Hi there! You found us. We were a little worried there for a moment. You see, we’re just a small island nestling at the base of the Malaysian peninsula. Actually, we’re just about four times bigger in area than Washington D.C. or three times smaller than Greater London.
What we lose in size, we more than make up for in spirit and creativity. The literary arts are still somewhat in their infancy here, at least in English but we’re growing rapidly. Everywhere we turn, it seems as though another writer’s group has formed. The desire to write is strong here, even if we are still discovering our “voice”. That voice is always going to be difficult to pin down.
Three quarters of the population are Chinese. 14% are Malay and 8% Indian. The rest are a smattering from every nation on earth. 23% speak English (CIA World Factbook) although it would appear that the percentage of people who understand its spoken form to a reasonable degree is higher. Add to that a continuous flow of English-speaking expatriates into and out of the country and we can see that the potential for great writing is phenomenal.
In offering this blog, we hope to publicise some of the writing groups that exist around the island. We also want to inform writers of competitions and resources that are available in both the analogue and digital worlds. Finally, we hope to encourage other people to take up the pen (or keyboard) and write.
The voice of Singapore is a very special one and deserves to be heard.
