ABOUT
Marc Nair has been, at various points in his life, a teacher, photographer, scriptwriter, voice-over talent, performance poet and cat slave. He has published ten collections of poetry and is a recipient of the 2016 Young Artist Award.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
2019 – Sightlines (Singapore: Math Paper Press, 2019)
2018 – Vital Possessions (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2018)
2017 – Intersection (with Nicola Anthony) (Singapore: Self-Published, 2017)
2016 – Spomenik (Singapore: Ethos Books, 2016)
2016 – This is Not a Safety Barrier (Eds. Marc Nair, Yen Phang. Singapore: Ethos Books, 2016)
2015 – The Poet of Unlove (Singapore: Red Wheelbarrow Books, 2015)
2014 – Animal City (Illus. Vanessa Chan. Singapore: Red Wheelbarrow Books, 2014)
ACHIEVEMENTS
2016/2017 – NTU-NAC Writer-in-Residence (National)
2016 – National Arts Council Young Artist Award
2015 – Gardens by the Bay Writer-in-Residence
2007 – PGDE (Dip.) in English Language / Literature, National Institute of Education
*Please note that from July 2024, programmes by Marc Nair will only be offered in an online format.
WORKSHOPS
*NEW* THE SECRET LIFE OF LINES: A MULTIDISCIPLINARY WRITING EXPERIENCE
For: secondary, junior college; 5 - 25 pax
Availability: 2 hours per session; single session
Description: We all understand lines in writing, but lines are also variable paths of possibility. Where do they come from, where do they go? How can we look at lines in life through our words? Through this workshop we will think about different kinds of lines and how they operate as visual and kinetic stories.
Learning Outcomes: Reduce a text to its essentials through subtractive writing, translate a poem from the concrete to the abstract (visually, emotionally and sonically), and interpret lines as a score and transform it into text and movement.
*NEW* SPOKEN WORD: DEEP DIVE
For: all students; 5 - 25 pax
Availability: 2 hours per session; 3 sessions
Description: Spoken word is a complex and layered genre, incorporating both writing and performance. Too often, the focus is on writing, with performance thrown in at the end. This small-group workshop is a focused look at two different approaches to writing spoken word, dedicating a full session as well to the art of performance.
Learning Outcomes: Break down the beats of a spoken word poem, use the personal and the emotional to express tension, develop a story arc, building imagery, writing a hook, and learn to use performance tools for spoken word.
INSTAGRAM POETRY
For: all students; 8 - 25 pax
Availability: 2 hours per session; single session
Description: This workshop expands the vocabulary of participants’ expression by plugging into familiar forms of media. We look at the relationship between poetry and Instagram by analysing a number of Instagram poems, considering content, community and visual culture. Students will then work with the form to create various kinds of Instagram poetry.
Learning Outcomes: Understanding a poem’s nature through Instagram poetry, the conditions that produce the Instagram poem, creating and reflecting on Instagram poetry. Eligible for Tote Board Arts Grant Subsidy
TRAVEL WRITING: THE FIRST-PERSON TRAVEL NARRATIVE
For: junior college; 8 - 25 pax
Availability: 2 hours per session; single / double sessions
Description: Drawing from participants’ real life examples, the class will focus around building a narrative around a travel encounter. While basic narrative structure will be explored, the focus will be on setting, characterisation and the relevance of how change or shift happens for the traveller.
Learning Outcomes: What differentiates the personal essay from the memoir, developing the ‘self’ in the story, finding a story arc between depicting scene and providing context.
CREATIVE NON-FICTION: INTRODUCTION TO THE PERSONAL ESSAY
For: all students; 8 - 25 pax
Availability: 2 hours per session; single / multiple sessions
Description: Lee Gutkind, founder of magazine Creative Nonfiction, defines the genre of creative nonfiction as “true stories well told.” The memoir in creative non-fiction is autobiographical but focuses on one aspect, one period or one incident. Participants will learn the basics of writing a personal essay about an incident they have experienced.
The focus in the workshop will be on developing scenes through description, dialogue and personal voice. Relevant examples will be explored as a class and all participants will have a chance to share and receive feedback.
Learning Outcomes: Developing ‘thick’ description, finding the self in the scene, harnessing memory to build an evocative context.
PHOTOWRITE
For: all students; min. 10 pax
Availability: 3 hours per session; single / multiple sessions
Description: A multi-disciplinary journey of image making; both as a writer and shutterbug. Theoretical and practical applications of connecting photography with writing in different genres.
Learning Outcomes: how to pair two disciplines together; how to produce art informed by both theory and practice.
SPEAKING UP: PERFORMANCE POETRY
For: all students; min. 10 pax
Availability: 3 hours per session; single / multiple sessions
Description: An introduction to the fundamental elements of spoken word. What makes it different from poetry found on the page? What does it mean to perform a poem?
Learning Outcomes: what differentiates performance poetry from other forms of poetry; how performance poetry can be used as a tool of social awareness; how performance poetry can be paired with other art forms.
ABOUT OUR PROGRAMME / OUR WRITERS / OUR WORKSHOPS / OUR CAMP / F.A.Q.
Book A Writer is Sing Lit Station's workshop-for-schools programme, featuring a roster of Singapore's most important writers at work today. *Do you want to Book A Writer? For enquiries on Marc Nair's availability and workshop rates in Sing Lit Station's Book A Writer programme, do fill in the form below.