It is 8am on the last morning of the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) in 2023 and Pooja Nansi is standing on the front lawn outside Arts House. No festivalgoers have arrived yet, so Nansi enjoys a rare moment of quiet, watching the coffee and bookstore vendors set up.
Beside her is Alex Lee, an events director Nansi worked alongside for the festival-whom she describes as "always having gone above and beyond". Lee eventually breaks the silence: "I'm going to miss working with you so much, Pooja." According to Nansi, this is the first time she has cried on festival grounds. This is hard for me to believe. Nansi is someone who operates on feelings. Big feelings, in fact, which seem to be her medium of choice even more so than words.
"I recall, at three or four years old, experiencing intense grief because my mother was getting rid of the dining table we'd had for a few years. I thought, 'Oh my god, this is the table that I did everything on. What am I going to do with all my feelings?" At the end of Nansi's fifth and final year helming SWF as festival director, she received rave reviews from major local publications on the festival's success during her tenure. One article noted that Nansi had had slightly longer than other festival directors to 'make her mark. The typical term of an SWF director is said to be four years, by which time Nansi had grown festival attendance by over 40 percent from the previous record.
What the same story had perhaps left out was that, in Nansi's hands, the festival had transformed.
It went from being a formal affair tailored largely to visitors who already considered themselves a part of the literary world (a meeting of intellects, if you will) to a no-holds-barred invitation to explore cleverly designed programmes on fashion, hip-hop, feminist horror and more.
Denne historien er fra May, 2024-utgaven av Vogue Singapore.
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Denne historien er fra May, 2024-utgaven av Vogue Singapore.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A LIFE'S WORK
There are some paths in life that are a calling and palliative care feels like one of them. With great tenderness, three hospice nurses open up on what it means to offer care—in its many forms—at the end of life.
Genetic Make-Up
Digital filters, but with real-life consequences. Vogue Singapore considers the implications behind a new generation of parents choosing to edit pictures of their children.
Mythic ROMANCE
Dior's Cruise 2025 collection transports us to the enchanting landscapes of Scotland, blending romantic narratives with modern allure.
AN ASYLUM
Co-founders Jaren Neo and Becky Ng speak to Vogue Singapore on the driving force behind their label, its in-house residency programme and their hopes for a more supportive creative ecosystem.
Metropolis of IMAGINATION
Moncler debuts The City of Genius in Shanghai, a bold celebration of creativity featuring an eclectic line-up of visionary co-creators.
STANDING Tall
The Louis Vuitton Cruise 2025 collection was an exploration of postmodern architecture and the future through sharp tailoring, romantic draping and ornamental detailing.
WATERWORKS
In an era of power showers, cold plunges and #Shower Tok, there's still merit to be found in slowing down for the age-old ritual of bathing.
First CLASS
Education is the most powerful weapon, a noble pursuit that these three watches and jewellery brands have embarked on with different approaches.
A New FRONTIER
The nearly two-century-old watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre has crafted its first olfactive identity courtesy of perfumer Nicolas Bonneville.
House PROUD
Two symbolic homes come together in Louis Vuitton's latest haute horlogerie creation: a pocket watch that honours its historic trunk manufacture in Asnières and its cutting-edge watchmaking facility in Geneva.
