George Town Literary Festival
george town literary festival gtlf annual literary festival take place city george town penang malaysia currently largest world literature festival organised malaysia first literary event southeast asia receive literary festival award london book fair international excellence award gtlf celebrates world literature translation literary art various writer artist thinker diverse location discipline coming together annually engage intellectual discourse literary festival funded state government malaysia festival generally take place every last weekend november admission festival free member public gtlf initiated former chief minister penang lim guan eng debuting lineup writer festival last edition featured writer speaker upcoming edition take place – november since festival organised penang convention exhibition bureau previously penang global tourism led production penang institute took charge festival first eight edition exception curated bernice chauly direction state government penang appointed festival director continued leading curatorial team gtlfs inaugural edition themed “history heritage stories” comprised event held across november taking place thennewly established china house eastern oriental hotel festival five headliner malaysian author muhammed haji salleh farish noor iskandar albakri shihli kow tan twan eng themed voyage hope dream second edition festival first feature international lineup comprising writer india indonesia malaysia netherlands singapore united kingdom held sekeping victoria china house studio strait festival spanned event duration extended day lineup writer moderator included samad said alfian saat david van reybrouck linda christanty nii ayikwei parkes due increased support foreign embassy government agency festival programme grew feature event sekeping victoria china house victoria street themed tie bind speaker headlined festival including ali cobby eckermann eric hansen tash aw christine otten lat edition notable curated cooler lumpur festival took place whiteaways arcade themed capital festival shifted focus writer programme aimed developing local writing publishing industry also fringe programme comprising standup comedy performance pub quiz spanned event featured speaker including eddin khoo miguel syjuco john krich sudhir thomas vadaketh susan barker festival themed areare conjunction focus dissecting human malaysian identity featured speaker including wajahat ali evan fallenberg robin hemley pablo jofré hanne ørstavik keynote delivered marina mahathir recognition displacement community across globe festival themed hiraeth festival took place wisma yeap choy ee black kettle china house brought writer together across session festival keynote delivered zainah anwar preceding lecture theme c grayling headliner included adriaan van dis nathalie handal mahesh dattani olga martynova stephen james smith festival growing presence increasing public attention led progovernment supporter defacing exhibition zunar whose work commented politically former prime minister najib razaks corruption allegation zunars eventual arrest drew international attention human right watchdog well support festival position platform free speech launch book wasabi cancelled result edition festival also notable scoring nomination literary festival award category lbf international excellence award festival featured theme monster immortal featuring larger curatorial team due addition gareth richards pauline fan cocurators festival lineup comprised writer activity among year headliner gerður kristný mei fong latiff mohidin laksmi pamuntjak gündüz vassaf edition became first literary festival southeast asia receive literary festival award lbf international excellence award following year edition themed state freedom commemorate anniversary human right milestone around globe state penangs commitment freedom expression malaysia first change government since achieving independence year prior extended run across day edition featured largest lineup writer number event festival history writer present festival event including sjón lemn sissay ivan coyote arshia sattar jeanchristophe rufin notable event edition included conversation anwar ibrahim section lgbtqia discourse well inaugural malaysia national poetry slam edition themed forewordsafterwords reference w h auden final collection essay taking place – november festival directed pauline fan sharaad kuttan marking first time two codirectors helm festival year history lineup festival include man booker international prize winner jokha alharthi well ebrd literature prize winner hamid ismailov tenth edition themed looking glass look role literature art time crisis due pandemic first edition festival shifted entirely online festival programme presented mostly online series podcasts video english bahasa malaysia featuring conversation discussion reading radio drama conversation available spotify online edition also featured young malaysian work recognised internationally include joshua kam winner epigram book fiction prize graphic novelist erica eng eisner award best webcomic kulleh grasi shortlisted national translation award poetry u gtlf’s theme mikrocosmos explored spirit cosmopolitanism interconnectedness endures literature language idea even trouble today atomize existence deepen social fragmentation second edition held digitally small amount event taking place physically weekend festival regional international headliner include indonesian novelist eka kurniawan japanese writer mina mizumura german poet jan wagner canadian writer souvankham thammavongsa new zealand novelist tina makereti kenyanus writer mukoma wa ngugi festival directed pauline fan celebrate decade gtlf passed gtlf collaborated svara journal produce special publication called muara taking name malay word estuary muara passage fluidity connection river meet open sea page muara writer engage idea imaginings interpreting shifting shoreline reality featuring essay lecture short story poetry book review translation muara gather established emerging writer malaysia region world book launched conjunction gtlf