The Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) is one of Asia’s premier literary events that started in 1986 as a biennial festival, before going annual in 2011. From 2021, the Festival is commissioned by the National Arts Council (NAC) and organised by Arts
House Limited. SWF remains a much anticipated event on the cultural calendar, presenting the world’s major literary talents to Singaporeans while shining a spotlight on home grown and Southeast Asian creative talents. Over the years, the Festival
has become an exciting meeting point for writers, academics and thinkers in a choice spread of panel discussions, workshops, lectures and performances. It has hosted international literati such as two-time Booker Prize winner Margaret Atwood, Whitbread
First Novel Award winner Zadie Smith, British poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Nebula winner Neil Gaiman. Since 2007, the Festival has also celebrated the legacy of Singapore’s pioneer writers through the Literary Pioneer series.
The Singapore Writers Festival is one of the few multilingual literary festivals in the world, celebrating the written and spoken word in Singapore’s official languages – English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil.
Find out more about
SWF and the past editions here.