Online Dating and the 21st Century Novel | Worth the Hype?

Important Notice

This programme/event is open to members of the National Library Board, Singapore. Please ensure you have your myLibrary username on hand before proceeding with the registration. If you do not have a myLibrary username, you can create one here: https://account.nlb.gov.sg/.

About the Programme:

Forget the love letter Frederick Wentworth wrote in Jane Austen’s Persuasion. This is the age of DMs and dating apps. Romance has consistently been a best-selling genre, outperforming horror and science fiction, yet it continues to be dismissed as trivial and anti-feminist. Hear from authors Lauren Ho (Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic) and Jane Pek (The Verifiers) as they discuss modern love, how technology shapes our identities and decisions, and how Asian writers are diversifying the genre.

"Curious about the titles that will be discussed? Borrow these bestselling works here from NLB’s online collection!”

About the Speakers:

Olivia Ho is Assistant Life Editor at Straits Times Life; she was formerly the books and arts correspondent, and before that covered news on employment and the labour market. She has a monthly column in the Sunday Times. She graduated top of her cohort at University College London with first class honours in English and has a masters degree in modern and postmodern literature from the University of Edinburgh.  

Lauren Ho is a reformed legal counsel who now writes for pleasure. Hailing from Malaysia, she is currently based in Singapore, where she’s ostensibly working on her next novel while attempting to parent. Lucie Yi Is Not a Romantic is her second novel after her critically-acclaimed, bestselling debut Last Tang Standing.

Jane Pek is a Singaporean writer and lawyer who currently resides in New York.  Her debut novel, The Verifiers, was published by Vintage/Knopf in February 2022 and is a literary mystery about an online-dating detective agency and a complicated Asian immigrant family. The Verifiers was a New York Times Editors' Choice, a Good Morning America recommendation for February, and on the Washington Post's list of best-reviewed books for March.  Her short fiction has been selected twice for The Best American Short Stories.  In her free time she enjoys picking up different martial arts, reading coming-of-age novels, watching contemporary theatre, and cycling to bakeries.  She is the recipient of a National Arts Council grant and has fond memories of participating in the Creative Arts Programme as a student (twice!).

About Worth the Hype?

Worth the Hype? is NLB’s brand-new literary arts series that spotlights contemporary world fiction. In these fun and candid conversations, writers, critics, and publishing insiders will weigh in on the literary merits and commercial appeal of bestselling international titles, while contemplating their wider resonances in modern society and popular culture.

Online Programme/Event Administrative Information

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• The National Library Board, Singapore (NLB) reserves the right in its absolute discretion to disqualify or refuse admission to any registrant without any reason and notice