ADVERTORIAL

BERNICE Chauly is no stranger to the literary scene, both local and international. A highly acclaimed Malaysian writer, poet, educator, actor, photographer, and filmmaker, she has also much experience in the literary industry. This year, the festival director of the George Town Literary Festival (GTLF) has two co-curators assisting her and a production team to handle the logistics of the festival.

She squeezes a few minutes from her busy schedule to share her insights into the event.

This is your sixth time helming the George Town Literary Festival. How has the festival evolved over the years? What are the factors that helped the festival to gain local and international recognition?

It has been really challenging for me as it takes one year of planning and arranging for international and local luminaries to be present at GTLF. Of course this event has been strongly supported by the Penang Government bodies and foreign embassies for everyone to attend it for free, apart from minimal charges for selected workshops (which goes towards the writer’s fee). 

This year GTLF was shortlisted for the International Excellence Awards for Best Literary Festival at The London Book Fair, which was a proud moment for us, being the top 3 best literary festivals worldwide. 

GTLF has grown in size and continues to grow in depth. We are one of very few literary festivals that celebrates world literature. It’s not just the vernacular languages – the festival looks at a lot of world literature. Hence we have writers working in various languages, including European and Asian languages. That is something very distinctive about us. 

Initially we had five writers (in 2011) and this year we have 60 participants from 20 different countries. The festival is growing because we have a mandate from the Penang state government, giving us freedom of speech to allow for the conversations to be as provocative as possible. We deal with real issues, as writers, thinkers and people and we invite writers who can engage with us. GTLF is a feast of words that one can immerse themselves for 3 days, from 10am till late. 

What is the importance of such literary festivals, especially to students and children?

We have a lot of students from the universities who have been attending GTLF for years. Literacy itself starts at a young age, you just have to continuously read to enhance knowledge. You’d be surprise that there are students from the age of 10 benefiting themselves and for a child,events like these can be completely life-changing. 

Speaking from my own experience, I attended my first literary festival when I was 17 and entered a completely new world for me. If you are someone who is in love with literature and writing, every inkling of storytelling or narrative, events like this will ignite a person’s hidden passion. 

I teach as well, and a lot of students I teach have huge potentials in them. GTLF shows them there is worth in being a writer, reaching out to an audience on the how to’s of the world and translating it into creativity may it be fiction or not, social injustices or even politics. It allows one to look at the value of literature. We are transmitting lost cultures, subjects that are not been taught anymore in the local schools.
 
Would you encourage those with a strong interest in literature to volunteer in the next GTLF so that they can have a taste of the scene?

Our volunteer sign-up has always been packed, and we never have any issue because these volunteers are committed to it sincerely.So it says a lot about GTLF itself! The volunteers know their tasks. It’s a lot of work, so a person has to have a certain level of interest and dedication as we don’t encourage anyone to just run off and abandon their duties. 

What are the five must-attend workshops in this year’s GTLF?

There are eight workshops this festival and 13 book launches and the Translators’ Roundtable discussions so it really depends on what the festival goer wants to do for the day. There’s spoken word, poetry, travel, and life writing, so there is no top five in my personal opinion.  Every single itinerary is a must attend for all. Mei Fong is giving a seminar to school kids on how to improve their command of English, so if you want your child to improve from the bottom to the top level in class, it is recommended. We have writers who are willing to share their experiences and expertise for free, except for some of the workshops are charged for a fee. 

Be sure to follow GTLF on Facebook (@georgetownlitfest) or visit  www.georgetownlitfest.com for the latest update on the festival.  – November 20, 2017.