Malaysia’s leading celebration of stories returns for its 15th edition! This year’s George Town Literary Festival explores Urban Myths and Memories through panels, readings, performances, and workshops featuring 37 writers and artists from 13 countries.

George Town Literary Festival 2025 

Malaysia’s leading celebration of stories returns for its 15th edition! This year’s George Town Literary Festival explores Urban Myths and Memories through panels, readings, performances, and workshops featuring 37 writers and artists from 13 countries.

Join us in Penang’s heritage heart for three days of conversation, creativity, and discovery. Admission is free with a Festival Pass, except for workshops and select events.

Explore the full programme breakdown on the official George Town Literary Festival website.

Programme at a glance:

29 November

8:00 pm - 9:30 pm

Film screening: Terdedah: 7 Artists in Search of a Cover A lo-fi documentary by Amir Muhammad

Location

UAB Hall

Shahnon Ahmad’s novel Terdedah (1965) has not been reprinted in decades. This rambunctious
satire is about a young widow with two lovers.

Why hasn’t the book been seen for so long? Did it “dedah” (reveal or expose) too much?

Amir Muhammad asks seven artists how they would design a cover of Terdedah if it were
reprinted today. Through Zoom, they discuss how the novel can be presented visually.

In an unfortunate twist, one of the artists disappeared after agreeing. So this artist is replaced by ChatGPT! The six human artists are Anderson Ee, Fahmi Mustaffa, Hannah, Mark Lee See Teck,Syuq Tone, and Yante Ismail.

Moderator/Host: Amir Muhammad