1. Haresh Sharma
Apart from being the resident playwright of homegrown theatre company The Necessary Stage since 1990, Haresh Sharma is also the nation's Cultural Medallion winner in 2015, and recipient of the Southeast Asian Writers Award in 2014.
The veteran playwright is responsible for a slate of plays that have been much loved by the country, including Lanterns, written in 2003, and Off Centre, which made its debut in 1993 and was recently restaged for the second time earlier on this year.
Catch him at two events at this year's festival: A panel discussion on November 3 named The Price We Pay that explores the differing viewpoints about keeping communities intact in the face of development; the Festival Epilogue on November 10, as he uses his works as a reference point to examine the complexities behind the use of language in a multilingual society.
(Related: Renowned Playwright Stella Kon Tells The Story Of Her Great-Grandfather Lim Boon Keng In New Musical)