SINGAPORE - The Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) on Friday (Aug 4) announced five more international writers who will headline the festival's 20th edition from Nov 3 to 12.

The festival line-up will include China writer Lu Min, the winner of the Lu Xun prize for short fiction and one of China People's Literature magazine's 20 best writers under 40, as well as American science-fiction and fantasy writer Ken Liu, who has received major awards such as the Nebula and Hugo.

Also on the list are Tamil novelist and literary scholar Perumal Murugan; bestselling British author and broadcaster Tony Parsons; and Malaysian composer Datin Saidah Rastam, the writer of Rosalie and Other Love Songs, a preservation project on Malayan music recordings, manuscripts and oral history.

Advance sales of festival passes will begin on Aug 14 and end on Sept 4 via Sistic. The passes, which will be sold at a discounted price of $20 for a limited period, will allow entry into more than 100 events at the festival.

The festival, which is organised by the National Arts Council (NAC), will also introduce SWF Class for Schools 2017. From Nov 6 to 10, bestselling international authors will give talks at primary and secondary schools.

The festival has as its theme this year the Tamil word "Aram", meaning "goodness" or "doing good".

The word makes a notable appearance in Thirukkural, an ancient text about ethics and everyday virtue that is widely revered as the most influential literary work in the language.

Last Thursday, festival organisers announced that Ireland would be this year's country of focus, and that eight Irish writers, including young adult author Deirdre Sullivan and poet and editor Gerald Dawe, would be appearing at the festival.

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