The Tiny Lit Fest is back this year with a lineup of 18 events – author dialogues, writing workshops, book panels, spoken word and theatre performances, journaling and wellbeing events, quizzes and much more.
As Brunei emerges from a three-month partial lockdown, all events will be held virtually from December 6-12.
The festival is supported this year by the Australian High Commission and Brunei December Festival; and sponsored by Progresif, Ctrl+ Creative and Nollybook.
The Scoop is the official media partner; Nollybook is the official bookseller.
Tickets for all events can be found here.
1. Writing Retreat
Date: Monday-Saturday, December 6-11 | Closing workshop: Sunday, December 12
Time: 6-7.15am (Dec 6-11) | 6-8am (Dec 12)
Venue: Zoom
Price: Free. Register here.
Organiser: Heartwrite Co.
For one week, Heartwrite Co will host a daily virtual writing retreat for anyone who would like to take an hour out of their day to write. No commitments, no obligations, just a virtual space for you and your writing. You can come to one session or all.
2. Bookfluencing Brunei
Date: Monday-Sunday, December 6-12
Format: TLF On-Demand
Price: Free. Book your slots here.
Organiser: @perusedpages x @ns510reads.
From Brunei to New Zealand: A bookish catch up between two bookstagrammers. This is a pre-recorded conversation between @perusedpages and @ns510reads, discussing (among others!) the online literary scene and its role in cultivating a reading culture in Brunei. Available throughout the festival week as TLF On-Demand.
3. Bookish Talks: An Interview with TLF 2021 Festival Director
Date: Monday, December 6
Time: 12pm
Format: Youtube. Watch here.
Organiser: Akhmal Aiman
Akhmal Aiman interviews Sarah Ghazali, Festival Director of The Tiny Lit Fest 2021. Video premieres on Monday December 6, 12 noon. Watch, hit Like, and Subscribe!
4. Scholars and Readers
Date: Monday, December 6
Time: 7.30-8.30pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: $5; Students FOC. Sign up here.
Organiser: Persatuan Alumni Sultan’s Scholars x The Tiny Lit Fest.
Join scholars from Persatuan Alumni Sultan’s Scholars, Brunei Administrative System Scholarship Scheme (BAS), and UBD Chancellor’s Scholarship, as they share how reading has shaped them as scholars, and helped them with university, job interviews, and working life #adulting.
5. Festival Launch: The Tiny Lit Fest Reads Maybe You Should Talk to Someone with Dr Hannah Ho and Fauziyyah Manap
Date: Tuesday, December 7
Time: 3-4.15pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: Free. Register here.
Organiser: The Tiny Lit Fest, with support from the Australian High Commission.
The Tiny Lit Fest welcomes local academic Dr Hannah Ho, and psychologist Fauziyyah Manap, as they discuss literature and mental health today. Dr Hannah and Fauziyyah will be discussing Lori Gottlieb’s bestselling book Maybe You Should Talk to Someone: A Therapist, Her Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed, looking at the relationship between reading, writing, literature, and wellbeing. This event is also the official launch event for The Tiny Lit Fest 2021, with welcoming remarks by the Australian Deputy High Commissioner to Brunei, as well as the Festival Director of The Tiny Lit Fest 2021.
6. Kickstart Your Novel with Susmita Bhattacharya
Date: Tuesday, December 7
Time: 7.30-9pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: $30. Purchase your tickets here.
Organiser: Professional Writing Academy, UK
Susmita Bhattacharya will be leading a 90-minute interactive Zoom workshop, looking at how to bring together a mass of ideas and research and meld them into a single story idea. You’ll learn to express your idea in a sentence, and find out whether your idea has legs over the long form of a novel. There will be practical exercises to flesh out your story world and bring to life a protagonist for your story, and we’ll look at ways to start a novel with a bang.
7. Creative Writing for Wellness with Kate McBarron
Date: Wednesday, December 8
Time: 7.30-9pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: $30. Register here.
Organiser: Professional Writing Academy, UK
Kate McBarron will be coordinating a 90-minute interactive Zoom workshop, looking at why writing is so beneficial for good mental health. Hear how creative writing helped in Kate’s journey of healing from anxiety and depression, try out a few of her favourite writing techniques for wellbeing, look at some of the research behind the therapeutic effects of writing, and end with a Q&A session.
8. Take the Mic Night: Tiny Lit Fest Edition
Date: Thursday, December 9
Time: 7.30-9pm
Venue: Skype/Youtube Stream
Price: $10. Register here.
Organiser: The Brunei Writers
An evening for lovers of wistful words and personal poetry, Take the Mic Night features 9 local poets in an intimate sharing of their original pieces. Follow @thebruneiwriters for more information!
