Wordsmiths and lovers of the written word, rejoice; for Singapore’s biggest literary event is back for its 19th run. This year’s Singapore Writers Festival, which happens on Nov 4-13 at the Civic District, revolves around the central theme of “sayang" in all its shades (love, loss, the usual literary themes).

While organizers are still working to iron out the full line-up of guests and programs, they've announced a few names as part of their inaugural Advance Sale of the SWF Festival Pass, which was launched earlier today (Aug 8). This year, we’ll be joined by Joanne Harris, the award-winning author of 1999 novel Chocolat, which was used to for the film adaptation of the same name a year later and stars Juliette Binoche, Judi Dench and Johnny Depp. Also on the line-up is one of Southeast Asia’s highly acclaimed novelists and Man Booker International Prize nominee, Eka Kurniawan and Singapore’s very own O Thiam Chin, who has the inaugural Epigram Fiction Prize under his belt.

New in this edition of the festival is the SWF Classroom Series under the current SWF Class experiential event that will host both international and Singapore authors and speakers, who will discuss a wide range of issues, from pop culture and football in the Middle East, to the fight on terrorism and the U.S. Presidential Elections. 

The full line-up of speakers, programmes and regular ticketing details will be out in September. Advanced sales of the SWF Festival Pass ($20) are now available on Sistic.