Our 2024 Penang Writers Workshop is a series of six writing workshops + a writing retreat organised for emerging writers in Penang and the Northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. The weekly workshops aim to equip writers with the skills and confidence to write creatively in both standard and Malaysian English—and share their work with the public.
The workshops will culminate in a public reading session of selected work produced (one per participant). The selected pieces will also be published in a commemorative zine. Participants from or based in Penang are invited to submit to our annual NutMag zine.
The workshops will culminate in a public reading session of selected work produced (one per participant). The selected pieces will also be published in a commemorative zine. Participants from or based in Penang are invited to submit to our annual NutMag zine.
Quick Details
Workshops: 20 April to 25 May 2024 (Saturdays) from 1 to 5pm
Retreat: 1 to 3 June 2024 (Saturday to Monday*)
Showcase: 6 July 2024
Venue: George Town, Penang
Fees: Full course: RM800 inclusive of retreat (50% off for Society members)
Individual workshops: RM100 per workshop (50% off for Society members)
*YDPA’s birthday (public Holiday)
What to expect
The Penang Writers Workshops aims to bring you from the start of a new writing project all the way to finishing it, and getting it published. Each week's workshop starts with a 2-hour lesson, followed by a 2-hour peer critique session of work from the previous week.
Participants for the course are carefully curated to ensure that their works are of a suitable level and they are able work together as a cohort. You'll also be expected to showcase the best of your work at Readings@Tanjong on 6 July.
You can also register for individual workshop sessions. These only include the 2-hour lesson and do not include participation in the critique sessions. Attendance at individual workshops do not qualify you to attend the retreat.
Retreat: 1 to 3 June 2024 (Saturday to Monday*)
Showcase: 6 July 2024
Venue: George Town, Penang
Fees: Full course: RM800 inclusive of retreat (50% off for Society members)
Individual workshops: RM100 per workshop (50% off for Society members)
*YDPA’s birthday (public Holiday)
What to expect
The Penang Writers Workshops aims to bring you from the start of a new writing project all the way to finishing it, and getting it published. Each week's workshop starts with a 2-hour lesson, followed by a 2-hour peer critique session of work from the previous week.
Participants for the course are carefully curated to ensure that their works are of a suitable level and they are able work together as a cohort. You'll also be expected to showcase the best of your work at Readings@Tanjong on 6 July.
You can also register for individual workshop sessions. These only include the 2-hour lesson and do not include participation in the critique sessions. Attendance at individual workshops do not qualify you to attend the retreat.
2024 Course Outline:
20 April: Writing Craft 1: Who's telling the story?
First person? Second person? Third person? Who's actually telling this story? In this session, we'll look at voice and point of view and how that makes a difference in the way a story is told.
27 April: Jelajah Harmoni: What’s there to write about Penang?
Delve into multifaceted interpretations of ‘harmony’ with Harmonico! Jelajah Harmoni is an experiential journey through the Street of Harmony in Seberang Jaya.
4 May: Writing Craft 2: Writing believable settings
Have you ever been transported to a different world when reading a story? We’ll discuss how a strong setting makes a story believable and authentic, and how the specificities of a place can open up wider, more universal themes. Participants can expect to partake in short writing exercises to learn how to set the mood, tone and atmosphere of their story simply by using their words.
11 May: Writing Craft 3: Working with time and tenses
Does it make a difference if you're writing past tense? Or in the present tense? Is there a future tense we can write in? And what do you do if you have a piece of flashback that's really crucial and needs to ... fit in somewhere? Time doesn't always flow one way in a story. In this session, we look at that pesky thing called "tenses" and why it's important.
18 May: Writing Craft 4: Structuring your stories
For every story idea, there are a thousand ways to tell the story—but this freedom can be paralysing. How do we decide the shape of our narrative? Where do we begin, when should we end, and how do we keep people reading in between? In this session, we’ll learn to apply our own reader’s intuition to think about structure. We’ll consider aspects like plot, pacing, and payoff, and see how they work across a story arc, a metaphor, or even a single line.
25 May: Performing your work
You've written the thing, but how do you actually read the thing aloud? Without people falling asleep? By this time you should have between 1 to 4 completed pieces, so we'll pick one and go through it carefully to discover how to best read it to your family, friends, and the general public.
1–3 June: Writer's Retreat
This year's retreat focuses on editing and critiquing the work selected for the showcase. It will include a practical hands-on workshop on how to self-edit your work.
6 July: Readings@Tanjong showcase
It's time to show off what you've accomplished! Participants who have completed the entire workshop series will present their work to family, friends, and the public! One selected work per participant will be printed in a zine.
First person? Second person? Third person? Who's actually telling this story? In this session, we'll look at voice and point of view and how that makes a difference in the way a story is told.
27 April: Jelajah Harmoni: What’s there to write about Penang?
Delve into multifaceted interpretations of ‘harmony’ with Harmonico! Jelajah Harmoni is an experiential journey through the Street of Harmony in Seberang Jaya.
4 May: Writing Craft 2: Writing believable settings
Have you ever been transported to a different world when reading a story? We’ll discuss how a strong setting makes a story believable and authentic, and how the specificities of a place can open up wider, more universal themes. Participants can expect to partake in short writing exercises to learn how to set the mood, tone and atmosphere of their story simply by using their words.
