ALSphere Foundation
The Asian Literary Society and the Journal of Asian Art, Culture and Literature (JAACL) organized Chapter 8, Asia Forum: Singapore on 22nd August 2021, 17 hours IST/19.30 hours SGT. The session was live-streamed on the Asian Literary Society Facebook page.
The event was graced by the poetic luminaries, Shilpa Dixit Thapliyal and Stephanie Chan. Manoj Krishnan, the Founder of the Asian Literary Society and Editor-in-Chief of JAACL, set the opening pace of the session extending a cordial welcome to the poets. He introduced the moderator, Alka Balain, a poet and a painter who resides in Singapore.
Shilpa and Stephanie enthralled the viewers with their work and provided insights into their poetic life.
Shilpa is a bilingual poet and a Pushcart Prize 2021 nominee. She is the author of two poetry collections, ‘Between Sips of Masala Chai’ and ‘Chimes of the Soul’. She shared how she did not let her experiences in life define her.
Some of her poems written in Hindi have been translated into Spanish. She is actively involved with the Poetry Festival Singapore and has read her poems in Malaysia, Kala Ghoda Arts Festival, Mumbai, ‘Poetry On The Move -21’, Canberra, and ‘Homeward/Antiphons Festival’, USA.
Stephanie has won national poetry slams in Singapore (2010) and UK (2012). They run a monthly spoken word event, Spoke and Bird and enlightened us with innovative ways to bring out the best in writers through collaboration across borders, thereby ensuring a unification of poetic hearts across the globe. Their first poetry collection, Roadkill for Beginners, explores placemaking, searching for utopia, and growing up queer in Singapore, Ohio, and London.
The session was concluded by Manoj who extended a warm thanks to the participants and viewers.
The chapter is another milestone for the evolving and burgeoning creative community of the Asian Literary Society promoting both performing and visual art in Southeast Asia.
The event has been archived on the YouTube channel of the Asian Literary Society and can be viewed through the following link: https://youtu.be/CSixrioheYo
