Poetry Festival Singapore (PFS) and the Singapore Literature Conference (SLC) are commemorating Singapore's 60th anniversary of independence with the theme "Verse Nation."
At PFS and SLC 2025, we aim to showcase the enduring power of poetry and literature in Singapore's national languages -- that is , English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil; highlight the incredible diversity of poetic voices and styles in Singapore/Southeast Asia/Asia; foster a deeper sense of community through shared poetic experiences; and explore the intricate links between literature, culture, and nationhood. Starting from forging ideas of nationhood to embracing elements of a global culture, Singapore, Southeast Asian and Asian literatures have responded to changing times and connected to the social conditions of Singapore, Southeast Asia and Asia.
Scholarship on Singapore and Asian literatures has become more interdisciplinary as it encompasses themes such as alienation in urban spaces, artificial intelligence and other technologies shaping our consciousness, the impact of New Media and cutting the world's carbon footprint in the Anthropocene age. The conference will examine how literary studies in the contemporary period may contribute to and link Singapore and Asia with global literary critical strategies.
Abstracts for papers related to this broad theme and connected but not limited to one or more of the following sub-themes in Singapore or Asian Literatures are invited for presentation in the conference: the Nation State, Migration, Ecology and the Environment, Artificial Intelligence and Technologies, Island Aesthetics and Other Literary Theories, Youths and the Future, Community Building, Diversity and Plurality
Abstracts for the conference within 300 words and a short bionote are to be mailed to [email protected] .
Accepted presenters will have to arrange their own flights and accommodations. The conference will happen in blended mode (online and offline).
Categories
trends in poetry, fiction, non-fiction, drama, graphic novels in Singapore, Southeast Asian or Asian literature; ethnicity and national identity; interdisciplinary; postcolonial; youths and the future; community building; island aesthetics; literary history