Filipino author Caris Avendaño Cruz heads to Singapore Writers Festival as Island Imaginaries anthology launches

Bulacan-based children's author Caris Avendaño Cruz appears in three sessions at the Singapore Writers Festival, which runs from 13 to 22 November, while Island Imaginaries, a poetry anthology of poets from Singapore and the Philippines, launches at Book Bar on Duxton Road on 14 November.

Bulacan-based children's author Caris Avendaño Cruz is among the Philippine writers taking part in the Singapore Writers Festival, which runs from 13 to 22 November, BusinessWorld reported on 10 November. The festival, organised by the Arts House Group, is in its 29th edition this year with the theme "Hidden in Plain Sight".

Avendaño Cruz is the author of Marikit and the Ocean of Stars and The Boy, the Mountain, and the Serpent Who Ate the Moon, according to her festival profile. The profile says she works as a copywriter for internet brands and, in her spare time, weaves tales steeped in magic, mischief and Filipino folklore.

Where to catch her

In Spirits, Serpents and Sacred Fears, she joins Singapore writers Ng Yi-Sheng and Joyce Chng, with Zarina Muhammad as moderator. The festival says the three writers will reflect on drawing on faith, folklore and folk belief in fiction, including how superstition functions differently from mythology. The session is listed under the Festival Pass, and a book signing with the presenters follows at Gallery II of The Arts House.

A Philippine and Singapore poetry anthology

Separately, Island Imaginaries will be launched at Book Bar on Duxton Road on Saturday, 14 November. The event listing describes it as a poetry anthology bringing together poets from Singapore and the Philippines, published by Pagesetters (Ethos).

BusinessWorld said the book features poems by Dinah Roma and Wendell Capili, along with other Filipino and Singaporean poets, and called it a much-awaited sequel to a similar collaboration at the turn of the century, Love Gathers All. It said Joel Toledo is listed as co-editor.

The launch reading runs from 2pm to 3pm and features Shahril Samri, Jose Wendell Capili III, Ann Ang, Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé, Felix Cheong, Dinah Roma and Asnida Daud, according to the listing. Work by Gémino H. Abad, Luisa A. Igloria, Marjorie Evasco, Virgilio S. Almario (Rio Alma), Edwin Thumboo and Catherine Lim also appears in the anthology. Advance sign-up is encouraged as seats are limited.

Elsewhere at the festival, Amitav Ghosh delivers the keynote and Tan Twan Eng is also on the programme, BusinessWorld reported.

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