About the event
On 14th June 2020, the Straits Times released a survey that charts “artists” as the No. 1 “non-essential” job, suggesting that up to 8 in 10 Singaporeans are unwilling to pay more for arts services. Following this survey, one may indeed ask: are the arts really non-essential? How should we view the arts in relation to other services, such as healthcare, postal service, etc? How do we conceptualise the role of the art in the 21st century?
This panel seeks to answer these questions by turning to the arts industry itself – both the bookstore owners as well as writers, to explore the theme of “locating art in Singapore in the 21st CC”.
Watch the stream
Meet the panelists
Kah Gay
Working with a dynamic crew at Ethos Books and Pagesetters Services, KG focuses on making books and supporting an environment for literature, the arts and culture. Top of his wish list: to build the foundation for a regional network of publishers, for the circulation of fiction, non-fiction and poetry. Also, to find friends who would want to work on publishing projects to spread environmental consciousness
photo credit: Ethan Leong
Esther Vincent Xueming
Esther Vincent Xueming is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Tiger Moth Review, an independent, eco journal of art and literature-based in Singapore. An educator by profession, she is also co-editor of two poetry anthologies, Poetry Moves (Ethos Books, 2020) and Little Things (Ethos Books), and reads for Frontier Poetry (US). She is a finalist for the Gaudy Boy Poetry Book Prize 2020 (New York) and Singapore National Poetry Competition (English Language, 2020 & 2019), and her poems have been published in Singapore and internationally. At present, she is pursuing her MA in Creative Writing
Jennifer Anne Champion
Jennifer is the author of two collections of poetry, A History of Clocks (Redwheelbarrow Books, 2015) and Caterwaul (Math Paper Press, 2016). She is a co-founder of poetry.sg and co-organiser of dink (formerly Destination: Ink) – Singapore’s longest-running open-mic for all things literary. She teaches poetry and creative writing to young adults and has been doing so for 7 years.