This year’s Singapore Writers Festival will feature big-name authors and experts to parse the significance of world events such as the ongoing refugee crises, the polarising American presidential elections and incriminating data leaks.

Among the blockbuster names heading to Singapore for the 10-day festival, which runs in the Civic District in November, are award-winning writers such as American author Lionel Shriver, whose latest dystopian novel, The Mandibles, paints a dire picture of a collapsed American economy, German investigative journalist Frederik Obermaier, who helped coordinate the Panama Papers expose, and Gosho Aoyama, the Japanese creator of the popular manga series Detective Conan.

The 19th edition of the festival continues its multi-disciplinary approach under festival director Yeow Kai Chai. It will feature close to 330 speakers and performers, including novelists, poets, dancers, musicians, theatre practitioners, film-makers, journalists, critics and academics.

… One key event this year is a lecture by political scientist and historian Farish Noor, an associate professor at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Nanyang Technological University.

He will explore the etymology of the Malay word sayang, which connotes both love and loss, and its layered meanings in South-east Asia. Sayang is also the festival theme this year.