previous role-playing-game (RPG) experience is required. Dice will be provided.
A.J. Low is the husband-and-wife writing team of Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low-Jimenez. They write the best-selling Sherlock Sam series of children’s books. Their books have won the Singapore Book Awards for Best Young Persons Title 2020, the International Schools Libraries Network’s Red Dot Award 2013-2014, and the Popular Readers’ Choice Award numerous times. Sherlock Sam has been published in North America, Indonesia, Turkey, South Korea, Myanmar, China, and the Middle East, and will soon be published in Taiwan. Sherlock Sam: The Musical was staged in 2023 to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the series.
During the day, Felicia is a comics publisher and Adan is a freelance writer, editor, and translator. You can reach them on Instagram at @aj_low_writers
“And Now We Fight to the Death!” Writing Action with Suffian Hakim
Whodunnits are only fun if you they have great howdunnits, and that’s the main objective of this workshop. Here, aspiring writers will unlearn the tedious “And-then” approach to writing action sequences and instead learn to focus on the narrative, character and emotion to write scenes that are exciting but also transcendent and organic to the text. We will study a series of action sequences from famous texts and dissect them to learn what makes an action scene compelling, edge-of-your-seats, nail-biting affairs. There will also be a hands-on component for participants, in which they will write out action scenes and perform it for their fellow workshop attendees.
Described by The Straits Times as “undoubtedly one of the most whimsical, creative and unpretentious young voices in Singapore literature”, Suffian Hakim is the author of the parody Harris bin Potter and the Stoned Philosopher and comedic bildungsroman The Minorities. His books are sold in Singapore, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. He has given talks and creative writing workshops at events such as Campus Party Singapore, Singapore Writers Festival, Cairo Literary Festival, Makassar International Writers Festival, Asian Festival of Children's Content, and Pecha Kucha Singapore. Outside of his career as an author, Suffian is an Associate Editor with AUGUSTMAN Magazine.
A Word Paints a Thousand Pictures with Danny Jalil
How do you adapt the written word into sequential art? Students will be introduced to how stories are made and will be given the opportunity to turn them into comics, and will be introduced to comic book panel dynamics. Learn how adaptation works from one medium to the next, and to inspire students to create their own future illustrated adventures.
Danny Jalil majored in Multimedia Arts and studied Creative Writing and Screenwriting at LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts. His works include the young adult novel The Machine Boy (Straits Times Press), and the graphic novels Lieutenant Adnan and the Fallen Regiment, and Elizabeth Choy: Her Story (with artist Zaki Ragman, published by Asiapac Books), and he is currently at work on his next novel. He he has spoken at the 2017 Singapore Writer’s Festival panel “Staring Into War’s Heart of Darkness”, and has moderated at the Singapore Writer’s Festival panel The History Hunter featuring writer Mark Greenwood in 2018, and has also spoken at schools about the joys of comics and writing. When not writing he makes digital illustrations and comics, which he posts regularly online.
A creative writing holiday camp for the ages.
Camp Lit is an annual creative writing holiday camp for secondary school students. Students get to mingle with published authors and learn their secrets; bond with fellow aspiring writers and explore the city in an epic scavenger hunt; and test their detective skills while engaging their competitive spirit during camp games and challenges.
Previous Camps
Testimonials Through the Years
2017
It was a very insightful camp which widened my perspective and taught me to better appreciate literature’s multitude of facets.
The workshops were quite interactive and hands-on, the trainers were very open and eager to help me when I asked them about my work.
2018
THE SCAVENGER HUNT WAS INSANELY GOOD
1) Learned many new things about writing & poems 2) was able to meet with famous authors 3) group leader was amazingly good
2019
It was really fun and enriching, I learnt a lot more about writing be it in poetry, in games, in journalism and in many other factors. I learnt to appreciate literature more as an artform. I also really liked the food & drinks provided (lotus biscuits & milo!!! 👌 👌), the environment was great and I made friends with a lot of people who have similar interests :-) also really liked that no one was pressured to present and everyone who spoke up during the workshops were willing to share.
It was a near-perfect camp combining learning and fun. The workshops were highly interesting as they dealt with creative writing in different ways, that defied how I usually would think of creative writing workshops as just non-stop forced continuous writing, and combined enrichment with entertainment.
It’s totally not what you would expect for a Literature camp, it’s not just sitting for a 3-day long lecture with no interaction but rather it’s half work, but half play too! There are so many fun games and opportunities to make friends and have fun.
2020
The lessons were very clearly structured such that I was really able to learn from them. The activities were also very fun, entertaining, and engaging, allowing us to think on the spot and use our creativity.
I liked the really fun games that really spiced up the camp and the wholesome company I had 🥰🥺I also liked the wide variety of programs that were both enriching and educational!
The games were really fun and the workshops were really interesting. There was a balance of both games and workshops which made the camp feel really fulfilling and fun at the same time.
2021
It was a great opportunity for me to learn more from local authors about their process and to get their feedback in our work. I always really like that I got to bond with my group mates through the activities!!
I loved how interactive, supportive, creative and innovative the environment was! Even with the constraints of covid, i still felt engaged and super happy!!
It was SUPER ENGAGING and VERY VERY FUN :) I also like the fact that the entire thing was planned PERFECTLY and everything was ON TIME with only minor disturbance of up to 5 min. I also like how all technical issues were always resolved very quick.
The organisers are extremely entertaining and I loved the entire concept of a housing system to create a sense of competition. Talks from guest writers were extremely helpful and I loved communicating with fellow campers. I really met some lovely people through this camp :D
2022
I liked the links between the activities (especially the workshops & the writing activities), the storyline and games, and the people (very welcoming and friendly) + I liked how we were able to explore writing on our own (the food was good as well)
The group leaders created a warm and welcoming environment for us to learn and embrace new things from the different speakers.
The instructors were adjustable, the events and games were exciting and the instructors even conducted workshops immersively. Instead of the standard lectures, they were more personal. Love this camp so much!
2023
I got to know new people and make new friends, the group leaders were very welcoming and friendly and funny. the workshops were really educational and engaging, this whole experience was a very new and interesting one and I'll really miss it :')
it was really fun and pushed me out of my comfort zone to try new things and meet new people! i learnt a lot of new writing styles and also got to play around with many different themes that i probably wouldn’t have in my personal writing
Camp Lit is a place where I can freely express myself and my emotions through my writings and literacy, it is a place where I can showcase my writings and learn how to work on them. Sing Lit is an educational centre where I can learn various techniques through the different workshops touching on different topics, SingLit is a place where not only learning but the fun takes place, where we can forge strong bonds and enjoy ourselves in the many activities, this event had not only to help me hone my literacy skills but also help me develop as a person, through this new experience.
ABOUT OUR PROGRAMME / OUR WRITERS / OUR WORKSHOPS / OUR CAMP / F.A.Q.
Book A Writer is Sing Lit Station's workshop-for-schools programme, featuring a roster of Singapore's most important writers at work today. *Are you a student interested in Camp Lit? Or are you a teacher or a parent who would like to learn more about our programme? Do send us a message via the form below.