9. Folklores in Modern Settings
Date: Friday, December 10
Time: 10-11am
Venue: Zoom
Price: $5 (All proceeds will go to Pawsup.tv). Book your slots here.
Organiser: Tina Afiqah
A crash-course with Tina Afiqah, author of The Bubble Princess & The Stone Heart. Tina will share her tips on adapting traditional folklores into stories that can be digested by younger audiences. Following her past memories of growing up in Temburong, she will also share heartfelt stories that may inspire you on your own writing journey.
10. What’s The Tea?: An Afternoon with Book Clubs in Brunei
Date: Friday, December 10
Time: 2.30-4pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: Free. Register here.
Organiser: Diverse Lit Circle
Bruneian book club Diverse Lit Circle will be hosting a chat with fellow local book clubs Book Sis, Non-Fiction Book Club, Read Like A Feminist & The Scareaders Club. This event will be moderated by local Booktuber, Akhmal Aiman. Let’s SPILL SOME TEA about the book community in 2021 (and 2022)!
11. Poetry & Miscellany: A Chat with the Collaborating Artists
Date: Friday, December 10
Time: 4-5pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: Free. Sign up here.
Organiser: Heartwrite Co
What happens when a publisher meshes poets with a variety of crafters to produce anything they want? The answer can be seen in the four issues of this year’s Poetry & Miscellany, a creative playground turned zine which can be enjoyed for free in its digital forms. Join Heartwrite’s resident editor, Kathrina, as she converses with six poet-storytellers, three artists and a fashion designer about their lived experience of this collaborative project.
12. In Conversation with Zen Cho, Author of Black Water Sister
Date: Friday, December 10
Time: 7.30-8.30pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: $10. Purchase your tickets here.
The Tiny Lit Fest is delighted to welcome Zen Cho, author of the Sorcerer to the Crown novels, Black Water Sister and various shorter fiction. She is a Hugo, Crawford and British Fantasy Award winner, and a finalist for the Lambda, Locus and Astounding Awards. Zen Cho will be in conversation with local literary scholar Dr Rinni Amran, discussing her works, writing Southeast Asia, and all things speculative and fantasy fiction.
13. The Painful Truth
Date: Saturday & Sunday, December 11 & 12
Time: 2pm, 8pm (Sat, Dec 11) | 2pm (Sun, Dec 12)
Venue: Whereby
Price: $10. Register here.
Organiser: 247 Studios
Unable to accept the truth, a daughter struggles to forgive her father. Unable to change the past, a father tries to mend his relationship with his daughter. But betrayal breeds discord and sometimes the pain may be too much. Will time heal and allow love to completely mend their relationship? Find out in this emotional family drama by local theatre company 247 Studios. This virtual theatrical performance is pre-recorded and will be played during the event.
14. Mindfulness through Journalling
Date: Saturday, December 11
Time: 4-5.30pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: $5. Sign up here.
Organiser: More to Bloom Mindfulness
What are the different ways we can journal? How do we even get started? And how does it relate to mindfulness? This workshop will give you the chance to understand the link between journalling and mental health, to explore and engage with journalling prompts, and finally, to interact in a group sharing session.
15. The Booksellers’ Tales
Date: Sunday, December 12
Time: 2-3pm
Venue: Zoom
Organiser: Books Beyond Brunei
Books Beyond Brunei will be hosting a panel with local independent, second-hand, and Instagram booksellers. Watch this space for more information!
16. Guided Storytelling: A Creative Therapy Workshop
Date: Sunday, December 12
Time: 4-5pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: $5. Register here.
Organiser: Tina Afiqah
A creative workshop with implemented guided imagination and storytelling. This workshop will feature a relaxation activity that has been supported by clinical professionals in hopes of inducing a healthier mindset, gaining inspiration, as well as easing that writer’s block.
17. Battle of the Bookish: A TLF Trivia Night
Date: Sunday, December 12
Time: 7.30-9pm
Venue: Zoom
Price: $10 per team of 4-5. Register here.
Organiser: Akhmal Aiman x Kathrina Mohd Daud
An online group-based competition where participants will answer book-related questions. Bookish teams, assemble!
18. Book Drive to You
Date: September 2021 – ongoing
Price: $10 donation per book. Join here.
Organiser: Bruneians Read (B:Read) x The Tiny Lit Fest
Since September 2021, The Tiny Lit Fest and Bruneians Read have been working with La Vida Brunei, Single Mama Speaks BN, and Little Bamboo BN to raise funds for the creation of mini libraries in National Isolation Centres across Brunei. For every payment of $10, a book will be posted to participating contributors. This amount will be used to fund a postal fee of $4 per book (applicable across Brunei), and remaining proceeds of $6 per donation will be used to purchase books and set up materials for the mini libraries. Join us on this wonderful ride for a good cause!