The Asian Festival of Children's Content 2015

It's almost time for the biggest children's literary event in the region - The Asian Festival of Children's Content - or AFCC as it is popularly known. 

If you're an aspiring author or illustrator, it's the place to be. This year the conference will be a week-long affair that includes a Teachers Congress, Parents Forum, and the Writers & Illustrators Conference as well as masterclasses, seminars, workshops and a media summit. 

Wendy Orr

With Sally Gardner

Susanne Gerry

Candy Gourlay, Wendy Orr, Sally Gardner, Susanne Gervay, Naomi Kojima, Marjorie Coughlan, Corinne Robson, Leonard Marcus, James Mayhew, Christopher Cheng, Ken Spillman, Andrew Weale, Norm Jorgensen, James Foley, Suzy Lee, Yusof Gajah, Emily Lim, Shamini Flint, Dianne Wolfer, Eliza Teoh, Mio Debnam,Adeline Foo, Sarah Odedina, Otto Fong, David Liew are just some of the illustrious speakers who have graced the event. 

Now if you're hankering to get your work discovered, I've got some great news for you. All aspiring authors and illustrators will  have a chance to pitch their story ideas at speed pitching sessions and they can also have their illustrations or stories critiqued at the First Look and First Pages critique panels. But space is extremely limited at each of these sessions so register quickly if you don't want to miss out on your potential big break. 

Leonard Marcus and James Mathew

Ken Spillman

Attendees will get a glimpse of the glitterati of the literati at the first awards of the literary award season. Just like Hollywood has the Golden Globes, The Screen Actors Guild Award and The Oscars,  AFCC has the SPBA, The HACBA and The SKTAA.

After weeks of anticipation, the authors and illustrators nominated for the Scholastic Picture Book Award,  Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award, and Samsung KidsTime Author Award will finally find out who will walk away with the coveted prizes! 

Good luck to all the nominees. OK, I know everyone says that it's an honour to be nominated and it doesn't matter if they win or lose; the nomination is the award enough. Blah, blah, blah.  I say that's absolute rubbish! Rubbish, I say. Everyone wants to win! They really, really, do. Having been a previous Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award nominee and speaking from experience *wink wink, nudge nudge*  I have to say I think it's a lot nicer to  accept the award and collect the winner's  cheque than to plaster a smile on your face and applaud graciously when someone else is announced as the winner.   (I'm an author, not an actor for crying out loud. LOL!;)) But I have to concede that if winning is not an option saying you were a nominee is the next best thing.

The Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award

Though some say The Asian Festival of Children's Content is similar to the Bologna Children's Book Fair of the East,  but going back to my earlier Hollywood references, it is really more like the Oscars, the Oscars of the Asian children's literature scene. OK, so there won't be any paparazzi, red carpet appearances or even a red carpet for that matter. You won't have style reporters quizzing you about your AFCC fashions ( seriously what do children's writers and illustrators really know about fashion anyway?) and Wolgang Puck will not have a legion of his chefs whipping up a five-star Michelin banquet at the AFCC closing dinner. But that doesn't mean you should skip the festival! You'd be CRAZY if you did. It's a MUST ATTEND event! How are you going to get discovered if you're not willing to be seen, people?

Anyway this year's country of focus is China and I think that's fantastic as it's probably the biggest market for children's books around and it's still growing. Now, if you're like me  --a Chinese person who can't speak a word of language --  don't worry, the sessions will have live translation.

Oh, and this year, I'll be speaking on conducting school visits with my fellow author, Sarah Mousey, aka my biggest competition :). 
As you can see from the pic below, I've decided to shrink her down and made her bio really, really, really small. Hey, it's my blog and I can do what I want to!

You should come to our session so you can hear Sarah speaking in Chinese. (Through a translator  if we have one. If we don't, then some might not understand what Sarah's saying at all. LOL.
Sarah, you'll have to start your own blog to get back at me! :) :) So come on, people, what are you waiting for?  Register now! 