11 May: Writing Craft 3: Working with time and tenses
Does it make a difference if you're writing past tense? Or in the present tense? Is there a future tense we can write in? And what do you do if you have a piece of flashback that's really crucial and needs to ... fit in somewhere? Time doesn't always flow one way in a story. In this session, we look at that pesky thing called "tenses" and why it's important.
18 May: Writing Craft 4: Structuring your stories
For every story idea, there are a thousand ways to tell the story—but this freedom can be paralysing. How do we decide the shape of our narrative? Where do we begin, when should we end, and how do we keep people reading in between? In this session, we’ll learn to apply our own reader’s intuition to think about structure. We’ll consider aspects like plot, pacing, and payoff, and see how they work across a story arc, a metaphor, or even a single line.
25 May: Performing your work
You've written the thing, but how do you actually read the thing aloud? Without people falling asleep? By this time you should have between 1 to 4 completed pieces, so we'll pick one and go through it carefully to discover how to best read it to your family, friends, and the general public.
1–3 June: Writer's Retreat
This year's retreat focuses on editing and critiquing the work selected for the showcase. It will include a practical hands-on workshop on how to self-edit your work.
6 July: Readings@Tanjong showcase
It's time to show off what you've accomplished! Participants who have completed the entire workshop series will present their work to family, friends, and the public! One selected work per participant will be printed in a zine.
EXPECTED OUTCOMES
By the end of the course, all participants should have written between one to five new stories or poems, one of which will be selected for the showcase performance. Participants are encouraged to submit these, or other works, to the NutMag zine and to other publishing avenues.
organiser
Malaysian Writers Society (MYWriters) was established in September 2016 to facilitate activities and programmes related to Malaysian writing and publishing. MYWriters is an inclusive and non-profit initiative, providing a platform for Malaysian writers that transcends genre, language, function, medium, and experience levels.
sponsor
AHAM Asset Management Berhad ("AHAM Capital") is an independently-managed, institutionally-owned asset management firm. Since its formation in 2001, AHAM Capital has served the wealth needs of corporates, institutions, pension funds, government-linked companies, high net worth individuals and the mass affluent.
AIIMAN Asset Management Sdn. Bhd. (“AIIMAN”) is the wholly owned Shariah investment arm of AHAM Capital. Incorporated in 2008, AIIMAN manages assets for pension funds, institutions, corporates, high net worth and mass affluent individuals. Through an end-to-end Shariah platform, AIIMAN focuses on delivering exceptional and innovative Shariah investment solutions spanning equities and sukuk.
AIIMAN Asset Management Sdn. Bhd. (“AIIMAN”) is the wholly owned Shariah investment arm of AHAM Capital. Incorporated in 2008, AIIMAN manages assets for pension funds, institutions, corporates, high net worth and mass affluent individuals. Through an end-to-end Shariah platform, AIIMAN focuses on delivering exceptional and innovative Shariah investment solutions spanning equities and sukuk.
partnerS
George Town Literary Festival (GTLF) is Malaysia’s largest international literary festival. It is held annually in the UNESCO World Heritage site of George Town, Penang.
Dabble Dabble Jer Collective is an arts production team based in Penang, Malaysia. We are especially interested in exploring themes of identity, heritage, and sociocultural constructs with artists, musicians, performers, dancers, and creatives, regardless of background or creed.
Penang Harmony Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (HARMONICO) was established on 10 March 2021 under the Penang Chief Minister’s Incorporation (CMI) as an implementing agency to oversee matters pertaining to religions other than Islam and to execute plans and policies that will promote and bring about an inclusive and harmonious society in Malaysia.
HARMONICO aims to build and promote the new concept of religious harmony so as to meet the challenges posed by religious diversity in a globalized world. Ever since HARMONICO was formed, it has made great strides in their commitments towards religious harmony through comprehensive plans, policies and various social-impacts efforts.
HARMONICO aims to build and promote the new concept of religious harmony so as to meet the challenges posed by religious diversity in a globalized world. Ever since HARMONICO was formed, it has made great strides in their commitments towards religious harmony through comprehensive plans, policies and various social-impacts efforts.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTORS
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Anna TanAnna Tan writes fantasy stories and fairy tales, and has short stories included in various anthologies. She helps people publish books at Teaspoon Publishing, which includes yelling at HTML for epub reasons.
She has an MA in Creative Writing: The Novel from Brunel University London and 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. |
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wAN PHING LIMWan Phing Lim was born to Malaysian parents in 1986 in Butterworth, Penang. Her short stories have appeared in literary magazines and anthologies in UK, USA, Canada, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. She lives in Penang and Two Figures in a Car is her first short story collection.
Wan Phing is the current fiction editor at NutMag |
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YEE HENG YEHYee Heng Yeh is a writer and Mandarin-to-English translator. His poetry has been featured in The KITA! Podcast, adda, Malaysian Millennial Voices, and Strange Horizons, while his translations of poetry have been published in Mantis and Nashville Review. His story “Cockroach”, first published in Imprints: Chevening Writers Series 2021, also appeared in Guernica. You can find him on Twitter at @HengYeh42.
Heng Yeh is the current poetry editor at NutMag. |
