ABOUT
Amanda Chong is a lawyer trained in Cambridge and Harvard, a winner of the Foyle Young Poets of the Year Award, and the co-founder of ReadAble, a charity that runs weekly English literacy classes for children and migrant women. She is interested in exploring themes of gender and power in both her creative and academic writing; her first collection of poetry, Professions, was published in 2016 under Math Paper Press's Ten Year Series imprint and shortlisted for the 2018 Singapore Literature Prize. She was playwright for the musical, The Feelings Farm, produced by the Esplanade in 2021. Her play #WomenSupportingWomen won first prize at the 24-hr Playwriting Competition 2021.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2016 – Professions (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2016)
ACHIEVEMENTS
2018 – Singapore Literature Prize (English Poetry) shortlist
2005 – Foyle Young Poet of the Year
TESTIMONIALS
FROM MR JENSON CHEN
SPRINGFIELD SECONDARY SCHOOL
“For a "neighbourhood" school such as ours, where many students struggle with self-worth and hope, I appreciate that Amanda shared how such poems could help them come to terms with their struggles.
As teachers we think of Literature as a subject that helps students get to goals of success, of expressing themselves well and being sensitive to meaning. But this workshop has also reminded me of the purpose of writing poetry as a means of dealing with the emotions that teenagers find difficult to manage and issues that they face.
I appreciate also Amanda's patience and gentle demeanour in coaxing answers out of students.”
WORKSHOPS
A WOMAN'S VOICE IN POETRY
For: all students; 10-25 pax
Availability: 3 hours per session; single session
Description: This workshop will look at: a brief history of women's writing (including how women were excluded from intellectual and public life, and how they reasserted their voices); a brief history of women's writing in Singapore; how women have asserted their identity through writing. The craft of a poem will be conveyed through a close reading of poems; a writing exercise with a prompt related to students' identity and experience of gender will also be provided.
Learning Outcomes: understanding the role of identity and gender in Singapore poetry; how poetry helps assert identity and experiences of gender; how to craft a poem in the context of gender and identity in Singapore.
HOW TO READ AND WRITE CONFESSIONAL POETRY
For: upper secondary, junior college; 10-30 pax
Availability: 2/3 hours per session; single session
Description: Why write confessional poetry? Amanda Chong will introduce different confessional poems and guide your students in applying practical criticism to this poetic style. Students will also get the chance to draw inspiration from their memories to pen their own poems.
Learning Outcomes: understand the roots and characteristics of confessional poetry; deepen the skill of practical criticism; engage in the practice of confessional writing
ABOUT OUR PROGRAMME / OUR WRITERS / OUR WORKSHOPS / OUR CAMP
Book A Writer is Sing Lit Station's workshop-for-schools programme, featuring a roster of Singapore's most important writers at work today. *Do you want to Book A Writer? For enquiries on Amanda Chong's availability and workshop rates in Sing Lit Station's Book A Writer programme, do fill in the form below.