KUCHING: The Malaysian Writers Society (MYWriters) is bringing three events to this year’s What About Kuching (WAK) event, which also coincides with #MYWritersFest2019.
MYWritersFest, which kicked off in 2015, is a month-long festival celebrating Malaysian writers and their writing.
The first of the three events for WAK 2019 is ‘Write Now, Kuching’ – a four-day, three-night writing retreat taking place at Singgahsana Lodge Kuching from Oct 1 to 4.
This is one of the two writing retreats under #MYWritersFest2019, with the other one happening in Ipoh.
Gina Yap Lai Yoong
According to MYWriters president and retreat leader Gina Yap Lai Yoong, the idea is to take a few days off from normal routines and concentrate on one’s personal writing project.
“Writers are encouraged to work on their writing with minimal distraction from others. They can also communicate and discuss with other writers within the premises,” she said.
The daily group session, to be facilitated by Yap, is compulsory for every participant as it is to keep everyone accountable in their writing progress.
“You will get some leisure time but do not treat this as a cheap holiday. Our venue Singgahsana Lodge and its owners are offering us their venue because they believe in supporting the arts. So set your writing goals and expect to work hard,” added Yap, who will be assisted by MYWriters Sarawak representative Georgette Tan.
Yap has written six books and co-written many others. Her trilogy ‘Ngeri’ is a bestseller, with more than 10 reprints since 2012. Known as a ‘Story Doctor’, Yap is a book consultant and has been mentoring writers in their writing journey since 2014.
Retreat fees are RM210 per participant, which includes accommodations and meals. For more information, visit http://tiny.cc/kchretreat.
Tina Isaacs
The other two events are talks by Tina Isaacs, a litigation lawyer specialising in copyright law.
She is also a MYWriters committee member and a fiction writer.
Taking place in the afternoon of Oct 5, Tina will cover sessions on ‘Introduction to Copyright Law for Creatives’ and ‘Contract and Payment Terms for Freelance Creatives’.
Speaking on the talks, Tan said while Kuching had no shortage of artistic talents, the lack of knowledge on matters of copyright and contracts would often leave unwitting creative freelancers wide open for exploitation.
“As creative people, we usually don’t even think about matters of copyright or contracts, until something happens to us. Alternately, we also don’t think about how our casual usage of other people’s intellectual property can hurt them,” said Tan, who is a former journalist.
Georgette Tan
In ‘Introduction to Copyright Law for Creatives’, participants will learn how to protect their work and control how it is used commercially, while ensuring that they would not infringe the work of others.
In ‘Contract and Payment Terms for Freelance Creatives’, Tina will walk participants through the legalese of contracts and how to protect their rights as independent creative contractors.
Both talks are not limited to writers. Tan added that these topics should be relevant to all members of the creative community whether they are painters, dancers, photographers, designers, publishers, scriptwriters; or whether they make music, movies or handicrafts.
“With more and more Sarawakians embracing their artistic side as their primary or alternative income stream, it is worth understanding the legal side of the creative industry so you know where you stand and where you can go,” she said.
Ticket price for the talks is RM100 each – attend both and pay only RM160.
MYWriters members get 50 per cent off the ticket price. Come in a group of five and pay RM400 (RM80/person) for one talk, or RM700 (RM140/person) for both sessions.
To sign up, go to http://tiny.cc/kchtalks.
This event is part of WAK 2019. For more information or to download the calendar of events, visit www.aboutkuching.com.
Programme booklets are also available for free across Kuching. For updates, find WAK on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter under @aboutkuching. Join the buzz by hashtagging #WAK2019, #WAK and #aboutkuching.