Alfian Sa'at

Alfian bin Sa'at (born 18 July 1977), better known as Alfian Sa'at, is a Singaporean playwright, poet, and writer. Alfian has also translated Malay-language novels by Malay Singaporean writers to English. Alfian is an alumnus of Tampines Primary School, Raffles Institution (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'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 National University of Singapore but did not graduate. Alfian was described by Malaysia's New Straits Times as "one of the most acclaimed poets in his country... a prankish provocateur, libertarian hipster".

Alfian's plays have been translated into German and Swedish, and have been read and performed in London, Zurich, Stockholm, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. 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 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, University of London, while the University of York and West Virginia University has his poem "Singapore You Are Not My Country" and selected poems on their reading lists respectively.

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'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) (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)

Awards 1995 – Kripalani Award for Outstanding Contribution to Creative Arts 1998 – Commendation Award by the Malay Language Council for Causeway 1999 – Singapore Literature Prize 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)