SINGAPORE – Singapore’s food diplomacy game is strong. Just look at R.F. Kuang and Fuchsia Dunlop’s social media accounts, where the two big-name attractions for 2025’s Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) have been posting about Singapore eats.

Kuang, the festival’s big hit on its opening weekend from Nov 7 to 9, prefaced a multi-image post on Instagram on Nov 13 with a photo of herself smiling over a bowl of laksa.

The vegan was delighted by how easy it was to find different vegetarian restaurants in Singapore and tried everything from tahu telur to chendol. The China-born American writer concluded with: “Can I stay forever.”

Dunlop,

who told The Straits Times in an October interview she was looking forward to eating in Singapore

, has been posting a stream of droolworthy food pictures, ranging from dinner at Peranakan food stall Charlie’s at Golden Mile Food Centre to the classic Singapore breakfast of toast and eggs at Tong Ah Eating House in Keong Saik Road.

Award-winning Singaporean food writer Christopher Tan, who moderated the British writer’s Salon session on Nov 9, was hosting her to some epic food crawls around town.

He told ST: “It’s always invigorating to look at one’s own food heritage alongside fresh eyes, and when those eyes are as keen as Fuchsia Dunlop’s, it’s especially galvanic.” 

The writers also checked out Singapore’s other attractions. 

Kuang visited Book Bar, where she bought an entire stack of SingLit books, posting them on her Instagram Story. The author also took time out to explore Gardens by the Bay and the Singapore Oceanarium, posting short videos in her farewell note to the Republic. 

R.F. Kuang bought a stack of SingLit books at Book Bar when she was in town recently.

PHOTO: KUANGRF/INSTAGRAM

And Dunlop declared on Instagram on Nov 13: “I really cannot recommend highly enough the Asian Civilisations Museum in Singapore, where I spent a rapt day earlier this week.” 

The Sinophile highlighted the Tang shipwreck display and recommended the “fabulous maritime trade gallery, which tells the story of Singapore as a crossroads of trade throughout the centuries, where people from all over the world met, mingled, exchanged goods and influenced each other”.  

Meanwhile,

American poet Victoria Chang

, whose latest book With My Back To The World (2024) engaged with the art of Agnes Martin and On Kawara, visited the National Gallery Singapore.

She posted pictures of some of her favourite works on display, including Singaporean artists Chua Mia Tee, Georgette Chen, Lin Hsin Hsin and Lee Boon Ngan and Spanish Filipino artist Fernando Zobel.

Australian crime author Ellie Marney took to social media platform Threads to marvel at Singapore’s support for multilingual writers, noting that it was the most multicultural event she had attended. “I genuinely had my eyes opened to a much larger literary/cultural world.”

She also praised the Government’s funding support for SWF as well as the Culture Pass credits, which helped boost ticket sales, noting that Australia could learn some things from how Singapore runs its literary festival. She said: “Singapore places value on arts and culture as part of its civic legacy, something that strengthens its society and communities”.