CLICK THIS LINK TO REGISTER

Picture Book Review Master Class with Leonard Marcus and Marjorie Coughlan and Dinner with Andrea and Helen

So the festival was officially over but I had registered to attend the picture book review masterclass by Leonard Marcus and Marjorie Coughlan. I was so sleepy, extremely sleepy but I managed to drag myself out of bed in order to join Kenneth, Andrea and Naomi for breakfast as their hotel before the day-long workshop began.

I chose the picture book review masterclass because:

1.) It was being conducted by Leonard and Marjorie
2.) I'm a picture book author
3.) It would give me tips of what reviewers are looking for in a good picture book.

The class started at 10am promptly and I was late because there was a long line at the registration desk and I wanted to pay for the course before I actually attended it.

By the time I got to the room, everyone was introducing themselves. It's one part of any course that I feel least comfortable with and I just said, "Hi I'm David. I write books. I blog. That's it." 

I feel uncomfortable and awkward in a roomful of adults, especially when the attention is on me. I'm a writer. A loner. I feel most comfortable in front audiences who still require afternoon naps or diaper changes. In other words, the very young or the very old.

Anyway, shortly after my short, concise introduction, I got a text message and I wondered who could possibly be texting me so early in the morning. Could it be an editor or publisher who I had deluded into thinking I was the next big author with multi-million dollar sales potential? Could it be a transmedia exec offering me worldwide distribution for my stories? Perhaps it was MENSA calling to apologise for not recognizing my literary genius, or my plain genius, and asking if I would like to sign up as a member?  No to all of the above. So who was it from? Well, it was from Kenneth, giving me his critique of my introduction! And let's just say  I've had better reviews.

With that done, the class got underway a reading of Sendak's 'Where the Wild Things Are'. I was surprised that some people had never even read it. Though some did watch the highly questionable movie adaptation of it.

We discussed wordless picture books and translated picture books and all sorts of picture books. At the end of the day, Emma and I paired up to write a review of Susie Lee's wordless book 'Wave'.

Then it was time to pack up. Marjorie had one last drink and a curry puff with us before Kenneth and I had to head on over to Helen Mangham's house for a get-together with Andrea and Helen. They always host a wonderful party with fantastic food and drink during the AFCC and it's a wonderful way to bring the week to a close.

Emma, Simon, Emily, Pauline Loh were already there when we got there. Kenneth and I hit the buffet table and piled our plates high before settling down on her really comfy sofas and chatting with the other guests there.

Helen, Emma and I discussed a big huge upcoming meeting that we'll be having. Hopefully, I don't mess things up. Emily, Ken and Pauline discussed the high points of AFCC and then when it was time to go we thanked Helen and Andrea for a wonderful evening. Andrea was heading back to Manila the next morning and I'm supposed to get her my manuscript soon. Note to self: Start writing!

SCBWI, NBDCS, AFCC, and Children's Publishing in Singapore.

Dinner with Linda Sue Park in 2011

SCBWI Singapore is  relatively small in terms of how big most SCBWI regions are, but in three years it's grown from a core group of six members, including RA Kenneth Quek and coordinator Catherine Carvell, into a group of about 40 members with an average of 17-18 members attending the monthly critique meetings.

In a span of three years, our authors have won awards, published books and have been signed to literary agencies. Even the most jaded publishing type will have to admit that this has been quite a feat for a country where children's publishing is still in its relative infancy.

SCBWI members at AFCC 2012

Speaking with Shamini Flint and Emily Lim at AFCC 2012

On the SWF panel with David Almond, Emily Lim, and John Dougherty

Our  group has been lucky enough to have dined with Linda Sue Park, Wendy Orr, Jacqueline Harvey, and Lisa Yee to name a few. 

Dinner with Ian and Jacqueline, and Lisa Yee

Dinner with Tom and Wendy @ AFCC 2013

Dinner with Jacqueline Harvey

Some of us have been to the Bologna Children's Book Fair and The London Book Fair. We've been asked to speak at festivals and we've attended them too. 

