Keynote Speaker: Edwin Thumboo

Edwin Thumboo is Emeritus Professor and Professorial Fellow at the National University of Singapore, where he served as the first Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. He has received the National Book Development Council of Singapore Book Award for Poetry three times, the South East Asian Writers Award, Singapore’s Cultural Medallion, the ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award in Literature, the Raja Rao Award and Singapore’s Meritorious Service Medal. A Fellow of the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa in 1977, he has given readings at various universities and international literary festivals and book fairs. He has been Fulbright-Hays Visiting Professor at Pennsylvania State University; Writer-in-Residence at the Institute of Culture and Communication, East-West Center Hawaii; Ida Beam Professor at the University of Iowa; Honorary Research Fellow at University College, University of London; Senior Fellow at the Department of English, Australian Defence Force Academy, University of New South Wales; George A. Miller Visiting Professor at the Center for Advanced Study, University of Illinois; Visiting Professor at the University of Innsbruck; Distinguished Visiting Professor at International Islamic University Malaysia and Visiting Professor at City University of Hong Kong.