Poet Yong Shu Hoong on his new role as Singapore Writers Festival’s director

Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) returns for its 27th edition this year, from 8th to 17th November 2024. Centering around the theme “In Our Nature,” festivalgoers can look forward to over 200 thought-provoking programmes that engage with topical themes and concerns while reflecting over their relationship with the natural environment.

One of the new changes the public can expect is the appointment of a new Festival Director, Yong Shu Hoong. A celebrated poet and writer, he was recently announced as the winner in the English Poetry category for his poetry collection, Anatomy of A Wave, at the Singapore Literature Prize 2024, marking his third Singapore Literature Prize. Published by Dakota Books, Anatomy of A Wave is Shu Hoong’s seventh poetry collection. 

With new responsibilities come increased expectations, requiring strong leadership to guide the team towards success. Her World Singapore collects Shu Hoong’s thoughts about his hopes and goals for Singapore Writers Festival and what are his favourite things to do in nature.

Congrats on your first appointment as a Festival Director. Could you share a little bit about yourself? And how did you come upon this appointment and what does the job entail?

Thank you, and I look forward to launching the first edition of SWF under my watch in November! 

Some might find it interesting that a career in writing had not always been on the cards for me. With a background in computer science, I started as a programmer way back in 1990. While I also started freelance writing for BigO and Teenage Magazine in 1990, I ventured into poetry only later when I joined a writers’ group while pursuing a Master’s in Business Administration at Texas A&M University in College Station, America. 

While my time in Texas from 1992 to 1993 was one marked by unfamiliarity, it also introduced me to a whole new world and gave me lots to think about, and I found an unexpected outlet in writing poetry. Returning home with a collection of poems I had written while I was away, I submitted them for the Singapore Literature Prize in 1995. While I did not win the prize then, I added new poems to my shortlisted manuscript and my first collection Isaac was published in December 1997. And the rest, as they say, is history.

With that in mind, I bring a perhaps unorthodox perspective to SWF. I am deeply grateful that the selection committee believed in my experience and proposal for the 2024-2026 editions of the Festival, which I submitted through a closed call. As Festival Director, my time is spent spearheading the direction of the Festival, making sure that SWF remains grounded in its identity and focus on SingLit and regional writing while adopting a global perspective that is in tune with pertinent issues today through finding innovative ways to continue pushing boundaries of what a literary festival can present and reaching out to new and diverse audiences. 

How would your strengths come into play?

My strengths stem from my unique background in Science and my chance falling in love with literature, which I intend to tap on during my tenure. Drawing from my experience, I am most interested in challenging notions of what might be considered literary and creative and what might be seen as less so. Having been an active member of the Singapore literary community for many years, I also aim to tap on my familiarity and friendships with the people who have contributed significantly to our scene, collaborating especially with those who write and work across other language communities to bring greater awareness to the richness and diversity of SingLit. 

With this in mind, I hope to continue expanding the Festival’s programming to include even more innovative and interdisciplinary offerings that invite Festivalgoers to broaden their horizons in ways they least expect. Specific to this year’s edition of SWF and its theme, “In Our Nature”, I am particularly excited about programmes that connect creative writing with fields like climate studies, technology, finance and medical science, as well as multilingual programmes that bring writers from different cultures and backgrounds together through literature. Through this, we create more avenues for people beyond our literary community to relate to the Festival and demonstrate the power of the written and spoken word in telling today’s important, urgent and compelling stories. 

What does the theme “In our Nature” mean to you in your words? Are you for one, loving nature? What are some of your favourite things to do in nature?

It was during the worst days of the pandemic that I rediscovered the joys of being in nature. Forced to find new ways to exercise and regain a sense of freedom when travel and public gatherings were restricted, I regularly walked along Singapore’s park connectors, nature reserves and public gardens, immersing myself in the lush greenery and rich biodiversity around me. It is a pastime I still maintain now, to ensure I continue to keep fit in my push towards the goal of walking 10,000 steps daily, as well as finding time out of my hectic routines to commune with nature. 

With global climate change much too real a problem for us to ignore, the theme is a timely reminder of our inherited natural world and the importance of protecting it for future generations. It is a call for us to get back to basics, pause, and contemplate what’s truly in our nature — as humans, as writers and readers, as global citizens — navigating our world. 

Beyond addressing environmental and sustainability concerns, our programmes will also explore the good and bad sides of human nature, as well as intriguing variations on the theme. For example, we can also venture into the supernatural realm, with some programmes highlighting Southeast Asian writing in the horror genre. 

What are your hopes and goals to grow SWF in the coming years?

