The Jalan Besar Fellowship invites writers, artists, collectives and cultural workers within the literary arts to propose new or ongoing projects for Sing Lit Station to support in 2025.
Our 2025 Fellows are arts writer Corrie Tan; writers and editors Jaryl George Solomon and Prasanthi Ram; and spoken word poets and organisers Cheyenne Alexandria Phillips and Don Shiau.
The objective of the Jalan Besar Fellowship is to envision new ways of supporting a larger pool of candidates with projects that aren’t limited to the creation of a manuscript.
We’re particularly interested in projects and programmes that not only fulfil the vision and mission of Sing Lit Station, but allows us to more creatively expand the ways in which we can support the development of Singapore literature.
Jalan Besar Fellows receive a stipend of $3,000 (Singapore dollars), granted in support of a project or programme that either features Singapore literature or engages with the Singapore literary community and its publics. Fellows are also granted free access to our office and its resources during the Fellowship period.
Corrie Tan makes sense of art through intimate writing. A wayfarer between journalism and academia, she holds a Ph.D. in theatre and performance studies from King’s College London and the National University of Singapore, and for the past 15 years has written extensively about performance and culture for The Guardian, ArtsEquator, Exeunt Magazine and The Straits Times. She is the arts editor of the independent digital magazine Jom and the director of the Asian Dramaturgs’ Network. www.corrie-tan.com
Photo by Shawn Chua
→ A CRITICAL COMPANION
A Critical Companion (working title) seeks to consolidate 50-75 critical essays, spanning 15 years, that will act as both a contemporary cultural history and creative documentation of Singaporean art-making from 2010–2025. In tandem with the development of this manuscript, this Fellowship project will feature a series of rigorous workshops and clinics that will concretely contribute to the growth of critical writing and arts editing in Singapore.
→ MAHOGANY JOURNAL
Mahogany Journal was conceptualised in 2020 by Prasanthi Ram and Jaryl George Solomon as an online literary space for anglophone South Asian writers and readers in Singapore. Through a series of workshops and masterclasses, the editors aim to encourage submissions and nurture editorial mentorship, culminating in a print zine in the second half of 2025.
Jaryl George Solomon is an educator-writer with a love for Pokémon & all things paranormal. As a writer, he has dabbled in poetry, plays & creative nonfiction revolving around race, queerness & body-image. His writing has also been featured in What We Inherit: Growing Up Indian & Brown is Redacted: Reflecting on Race in Singapore. Recently, he completed his Emerging Writers (Poetry) mentorship under Singapore Book Council, where he worked on his manuscript with Pooja Nansi as his mentor. Currently, Jaryl is a Disability Arts educator under A11Yverse & develops curriculum for English, Literature & General Paper on the side. He is also the poetry editor & co-founder of Mahogany Journal, Singapore’s only online literary journal dedicated to featuring and honing +65 South Asian voices.
Prasanthi Ram is a writer, editor and lecturer. Her debut short story cycle Nine Yard Sarees (2023) won the Singapore Literature Prize (SLP) for English Fiction in 2024, and was also shortlisted for SLP’s “Best Debut” category and Singapore Book Awards’ “Best Literary Work” category in the same year. Her writing has been published in the Best Singaporean Short Stories: Volume Five (2022), Making Kin: Ecofeminist Essays from Singapore (2021) and the award-winning Eat Here or Take Away (2022) among others. She also co-founded and is the prose editor of Mahogany Journal, which spotlights South Asian writers born or based in Singapore.
Photo by Diana Rahim
Photo by Checkpoint Theatre
Outspoken (Cheyenne Alexandria Phillips & Don Shiau)
Outspoken (est. 2022) is a Singapore-based spoken word competition. Its three-round format includes a signature improv round, where competitors are given ten minutes to write a poem that uses words provided by the audience. Sometimes raw, sometimes raucous, this fun and interactive format has won Outspoken partnerships with the National Library Board, Singapore Writers Festival and Esplanade Theatres on the Bay. Outspoken also co-organised Singapore’s first Grand Poetry Tournament in 2023, which involved both group and solo performances of spoken word.
→ OUT AND UP!
After bringing two years of competitive spoken word to Singapore’s open mic circuit, the organisers of Outspoken present a new initiative: Out and Up! a curated showcase featuring three spoken-word artists, each performing their own cohesive 20-minute set. This Fellowship project aims to grow the spoken word scene beyond the open-mic circuit, inviting new audiences to enjoy this art form and build a sustained audience for performance poetry. Apply by 19 Jan 2025 to feature in the showcase.
→ OUR FELLOWSHIP ROLL CALL
