Asian Festival of Children's Content, Day One: Launch and Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award Prize Presentation

The Asian Festival of Children's Content kicked off  it's week-long series of events including:  talks, workshops, masterclasses, speed pitching rounds and, the very first ever AFCC retreat on the Indonesian island of Bintan.

While a select few authors and illustrators were on their way to a literary adventure of a lifetime with Andrea Passion-Flores, Sarah Odedina, Candy Gourlay and Catarina Sobral, the majority of the delegates were at the Mochtar Riardy Auditorium of the SMU Administration Building for AFCC's opening ceremony and Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award prize presentation.

Book Council Chairman, Claire Chiang delivered the opening address before Guest-of-Honour Minister-in-charge of Muslim Affairs,  Minister of Communications and Information, Yacoob Ibrahim, spoke of the stories his grandmother regaled him with in his childhood.

Then Edmund Lim, Chief Judge of the Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Awards spoke briefly of the judging process and before the guest-of-honour was invited back on stage to present the prize.

After a few moments of keeping the audience in suspense,
The nominees were:  'Hidden in Plain Sight' by Su-Lin Ang, 'Letters to Aly' by Li-Ann, 'The Mango Tree' by Hidayah Amin, 'Not in the Stars' by Pauline Loh , The Diary of Amos Lee: Monkeying in Malaysia' by Adeline Foo, illustrated by Stephanie Wong. 

After a few moments of keeping us in suspense, the emcee announced that it was a tie. The winners of this year's award
'The Rock and the Bird' by Chew Chia Shao Wei  and Angee Neo and 'The Mango Tree' by Hidayah Amin and Idris Ali.

Congratulations to the winners and the finalists, well-deserved, well-deserved. 

 My publisher Edmund Wee is all smiles below after securing a second consecutive win with one of his books. Do you think it's a good time to ask for a royalty increase? Thanks, Edmund, we love you!

Asian Festival of Children's Content Press Conference 2014

A few days after our return from London, the National Book Development Council of Singapore held a press conference for the upcoming Asian Festival of Children's Content. Originally conceived as the Asian Children's Writers and Illustrators Conference by NBDCS Director, Mr Ramachandran, the festival has grown exponentially and includes conferences for teachers and parents and is now popularly known as the AFCC. As Mr Rama has said over the years, he hopes the festival will bring Asian content to the world's children.

Mr Ramachandran, Ms Lim Li Kok, Ms. Claire Chiang, HE Vijay Thakur Singh, Mr Kenneth Quek

As Deputy Director of the Council and Festival Director of the festival, Kenneth kicked off the press con with a detailed overview of what participants can expect from the conference. And this year's conference looks set to be even bigger and better than the previous years', if that's even possible. Some of the literary glitterati who have attended the event in previous years include Susanne Gervay, Wendy Orr, Norman Jorgensen, James Foley, Chris Cheng, Alvina Ling, Rukhsana Khan, and  Sarah Odedina.

Ken and the book 'Water' which was launced at last year's AFCC.

Once again, there will be an impressive line-up of panels, workshops and masterclasses for parents, teachers, authors and illustrators. This year you'll  get the chance to get up close and personal with the likes of Sally Gardner, Atanu Roy, Leonard Marcus, Subir Shukla, Sampurna Chattarji, Sandhya Prabhat, Frane Lessac, Kathleen Ahrens, AJ Low, Mariko Nagai,  Andrew Weale, James Mayhew, AJ Low, and Ken Spillman to name a few. 

And if you are an aspiring author or illustrator, this may just be the year you'll find yourself on the road to publication. You'll have the opportunity to pitch their story ideas to agents and content developers.

Catherine Carvell "Darcy Moon and the Deep Fried Frogs", Sarah Mounsey "Purple Paw Prints" and Emma Nicholson "Princess Petunia's Dragon" are just some authors who attended the festival and were subsequently published! Not bad, right?

This year's country of focus is the Asia's literary heavyweight -India! 

HE Vijay Thakur Singh

After Kenneth's introduction to the this year's festival, the Indian High Commissioner , Ms Vijay Thakur Singh, took to the podium to talk about India's rich and vibrant history in story-telling.

Then it was time for Claire Chiang, Chairman of AFCC's Board of Advisors to announce the shortlist for the Scholastic Asian Book Award. 

Ms. Claire Chiang

The shortlisted authors are:

1. Aditi Krishnakumar for Ergo Sum (India)

2.  Catherine Torres for Sula's Voyage (Philippines)

3. Thia Shi Min for Dragonhearted: The Fine Spell of Words Alone (Singapore)

4. Sophia Lee for What Things Mean (Philippines)

5. Vivek Bhanot for Robin and the Case of the Summer Camp Kidnapping (India)


Congratulations to all of the shortlisted writers and if you would like to find more about the AFCC please click this link @AFCC Registration. I hope to see you there!