The state-sponsored George Town Literary Festival returns for its 2013 edition from 29 November to 1 December. The festival, which will take place at various venues across George Town, Penang, will host 30 acclaimed, international as well as local, writers to celebrate world literature through poetry, prose and the spoken word.

This year's theme, The Ties That Bind, will look at how the writers deal with homelands and hope, love and loss, and memory and history.

Headliners include the Malaysian icon and cartoonist Datak Lat, Orang Asli writer Mahat Akiya, and best-selling American author Eric Hanson, among many others.

The three-day festival is mostly free of charge, with the exception of some ticketed events.