Deadline: 12 March 2011
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Location: Malay Heritage Centre
WRITING WORKSHOPS BY ALFIAN SA’AT
Alfian Sa’at’s forthcoming book, Malay Sketches, is a collection of 35-40 flash fictions, each presenting and articulating a different aspect of “Malayness” in contemporary Singapore. After six months of research, incubation and experimentation with the short fiction form, Alfian will share his findings and methods with would be participants.
Malay Sketches is supported by the National Arts Council’s Arts Creation Fund.
Workshops will be conducted in English with some Malay.
(A) Fiction Writing for Beginners
Recommended for ages 14 – 18 years
This workshop will introduce participants to the fundamentals of narrative, especially pertaining to the short fiction form. The focus will be on producing flash fiction, or stories not exceeding 800 words, such that participants will be able to produce a piece by the end of the workshop. The author himself will share the output from a works-in-progress called ‘Malay Sketches’, which attempt to capture vignettes of daily life and moral dilemmas facing the Malay community in Singapore. The craft of storytelling as taught in the workshop will emphasise economy of expression as well as identifying the essential elements in a story.
Date : 12 March (Saturday)
Time : 10am – 1pm
Workshop fee : $20 per participant
Registration : First-come-first-served basis. A registration fee is applicable, please enquire upon registration. To register, please email syed_ismaaeel@nhb.gov.sg or call 63910465.
Limited to 15 places only to facilitate author-participant interaction.
(B) Writing Fiction from Reportage (Intermediate Level)
Recommended for ages 17 – 25 years
This workshop is pitched at those who have already written some creative prose. Drawing from journalistic material, the author will guide participants through exercises where stories can be shaped from news articles. Participants will be encouraged to create characters based on those found in ‘human interest’ stories. By exploring the psychological interiority of these characters, participants will then write a piece of flash fiction (not exceeding 800 words), based on either one of these premises: an extraordinary character reacting to an ordinary situation, or conversely, an ordinary character planted in an extraordinary situation. Through this exercise, participants will be sensitized to the relationship between plot and character.
Date : 19 March (Saturday)
Time : 10am – 1pm
Workshop fee : $20 per participant
Registration: First-come-first-served basis. A registration fee is applicable, please enquire upon registration. To register, please email syed_ismaaeel@nhb.gov.sg or call 63910465.
Limited to 15 places only to facilitate author-participant interaction.
Writer’s Biography
ALFIAN SA’AT is a Resident Playwright with W!LD RICE, one of Singapore’s most recognized theatre companies. He also works with Teater Ekamatra, a Malay-language theatre company. His published works include two collections of poetry, One Fierce Hour and A History of Amnesia, a collection of short stories, Corridor, and two collections of plays. Alfian’s short stories have been anthologized in The Merlion and the Hibiscus, Silverfish New Writing, Another Kind Of Paradise: Short Stories from the New Asia-Pacific, as well as Telltale: 11 Stories, a prescribed Ministry of Education text for use in schools. Alfian has been nominated six times for Best Script at the Life! Theatre Awards, eventually winning in 2005 for his play, Landmarks, and later in 2010 for his play, Nadirah. He has also been nominated for the Kirayama Asia-Pacific Book Prize and the Singapore Literature Prize for A History of Amnesia. In 2001, Alfian won the Golden Point Award for Poetry as well as the National Arts Council Young Artist Award for Literature. His plays have been translated into German and Swedish and have been performed in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Zurich, Hamburg, Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen.
More information here.
Time: 10:00am - 1:00pm
Location: Malay Heritage Centre
WRITING WORKSHOPS BY ALFIAN SA’AT
Alfian Sa’at’s forthcoming book, Malay Sketches, is a collection of 35-40 flash fictions, each presenting and articulating a different aspect of “Malayness” in contemporary Singapore. After six months of research, incubation and experimentation with the short fiction form, Alfian will share his findings and methods with would be participants.
Malay Sketches is supported by the National Arts Council’s Arts Creation Fund.
Workshops will be conducted in English with some Malay.
(A) Fiction Writing for Beginners
Recommended for ages 14 – 18 years
This workshop will introduce participants to the fundamentals of narrative, especially pertaining to the short fiction form. The focus will be on producing flash fiction, or stories not exceeding 800 words, such that participants will be able to produce a piece by the end of the workshop. The author himself will share the output from a works-in-progress called ‘Malay Sketches’, which attempt to capture vignettes of daily life and moral dilemmas facing the Malay community in Singapore. The craft of storytelling as taught in the workshop will emphasise economy of expression as well as identifying the essential elements in a story.
Date : 12 March (Saturday)
Time : 10am – 1pm
Workshop fee : $20 per participant
Registration : First-come-first-served basis. A registration fee is applicable, please enquire upon registration. To register, please email syed_ismaaeel@nhb.gov.sg or call 63910465.
Limited to 15 places only to facilitate author-participant interaction.
(B) Writing Fiction from Reportage (Intermediate Level)
Recommended for ages 17 – 25 years
This workshop is pitched at those who have already written some creative prose. Drawing from journalistic material, the author will guide participants through exercises where stories can be shaped from news articles. Participants will be encouraged to create characters based on those found in ‘human interest’ stories. By exploring the psychological interiority of these characters, participants will then write a piece of flash fiction (not exceeding 800 words), based on either one of these premises: an extraordinary character reacting to an ordinary situation, or conversely, an ordinary character planted in an extraordinary situation. Through this exercise, participants will be sensitized to the relationship between plot and character.
Date : 19 March (Saturday)
Time : 10am – 1pm
Workshop fee : $20 per participant
Registration: First-come-first-served basis. A registration fee is applicable, please enquire upon registration. To register, please email syed_ismaaeel@nhb.gov.sg or call 63910465.
Limited to 15 places only to facilitate author-participant interaction.
Writer’s Biography
ALFIAN SA’AT is a Resident Playwright with W!LD RICE, one of Singapore’s most recognized theatre companies. He also works with Teater Ekamatra, a Malay-language theatre company. His published works include two collections of poetry, One Fierce Hour and A History of Amnesia, a collection of short stories, Corridor, and two collections of plays. Alfian’s short stories have been anthologized in The Merlion and the Hibiscus, Silverfish New Writing, Another Kind Of Paradise: Short Stories from the New Asia-Pacific, as well as Telltale: 11 Stories, a prescribed Ministry of Education text for use in schools. Alfian has been nominated six times for Best Script at the Life! Theatre Awards, eventually winning in 2005 for his play, Landmarks, and later in 2010 for his play, Nadirah. He has also been nominated for the Kirayama Asia-Pacific Book Prize and the Singapore Literature Prize for A History of Amnesia. In 2001, Alfian won the Golden Point Award for Poetry as well as the National Arts Council Young Artist Award for Literature. His plays have been translated into German and Swedish and have been performed in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Zurich, Hamburg, Berlin, Stockholm and Copenhagen.
More information here.
