If you're looking for a place to chill and write, come hang out with us every Monday from 8pm to 10pm at LUMA, 37 Jalan Kampung Jawa Lama.
Every third Monday of the month, we hold a critique session (live + online) from 8.15pm onwards to discuss current works in progress. Email us with your piece and send us your Skype ID if you're joining us online!
What's a critique?
Every third Monday of the month, we hold a critique session (live + online) from 8.15pm onwards to discuss current works in progress. Email us with your piece and send us your Skype ID if you're joining us online!
What's a critique?
Update: Starting 12 October, we'll be resuming our full hours from 2.30pm to 10.30pm. Keep your eyes peeled for more information!
Chevening Writers Series
MYWriters Penang is proud to host the Chevening Writers Series this year!
The Chevening Writers Series is a series of six writing workshops + a writing retreat organised for emerging writers in Penang. The weekly workshops aim to equip new writers aged 16 and upwards with skills and confidence to write short stories and poetry in both standard and Malaysian English.
Participants are encouraged to participate in MYWriters Penang’s write-ins and critique sessions, and will be assigned partners for co-mentoring and accountability. The workshops will culminate in opportunities for participants to submit their work for publication in a chapbook and for potential publication NutMag’s annual submissions.
Due to space limitations and to observe physical distancing measures, we are only accepting 14 participants.
Venue:
Urban H Hotel
170G-1 Argyll Road,
10050 George Town,
Pulau Pinang
Workshop structure:
9:30 am: Registration / Check-in
10 am: Workshop session
12 pm: Lunch
1:30pm: Writing & mentoring sessions (guided/individual)
4:15pm: Debrief
4:30pm: Dismiss
Course Outline:
Writer's Retreat:
The Chevening Writers Series is a series of six writing workshops + a writing retreat organised for emerging writers in Penang. The weekly workshops aim to equip new writers aged 16 and upwards with skills and confidence to write short stories and poetry in both standard and Malaysian English.
Participants are encouraged to participate in MYWriters Penang’s write-ins and critique sessions, and will be assigned partners for co-mentoring and accountability. The workshops will culminate in opportunities for participants to submit their work for publication in a chapbook and for potential publication NutMag’s annual submissions.
Due to space limitations and to observe physical distancing measures, we are only accepting 14 participants.
Venue:
Urban H Hotel
170G-1 Argyll Road,
10050 George Town,
Pulau Pinang
Workshop structure:
9:30 am: Registration / Check-in
10 am: Workshop session
12 pm: Lunch
1:30pm: Writing & mentoring sessions (guided/individual)
4:15pm: Debrief
4:30pm: Dismiss
Course Outline:
- 17 October - Getting Started: This introductory workshop looks at the basics of writing fiction, including other essentials such as time management and setting individual writing goals for the programme.
- 24 October - The Authentic Malaysian Voice: This workshop explores code-mixing and writing in Malaysian English, including using language that encodes Malaysian culture and borrows or translates local dialects/languages in Penang-specific contexts.
- 31 October - Writing Your Ancestry: This third workshop looks at using one’s culture and heritage as part of creative writing.
- 7 November - Structure and Time: This workshop looks at various short story structures and how to use time as a plot device, including flashbacks.
- 21 November - (Select one) Developing Your Poetic Voice (Poetry track): This workshop looks at developing your poetic voice in the Malaysian context, so that you sound more like yourself and less like an imitation of Shakespeare. Explore the ways to tell stories only you can tell.
- 21 November - (Select one) What Makes a Short Story Good? (Fiction track): What do publishers look for in short stories? This session discusses plotting techniques and what makes an ending fulfilling. Participants should have draft work available for workshopping.
- 28 November - Editing Your Own Work: In this final session, participants will be taken through a checklist of items to review in their work, including voice and word choices, grammar, spelling, and punctuation, and story development.
Writer's Retreat:
- A weekend away to work on, edit, and workshop the various works produced over the 3 months, including polishing the work for submission. Participants can check-in from 3pm on Friday. Sessions will begin after dinner.
- Due to the current COVID-19 situation, we are aware that some participants may prefer to limit their interaction with others. Participants may choose to stay full time at the retreat or attend as a day-participant.