With the strong foundation laid by my predecessors, I hope to honour their incredible work in shaping SWF into what it is today and keep it running to the high standards that they have set. That being said, I also believe in the importance of remaining curious and open-minded. I want to continue exploring and reinventing what SWF can mean to audiences and thinking about how it can evolve further. 

By working closely with my incredible Festival team, valued partners and the supportive literary community in Singapore, I aspire to develop editions of SWF that resonate with both long-time fans and new audiences. I want to address timely issues in a way that strikes a balance between popular appeal and intellectual depth. 

My vision for SWF is to see it grow into a premier event with solid brand recognition not just locally, but beyond our shores and within regional and international literary circles. Through the Festival and our thoughtfully curated programmes, I also want to create a supportive environment for critical thinking, healthy discourse and meaningful exchanges of diverse perspectives. Lastly, while we continue to strengthen our outreach to local audiences, I want SWF to become a top destination for literary enthusiasts in the region who want to travel to Singapore just to attend the Festival. 

Do you think there are enough women author representation in the Singapore Writers Festival over the years? 

SWF has always sought to provide a space for multiple perspectives and ideas to be heard, including diverse viewpoints and responses of our featured presenters speaking on a range of topics that address issues and concerns prevalent today. This includes the many women authors we have spotlighted over the years, from international literary luminaries such as two-time Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood; Whitbread First Novel Award winner Zadie Smith; British Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy; Lambda Literary Award winner Roxane Gay; powerhouse academic, legendary scholar, literary theorist and feminist critic Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak; to our homegrown Literary Pioneer for SWF 2024, 1996 Cultural Medallion recipient and esteemed poet, Dan Ying – and many more. Among our international headliners for SWF 2024, we are also looking forward to welcome award-winning or bestselling female authors like two-times Giller Prize winner, Esi Edugyan (Canada), and the New York Times bestselling author of Eve: How the Female Body Drove 200 Million Years of Human Evolution, Cat Bohannon (US). 

As a poet yourself, do you think there is enough spotlight on the artistry of poetry?

Poetry has always been an acquired taste, no matter where you are in the world. It is often seen as being less immediately accessible than fiction. But in the Singapore literary scene, poetry has been shared via public readings, and also sometimes showcased in public spaces, like on the MRT. Singapore poetry is easily available in Kinokuniya and independent bookstores, and also studied in schools. Of course, more spotlight is always welcome, and with the popularity of performance poetry, there are more young poets emerging onto the stage at competitions and open-mic events to share their words, and that is a welcomed trend.  

Could you share with us some of the programming that sheds the spotlight on climate change?

Certainly! Some of the programmes on climate change I am personally looking forward to include:

Eco-Poetry: Mapping Out Our Relationship with Nature – This programme is one of our highlights, and brings together local and international poets to reflect on our harmony and disharmony with nature through their writing. It provides a profound exploration of how poetry can respond to the climate emergency and our interactions with the natural world.

Planet in Focus: Strategies for Environmental Sustainability – This programme features a conversation between academics who will offer new perspectives and practical solutions for addressing environmental challenges. It aims to inspire actionable steps that individuals and communities can take to make a positive impact on the climate.

Eco-writing in the Chinese Literary Scene – A panel discussion conducted in Mandarin exploring how Singapore’s Chinese literary community has shown a growing interest in environmental and ecological themes, and speakers will discuss how their own writing reflects the evolving dialogues surrounding societal, human and environmental changes. 

Nature and Tamil Literature: A Youth Symposium with Theodore Baskaran – A symposium conducted in Tamil, featuring acclaimed conversationalist Theodore Baskaran on why nature discourses in Tamil are crucial for environmental advocacy. The programme will also showcase youths who will shed light on the place of nature in classical, local, diasporic and film writing in the Tamil language. 

Plastics: What Happens Next? – A programme, as part of our SWF Playground Festival Track for children, educating them about how plastic is harmful for the environment through storytelling and craft. 

Are there any standout books we should read that touch on nature?

My personal favourite is The Tree in Changing Light by Roger McDonald, which I picked up many years ago during a trip to Australia. It contains poetic meditative essays about trees and their influences on the works of poets and artists, as well as the lives of ordinary people. For SingLit, I would also recommend womb song (Ethos Books, 2024), a new collection by Singapore poet Esther Vincent Xueming that revolves around the relationship between humans and non-humans – in particular, her dog Ealga whose death she grieves and has learned to come to terms with.

Early bird tickets are available now till 11.59 pm on 14 October 2024. Festival Passes and tickets to selected single ticketed programmes can be purchased at https://www.singaporewritersfestival.com.