Alfian bin Sa'at (born 18 July 1977), better known as Alfian Sa'at, is a

Singaporean Singaporeans are the citizens and nationals of the sovereign island city-state of Singapore. Singapore is home to a people of a variety of ethno-racial-religious origins, with the city-state itself being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, m ...

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes play (theatre), plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between Character (arts), characters and is intended for Theatre, theatrical performance rather than just Readin ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

, and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short sto ...

. He is known for penning a body of English- and Malay-language plays, poems, and prose exploring race,

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

, and

politics Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

, topics considered provocative in Singapore. Alfian has also translated Malay-language novels by Malay Singaporean writers to English. Alfian has received a number of national literature awards, such as the 2001

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

and three ''Life!'' Theatre Awards for Best Original Script. Alfian is the resident playwright of theatre group

W!LD RICE Wild Rice (stylized W!LD RICE), founded in 2000 by Ivan Heng, is a professional theatre company in Singapore. In 2019, the company established a permanent performance venue at Funan Mall. History The first show by Wild Rice was held at Jubile ...

Early life

Born in Singapore in 1977, Alfian is a Malay-

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

of Minang, Javanese, and

Hakka The Hakka (), sometimes also referred to as Hakka-speaking Chinese, or Hakka Chinese, or Hakkas, are a southern Han Chinese subgroup whose principal settlements and ancestral homes are dispersed widely across the provinces of southern China ...

descent. Alfian is an alumnus of Tampines Primary School,

Raffles Institution Raffles Institution (RI) is an independent educational institution in Singapore. Founded in 1823, it is the oldest school in the country. It provides secondary education for boys only from Year 1 to Year 4, and pre-university education for both b ...

(RI), and Raffles Junior College (RJC), where he served as chairman of the drama societies in RI and subsequently in RJC. He took part in the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

's Creative Arts Programme—an annual creative writing programme for secondary and junior college students—twice under the mentorship of Singaporean playwright Haresh Sharma, first at the age of fifteen, and a second time at seventeen. During his two years at RJC, Alfian received the Kripalani Award for Outstanding Contribution to Creative Arts. Alfian was a medical undergraduate at the

but did not graduate.

Career

In 1998, Alfian published his first collection of poetry, ''One Fierce Hour,'' which was described by journalist Lee Tzu Pheng in ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...

'' as an "exciting, landmark collection." Alfian was described by Malaysia's ''New Straits Times'' as "one of the most acclaimed poets in his country... a prankish provocateur,

libertarian Libertarianism (from ; or from ) is a political philosophy that holds freedom, personal sovereignty, and liberty as primary values. Many libertarians believe that the concept of freedom is in accord with the Non-Aggression Principle, according ...

hipster". A year later in 1999, Alfian published his first collection of short stories, ''Corridor'', which won the

Singapore Literature Prize The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organis ...

Commendation Award. Seven of the short stories from the collection were adapted for television. In 2001, he published ''A History of Amnesia'', his second collection of poetry, which was shortlisted for a Kiriyama Asia-Pacific Book Prize. The same year, Alfian won both the inaugural National Arts Council-Singapore Press Holdings Golden Point Award for Poetry, as well as the National Arts Council's Young Artist Award for Literature. Alfian's plays have been translated into German and Swedish, and have been read and performed in London, Zurich, Stockholm, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. He has worked as a playwright with theatre group The Necessary Stage as well as the Malay theatre group Teater Ekamatra. Alfian is currently the resident playwright of theatre group

. In 2015, ''Nadirah'' was selected by '' The Business Times'' as one of the "finest plays in 50 years" alongside productions by Goh Poh Seng,

Michael Chiang Michael Chiang (born 27 October 1955 in Muar (town), Muar, Malaysia) is a prolific playwright and screenwriter in Singapore. He is known as "Singapore's most famous and successful playwright". From 1990 to 2009, Chiang was the editorial director ...

and Haresh Sharma and others. In 2016, it was reported that Alfian's co-written play ''sex.violence.blood.gore'' and his short story collection ''Malay Sketches'' was included on a reading list at the

School of Oriental and African Studies The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS University of London; ) is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the federal University of London. Founded in 1916, SOAS is located in the Bloomsbury area ...

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, while the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

and

West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...

has his poem "Singapore You Are Not My Country"and selected poems on their reading lists respectively. In particular, the University of York's Dr Claire Chambers noted that this was because Alfian "introduces non-Anglophone words and concepts, and puts together words in an expressive portmanteau style".