All workshop and retreat fees are fully sponsored by Chevening!
REGISTER BY 4 OCTOBER 2020
Questions? Email us at nutmag.zine@gmail.com
REGISTER BY 4 OCTOBER 2020
Questions? Email us at nutmag.zine@gmail.com
Instructors
Anna Tan grew up in Malaysia, the country that is not Singapore. She is the author of two fantasy books, Coexist and Dongeng, and has short stories included in various local and international anthologies. Anna is the current treasurer of the Malaysian Writers Society (MYWriters) and oversees the group in her hometown of Penang. She is also the editor of NutMag, an annual zine published for and by MYWriters Penang.
In 2019, Anna completed an MA in Creative Writing: The Novel at Brunel University London. She is interested in Malay/Nusantara and Chinese legends and folklore in exploring the intersection of language, culture, and faith. She can be found tweeting as @natzers and forgetting to update annatsp.com.
In 2019, Anna completed an MA in Creative Writing: The Novel at Brunel University London. She is interested in Malay/Nusantara and Chinese legends and folklore in exploring the intersection of language, culture, and faith. She can be found tweeting as @natzers and forgetting to update annatsp.com.
During the day, Hamizah works in the Communications field, but once she gets home, she puts on her writer hat and works on her Work-In-Progress, a novel which infuses Malaysian folktales with contemporary issues faced by women. In 2017, she completed her MA in Creative Writing at Brunel University London under the Chevening Scholarship. Besides occasionally teaching at workshops, she has also taught Creative Writing to undergraduates at International Islamic University Malaysia. She is interested in encouraging aspiring writers to kickstart their projects, and helping those working full-time figure out how to juggle their writing and career at the same time. Hamizah enjoys talking about her writing processes and yelling about books at @omgthisbook on Twitter.
As a designer, storyteller, curator and social change advocate, Kevin is interested in using creativity to address environmental, cultural, and social justice issues, and believes that the arts are an untapped avenue for catalysing change. In 2013, he co-founded an art for social change initiative called Carnival of the Bold, that seeks to champion the arts for social change in Australia. It is a movement of social change to create deeper engagement around social, cultural, and humanitarian causes. The initiative showcases artists and creatives who use their art to enrich our cultural identity, explore shared values, spark imagination and empower communities.
In 2019, Kevin completed his MA in Cultural Studies in Goldsmiths, London pursuing his creative and academic areas of interest encompassing the social, political and cultural landscape of Malaysia and South East Asia. With an Indian/Chinese ancestry, Kevin has been researching the history, connections and cross-cultural stories between the Chinese and Indian culture for his project, The Chindian Diaries.
In 2019, Kevin completed his MA in Cultural Studies in Goldsmiths, London pursuing his creative and academic areas of interest encompassing the social, political and cultural landscape of Malaysia and South East Asia. With an Indian/Chinese ancestry, Kevin has been researching the history, connections and cross-cultural stories between the Chinese and Indian culture for his project, The Chindian Diaries.
Enbah Nilah is a teacher-and-poet-in-progress who won the CEX Poetry Slam in Singapore (2016). She has performed in numerous poetry shows such as Iskarnival, the Cooler Lumpur Festival, Slamokrasi, If Walls Could Talk, and university literary symposiums. Her works are published in Persephone's Daughters literary magazine (NZ), the Dirty Thirty Anthology (AUS), and When I Say Spoken, You Say Word (MY).
In 2019, Enbah graduated with an MA in Comparative Literature (Africa/Asia) from SOAS, University of London. She is particularly interested in exploring metaphors and imageries that are remarkably confessional, socially mindful, and culturally flavourful. (And yes, she doesn't shy away from adverbs, much to the chagrin of Stephen King.)
In 2019, Enbah graduated with an MA in Comparative Literature (Africa/Asia) from SOAS, University of London. She is particularly interested in exploring metaphors and imageries that are remarkably confessional, socially mindful, and culturally flavourful. (And yes, she doesn't shy away from adverbs, much to the chagrin of Stephen King.)
The Chevening Writers Series is sponsored by:
PasarBuku 2020 has been postponed to December 2020. Check back later for updates!
