SINGAPORE — This year’s Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) will feature a slate of programmes aimed at young people aged between 13 and 18. Highlights include discussions on memes, text-speak, poetry in Korean drama and narrative writing in video games.

Overseen by a panel of young curators selected from a handful of schools, the events are part of the new SWF Youth Fringe feature, which was unveiled by festival director Pooja Nansi at a media preview on Tuesday (Sept 3).

Headlining the SWF Youth Fringe is the New York Times bestselling author Nicola Yoon, whose young adult novels — The Sun Is Also A Star, and Everything, Everything — have been adapted to the silver screen.

Those attending may also look forward to panel discussions on writing about mental health and trauma, and the importance of diverse representation in young adult fiction. Other talks include The Art of Zine-Making, and First Dates and So Many Feelings.

Speaking to TODAY on Tuesday, Ms Nansi said that the introduction of the Youth Fringe was done with the aim of making the literary arts more accessible to younger readers.

“It was important to me that the festival is a space that everyone can go to. There is often a narrow notion of what reading entails, and I think it is important to broaden this perspective,” she said.

Ms Nansi, who was formerly an educator for 10 years, believes in the importance of “inculcating a love for reading or writing early”. In her experience, students who encounter literature when they are 13 or 14 are more likely to continue engaging with the literary arts as they grow older.

She added that by allowing the young curators to run this segment of the festival, she hopes that they are able to take ownership of the way their generation interacts with language and text.

“This generation is interacting with text much more than my generation. They are constantly on their phones reading texts. We don’t give them enough credit and (that is why) they should have a voice in the festival,” she said.

To accompany the Youth Fringe, the festival has also launched a youth pass for attendees aged 18 and below at a subsidised rate of S$15, giving access to more than 100 festival events but excluding events where there is an advisory attached.

'A LANGUAGE OF OUR OWN'

Aside from the Youth Fringe, the festival will also host a variety of workshops, dialogues and discussion panels under this year’s theme, “A Language of Our Own”.

Attendees can expect to see many world-renowned headliners such as the New York Times bestselling author Roxane Gay, winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize Marlon James and travel writer Pico Iyer.

The festival will also pay homage to one of Singapore’s pioneer authors, Rex Shelley, in a multimedia exhibition at The Arts House. Shelley, who died in 2009, wrote novels on the Eurasian community in Singapore and Japanese culture, among other themes.

The Singapore Writers Festival 2019 will be held from Nov 1 to 10 in the Civic District. Tickets will go on sale on Sept 30.