Works

Plays

;English * ''Fighting'' (1994) * ''Black Boards, White Walls'' (1997) * ''Yesterday My Classmate Died'' (1997) * ''sex.violence.blood.gore'' (co-written with Chong Tze Chien) (1999) * ''Asian Boys Vol. 1'' (loosely adapted from

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

's '' A Dream Play'') (2000) * ''What's The Difference?'' (2001) * ''Don't Say I Say'' (2001) * ''poppy dot dream'' (2001) * ''The Corrected Poems of Minah Jambu'' (2001) * ''The Optic Trilogy'' (2001) * ''7 Ten: Seven Original 10-minute Plays: Not In'' (2003) * ''Landmarks: Asian Boys Vol. 2 '' (2004) * ''Tekka Voices'' (2004) * ''Mengapa Isa?'' (2004) * ''The Importance of Being Kaypoh'' (2005) * ''Harmony Daze'' (2005) * ''Confessions of 300 Unmarried Men: Blush'' (2006) * ''Homesick'' (2006) * ''Happy Endings: Asian Boys Vol 3'' (2007) * ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (2008) * ''Beauty And The Beast'' (2009) * ''Cooling Off Day'' (2011) * ''Cook a Pot of Curry'' (2013) * ''Monkey Goes West'' (2014) * ''Hotel'' (2015) * ''Tiger of Malaya'' (2018) ;Malay * ''Deklamasi Malas (Declamation of Indolence)'' (1997) * ''Dongeng (Myth)'' (1997) * ''Anak Bulan di Kampung Wa' Hassan (The New Moon at Kampung Wa' Hassan)'' (1998) * ''Madu II (Polygamy)'' (1998) * ''Causeway'' (1998) * ''Peti Kayu Ibuku (My Mother's Wooden Chest)'' (translated into Malay from Kuo Pao Kun's translation of Ng Xin Yue's original Mandarin text) (1999) * ''The Miseducation of Minah Bukit'' (2001) * ''Tapak 7 (Seven Steps)'' (2001) * ''Selamat Malam Ibu'' (adapted from ''Night Mother'' by

Marsha Norman Marsha Norman (born September 21, 1947) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. She received the 1983 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her play '' 'night, Mother''. She wrote the book and lyrics for such Broadway musicals as ''The S ...

) (2003) * ''Keturunan Laksmana Tak Ada Anu'' (adapted from ''Descendants of the Eunuch Admiral'' by Kuo Pao Kun) (2003) * ''Minah & Monyet (Minah & Monkey)'' (2003) * ''Nadirah'' (2009) * ''Pariah'' (alternatively staged as ''Parah'') (2011) * ''Kakak Kau Punya Laki (Your Sister's Husband)'' (2013) * ''GRC (Geng Rebut Cabinet)'' (2015) ;Mandarin * ''Fugitives'' (失控) (co-written with Ng How Wee) (2002)

Prose

;English * '' Corridor'' (SNP, 1999; Ethos Books, 2015) * ''Malay Sketches'' ( Ethos Books, 2012) ;Malay * ''Bisik: Antologi Drama Melayu Singapura (Whisper: Anthology of Malay Singaporean Drama)'' (Pustaka Cipta, 2003)

Poetry

* ''One Fierce Hour'' (Landmark Books, 1998) * ''A History of Amnesia'' ( Ethos Books, 2001) * ''The Invisible Manuscript'' (Math Paper Press, 2012)

Works featuring Sa'at

* "Nadira" in ''Southeast Asian Plays'' (Supernova Books, 2017)

ISBN The International Standard Book Number (ISBN) is a numeric commercial book identifier that is intended to be unique. Publishers purchase or receive ISBNs from an affiliate of the International ISBN Agency. A different ISBN is assigned to e ...

9781906582869

Awards

* 1995 – Kripalani Award for Outstanding Contribution to Creative Arts * 1998 – Commendation Award by the Malay Language Council for ''Causeway'' * 1999 –

Commendation Award for ''Corridor'' * 2001 – Golden Point Award for Poetry * 2001 – Young Artist Award for Literature * 2005 – Life! Theatre Awards for Best Original Script for ''Landmarks: Asian Boys Vol. 2'' * 2006 – FRONT Award * 2010 – Life! Theatre Awards for Best Original Script for ''Nadirah'' * 2014 – Life! Theatre Awards for Best Original Script for ''Kakak Kau Punya Laki (Your Sister's Husband)''

References

External links

Naif's journal – The blog of Alfian Sa'at
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alfian Bin Saat 1977 births Living people Singaporean people of Javanese descent Singaporean people of Malay descent Singaporean people of Minangkabau descent National University of Singapore alumni Raffles Junior College alumni Raffles Institution alumni Singaporean dramatists and playwrights Singaporean Muslims Singaporean poets Singapore Literature Prize winners Male dramatists and playwrights Male poets