Book A Writer / Our Writers

ABOUT

Jenny Mak is a writer and educator. Her work has been published in Entropy magazine, Read Me Anthology, and shortlisted in the 2012 InkTears Short Story Competition. She has a PhD in English Literature from the University of Warwick. She has taught English Literature and Creative Writing at LASALLE College of the Arts, Nanyang Technological University, Raffles Girls’ School, and University of Warwick.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

• 2021 – The Accidental Ornithologist (Entropy Magazine)

• 2013 – Selk (Read Me Anthology)

• 2012 – Oysters (InkTears Short Story Competition) shortlist

TALKS

BE YOUR OWN INSPIRATION: HOW TO HARNESS LIFE EXPERIENCES FOR CREATIVE WRITING (ASSEMBLY TALK)
For: secondary/ junior college
Availability: 1 hr - 1.5 hrs per session; single session
Description: This talk aims to encourage students to harness their unique life experiences for creative writing. It will draw upon the speaker's own experience as a young migrant to Singapore and how she has navigated (and continues to navigate) questions of identity and belonging throughout her writing and academic journey. The talk will also offer tips on how students might identify and activate their individual life experiences for creative fodder.
Learning Outcomes: Understand how individual life experiences can inform creative writing in valuable ways and appreciate rather than resist these experiences. Learn to identify and activate these life experiences for creative expression.

THE ART OF CREATIVE COLLABORATION (ASSEMBLY TALK)
For: secondary/ junior college
Availability: 1 hr - 1.5 hrs per session; single session
Description: This talk aims to encourage students to get the most out of creative collaborations (within and/or across disciplines). It will draw upon the speaker's own positive experiences from working creatively with others across genres and fields (e.g. as a writer working with scientists) and will showcase some of the productions that have resulted from these collaborations. The talk will also offer students tips on how to work collaboratively in a constructive manner while enjoying the process.
Learning Outcomes: Understand how to work with others constructively in creative collaborations. Gain tips for effective creative collaboration, including having a positive mindset for teamwork, working through potential challenges when collaborating, and simple project management tips on how to keep the group on track.

WORKSHOPS

THE POWER OF THE ANECDOTE
For: secondary/ junior college; 5 - 25 pax
Availability: 2 hrs - 3 hrs per session; single session
Description: Being a fixture in everyday communication as well as in creative writing, the anecdote can be a powerful form of storytelling that offers techniques on how to make the stories we write be compelling and memorable. In this workshop, students will engage with creative material from different genres (e.g. stand-up comedy, short stories, and novel excerpts) to learn these techniques and apply them to their writing.
Learning Outcomes: Students will learn to identify elements of anecdotal stories that make them compelling. Students will also apply these techniques to their writing and get feedback.

USING CONTRAST TO MAKE YOUR STORIES BETTER
For: secondary/ junior college; 5 - 25 pax
Availability: 2 hrs - 3 hrs per session; single session
Description: Contrast in storytelling is a useful technique to make key ideas and themes in a story more impactful for the reader. Students will engage with creative material from multiple disciplines, including excerpts from novels, speeches, plays, and photography, to hone their use of this technique and apply it to their writing. 
Learning Outcomes: Students will understand how contrast works in various forms of storytelling and art. Students will also apply contrast to their writing and get feedback.

SETTING AND CHARACTER EMOTION IN STORYTELLING
For: secondary/ junior college; 5 - 25 pax
Availability: 2 hrs - 3 hrs per session; single session
Description: Stories are valuable in expressing our subjective experience of the world we live in, reflecting the connection between our inner and outer worlds. In particular, the setting in a story can be used in evocative ways to convey a character’s emotions to the reader, reflecting this connection between his/her inner and outer worlds. This workshop will get students to engage with creative material from different genres (e.g. poetry, prose) to understand how setting can reflect character emotion. They will also learn how to apply this to their writing.
Learning Outcomes: Students will learn how story setting can effectively convey character emotion. They will gain some understanding of the aesthetic and literary context behind the creative expression of subjective experience (e.g. in Romanticism). They will also apply what they learn to their writing and get feedback.