Words in Transit: George Town Literary Festival 2019
about 54 months ago (11/15/2019)
Words in Transit: George Town Literary Festival 2019 | ArtsEquator Thinking and Talking about Arts and Culture in Southeast Asia Articles Leah Diprose; Supplied November 15, 2019 By Akanksha Raja (1,715 words, 7-minute read) The George Town Literary Festival returns for its ninth year next weekend (21 – 24 November) with the theme of forewords/afterwords , a decidedly future-oriented focus pertaining to notions of transitions and new beginnings. Some of the festival highlights include a conversation with 2019 Man Booker International Prize winner Jokha Alharthi , a lecture by American essayist Eliot Weinberger , panels featuring veteran Indonesian poet Goenawan Mohamad , as well as sessions that shine the spotlight on younger, emerging names such as Malaysian YA novelist Hanna Alkaf and Singapore’s Internet-famous siblings, social media star Preetipls and musician Subhas . ArtsEquator got in touch with two of the 80 renowned figures who will head to Penang’s capital for the festival next week – Syrian poet Mwaffaq Al-Hajjar and Indonesian writer and translator Tiffany Tsao – to chat about their work, what Southeast Asia means to them, and what they’re most looking forward to at George Town.