At the Bologna Children's Book Fair

Kenneth dining with Leonard Marcus @ Rules in London

I credit the growth of our group down to two key members: RA Kenneth and  group coordinator, Catherine, our leaders. They are extremely passionate about children's books. Kenneth is also the Deputy Director of the National Book Development Council of Singapore and one of the festivals under his portfolio is the Asian Festival of Children's Content.

Catherine, Sarah, Emma and Kenneth @ AFCC 2012

Mr Rama

Evelyn Sue Wong, Ruhksana Khan and Trevor Kew

Conceived by Mr Rama, Director of the NBDCS, the festival has grown exponentially in recent years. The glitterati of children's literati  that have graced the event include: Wendy Orr, Candy Gourlay, Susanne Gervay, Naomi Kojima, Kathleen Ahrens, Dianne Wolfer, Vivian Kirkfield, Ruhksana Khan, Sarah Odedina,  Helen McAleer, Andrea Pasion-Flores, Helen Mangham, Jayapriya Vasudevan, Cynthea Liu, Alvina Ling, Mio Debnam, Linda Lingard,  Holly Thompson, Leonard Marcus, Steve Mooser,  Norman Jorgensen, Chris, Cheng, Edmund Wee, Yusof Gajah, James Foley, Trevor Kew and many, many more.  It's a great place to meet publishing professionals-- from authors and editors to agents and publishers - and learn more about the industry.

Susanne Gervay @ AFCC 2013

Book signing for Emma's Elephant.

Emma and Wendy Orr

Naomi, Mio and Kenneth @ AFCC 2013

Tuting Hernandez, Myra Garces Bascal, Susanna Goho-Quek, Chris Cheng
and Mr Rama at the joint book launches of ' Water' and 'Beyond Legends, Folktales and Myths'.

The AFCC/Book Council team 2013

CLICK THIS LINK TO REGISTER FOR AFCC

Now this year's AFCC is going to be bigger than ever before and will span five whole days including a media summit, seminars for parents and teachers, talks, workshops, manuscript and illustration critiques, book launches and much, much more.

Now a few friendly words of advice for any first time authors and illustrators out there who will be attending this MUST-GO-TO event.

1. Don't approach editors, publishers and agents with your manuscripts. This is neither the time nor the place to do so. Instead you can submit your manuscripts or artwork for the First Look and First Pages critiques or the pitch session.


2.  Watch, listen and learn. Watch, listen and learn. Watch, listen and learn.

3.   As the sessions run concurrently, pick and choose your sessions wisely. 

4. Enjoy the festival.

Asian Festival of Children's Content: Local Authors, International Audience

For weeks, Ken had been asking me if I had finished my PowerPoint for the Local Authors, International Audience panel discussion with authors Emily Lim and Shamini Flint. My standard reply was "more or less". And when I say more or less, that usually means more on the less side; however, I wasn't going to tell him that! Thankfully I finally finished my PowerPoint presentation on the morning of our panel discussion.  How on earth was I going to measure up to the two powerhouses of local children's literature. Talk about PRESSURE!!! So I figured that I would basically use attention grabbing tactics. Sad and pathetic? Yes. Shameless? Most definitely!!

Leonard Marcus delivers his address

So the day kicked off with Leonard Marcus's engaging keynote address  Children's Books for Education and Entertainment. I really wish I had an opportunity to listen to him when I first started writing; it would have saved me a lot of grief when I was first starting out in this industry.  Getting Your Books on  Bookshelves Across South East Asia was a session I would have loved to have attended but I had to put my finishing touches on my presentation.


