Three bad girls of Asian literature are coming to town to give talks, participate in panel discussions and interact with readers. They do not write cosy chick lit but take on sex, drugs and controversy in their books.
The femme fatales: Chinese writer Mian Mian, known for penning Candy (2000), which delves into China's seedy underbelly of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll; Japanese novelist Hitomi Kanehara, who wrote about tattoos, piercings and violent sex in Snakes And Earrings (2003) when she was 21; and Ayu Utami, an Indonesian who tackles sexism and political oppression in Indonesia.
The trio will put the edge into Asia On The Edge, a new multi-disciplinary festival with an Asian focus, organised by The Arts House. Life! is the official media for the nine-day event which opens on Nov 28.
It is divided into four core sections featuring intellectuals, chefs, musicians and women writers. The events range from the highbrow to the popular. Expect cerebral discussions by foremost Asian thinkers, dinners hosted by famous chefs and even a free outdoor spectacular directed by Toy Factory Productions' artistic director Goh Boon Teck.
The festival's co-director, Phan Ming Yen, 41, says female writers were included because they have 'challenged or taken a step further the literary traditions from which they come and also questioned the society and culture around them'.
Other names in the female writers' category include Singapore's Catherine Lim and Zita Law from Hong Kong, a best-selling author of romances.
Phan adds that the literary component will become a mainstay in the biennial festival. But the three controversial writers are expected to draw crowds.
Dr Chitra Sankaran, associate professor at the National University of Singapore's English Literature and Language department, says these writers challenge the link between mainstream writing and a sense of decorum.
'Their works explore the dark underside of life and are understood as 'liberatory' narratives. They have a larger political agenda and a more immediate, compelling feminist agenda.'
For example, Ayu's 1998 novel Saman is set in the Suharto regime but can be widely seen as a resistance novel that denounces neo-colonial regimes in general.
For Mian Mian and Kanehara, they write about life in China and Japan but 'the central problems the protagonists confront can be extrapolated to throw light on an emerging global teenage culture'.
'These are definitely new Asian voices that need to be noticed,' says Dr Sankaran.