Catherine and Sarah were already at the Bookaburra perusing the books on sale. Dragging Sarah to my makeshift workspace, I ran through my PowerPoint and she gave me the thumbs up. That was a relief until I realised that Internet access was practically out of the question. I'm kind of a dunce when it comes to these things, but I finally managed to figure it out in time to head over to the next session:


Crossing Borders: Taking Our Books Out of Our Home Country with Vatsala Kaul-Banerjee of Hachette-India and Adeline Foo.  Inspiring as always, Adeline, inspiring as always.

Local Authors, International Audience

At 1:45pm I headed down to the Earshot Cafe to meet with Phan Ming Yen, the moderator Local Authors, International Audience, and my fellow panelists, Shamini Flint and Emily Lim. I literally bumped into Shamini--Sorry, Shamini, I'm a klutz, while she was talking to Ken Spillman  before Ming Yen and Emily arrived to run through the sequence of our talk. Shamini was all set and she didn't even need a PowerPoint presentation!  Emily was all ready to go and as for me, well I could only rely on my cheap attention-grabbing tactics. We agreed that the ladies should start off the panel discussion: Emily,  Shamini, then me.


The Gallery, the venue of our panel discussion was packed! A. Susanna was there to take pictures and to offer support...I mean.  Emily borrowed my computer for her PowerPoint presentation. Dang she was well prepared! It was brilliant! I suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Next, it was Shamini's turn. She's brilliant and she makes it seem effortless.  Shamini  left everyone in stitches with her sense of humor on how she went from high flying lawyer with a sports car to a mum and a writer. And she didn't even need a PowerPoint presentation and I was next. Beads of sweat began to dot my brow and I felt an acne outbreak coming on. There was no way my presentation could compare to these two ladies.  Oh boy. Thankfully I didn't mess up my presentation! And before I knew it, the presentation was over and I was exhausted.

Shamini Flint, Emily Lim and me!

I headed straight over to the launch of  Neill Laurenson's aka Sabian Lau's  book The Prince and the Merlion which was moderated by AFCC Board of Advisors Chairperson Claire Chiang. 

Neill Laurenson aka Sabian Lau and Claire Chiang at the book launch
of the Prince and the Merlion

Stacey Zolt Hara

This was quickly followed by Stacey Zolt Hara's app launch of her book Bella's Chinese New Year. 


I had a few sessions to attend before the SCBWI dinner at the Pod at the library which I was really looking forward to and I managed a quick chat with Sarah Odedina. It turns out she's not a fan of scatalogical books so I'm glad I didn't talk to her about my latest book-"The Farting Forest".

exchanging autographs with Naomi Kojima

On my way out, I exchanged autographs with  Naomi Kojima. She signed   her charming book Singing Shijimi Clams for me and I signed my book  Monkey: The Classic Chinese Aventure Tale for her. After a quick stop to the library, I headed to the POD where SCBWI members from around the world were already gathered for a buffet dinner. I was beginning to feel my gut expand.

Asian Festival of Children's Content 2012 is Here!!

The Scholastic goodie bag attendees will receive!

Well after months of planning and lots and lots of hard work on the part of the NBDCS team: Mr Rama, Kenneth, Faith, Vasantha, Celine, Filzah AFCC 2012 kicks off today. I think it's going to be the best festival yet!

I headed down to the airport yesterday to pick up keynote speaker Leonard Marcus from the airport, and I checked the timing of the flight before I left for the airport  and it was on schedule for 5:15pm but  when I arrived, I was more than half an hour late because the flight arrived early! I feel so badly about that and I am so sorry, Mr Marcus. Anyway we got to the hotel with out any further incident, thank goodness.

Books at Bookaburra

Festival Manager Kenneth Quek and Author/Illustrator Susanna Goho

Norman Jorgensen, Dianne Wolfer, Festival Director Mr Rama and Susanna Goho 

Celine and Vasantha and Faith getting everythig ready for the big day

The Registration Booth

After that I headed down to the Arts House, the venue for AFCC where everything seemed to be progressing nicely. Here are some of the snaps I took today. So I hope to see everyone there tomorrow...Good night.