9.30am – 10.15am

Chamber

From the first modern children’s books—published by 18th-century England’s John Newbery—down to today, authors and illustrators for children have searched for the “right” balance between entertainment and educational content. This illustrated keynote will touch on a number of fascinating historical and recent solutions to this challenge, and suggest what each one has to teach us.

10.15am – 11.15am

Play Den

While the emerging multi-platform environment offers a wealth of opportunities for publishers, new business models, partnerships and ways of working are essential if a company is to succeed. Join Helen McAleer to explore ways to establish a solid revenue base against growing digital marketplaces and falling physical retail sales, and how a multi-format strategy can extend and develop your key publishing brands.

10.15am – 11.15am

Gallery

Newberry Honor recipient,  Margarita Engle will discuss why she writes novels in verse for young people, followed by a brief introduction to each of her books.  Her slides will provide a visual depiction of her Cuban-American family background, which provides the personal connection to historical topics covered in her books.  She will discuss the research process, the writing process, and exploration of themes.

10.15am – 11.15am

Living Room

More than human dictionaries, translators are professional readers and writers who recast content from one language in another, based on a studied understanding of the target audience. How can translators of children’s literature improve and advertise their skills? How can publishers, writers, and illustrators pursue productive relationships with translators? Avery Fischer Udagawa explores these questions as co-leader of the SCBWI Tokyo Translation Group, translators of Japanese children’s literature into English.

10.15am – 11.15am

Screening Room

Jacob will discuss the challenges of selling books in South East Asia, namely custom duties, languages, pricing, types and network of bookshops, discounts and terms of supply to bookshops.

11.45am – 12.45pm

Play Den

Candy Gourlay and Isabel Roxas will share their challenges and success stories as popular and award-winning Filipino children’s book creators, making a global trek to share the realities of the Philippine diaspora. Jomike and Russell will speak about the current trends, definitions, and market when it comes to Filipino children’s literature as it is evident in the local scene.

11.45am – 12.45pm

Gallery

How do some books travel out of their home countries? How and why are they noticed and plucked out by publishers abroad? How are they modified and marketed in the new environment? What are the trials and triumphs of crossing borders? Taking The Diary of Amos Lee  series as an example, Hachette India’s Vatsala Kaul Banerjee, with Adeline Foo, invites you to join them on the journey of a book series from Singapore to India.

11.45am – 12.45pm

Living Room

Authors of realistic novels are sometimes criticised because stories based on life are seen as ‘easier’ to write.  But transforming the real world into fiction requires as much imaginative work as any other genre. Two authors discuss how to keep it real when it is all made up, without sacrificing authenticity.

11.45am – 12.45pm

Screening Room

For many new books trailers are being created. Why are book trailers created and are they effective? What makes a good or bad trailer? Are they a fad or an essential 21st century marketing tool? Hear from a creator and believer in the power of book trailers.

 2.15pm – 3.15pm

Play Den

Writing non-fiction for children is not an easy task as facts not only need to be accurate but also need to be conveyed in both words and images to children. In this session, two writers, Mohana Gill and Rossiti Aishah Rashidi, from very different backgrounds will share their experiences, lessons learned and tips for success. Expect a lively and informative session with takeaways for your non-fiction book.

2.15pm – 3.15pm

Gallery

Authors Shamini Flint, Emily Lim and David Seow have all published books, which have reached beyond our shores. Flint has won world-wide acclaim for books, Lim is a multiple IPPY Award Winner and Seow was shortlisted the SCBWI Crystal kite award. Together they will share their experiences of being local authors with an international audience.

2.15pm – 3.15pm

Living Room

Impressed by fine art tradition in Thailand, Yoko Yoshizawa stayed in Chiang Mai for two months and collaborated with a Thai traditional painter to make a wonderful picture book.  She will talk about her experience for this publication.  She is determined to have more Asian folktales published with illustrations by local artists.

2.15pm – 4.15pm

Screening Room

Some books become a rage while some just fizzle out. How does an editor know which book will appeal to children? How does the seed of a book idea come about? In this engaging session, Sohini will take you through her experiences as a commissioning editor, as she explores how book ideas are identified and developed. Through a short presentation she will share the joys of discovering the right book and finding gifted authors from amongst a multitude of talents in India.

3.45pm – 4.45pm

Play Den

Presenters: Anu Kumar, Author, India/Singapore, Blooey Singson, Journalist, Philippines and Daphne Lee, Journalist, Malaysia

Reviewing a book goes beyond mere critique of a particular book and bringing it alive for the prospective reader.  In this session, three panelists who have had diverse experiences in reviewing books share their experiences: how reviewing a book is about its history and the genre it is part of; how a review is shaped based on parameters like the medium it appears in and the readership it seeks and the many challenges and responsibilities that come with the act of reviewing.

3.45pm – 4.45pm

Gallery

Chaired by Kathleen Ahrens, International Regional Advisor Chair, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Hong Kong

Illustrators are invited to submit their six illustrations from an unpublished project, to be reviewed and commented on by a panel of international publishing experts before an audience.

3.45pm – 4.45pm

Living Room

Are you in a quandary over what is considered good children’s literature? Discover how selectors at both National Library Board and Bookaburra go about deciding what children’s materials to select and how they carefully develop the children’s and young people’s collections in libraries and bookshops across Singapore. The presentation will cover selection criteria and methods and challenges of collection development.

5.15pm – 6.15pm

Play Den

In New South Africa, a “developing country”, picture book people are challenged to support a struggling primary education system, while still providing quality picture books for children from a growing middle-class. Challenges include: balancing artistic creativity with great socio/educational needs; informing on codes of social behaviour without sacrificing the fun and joy and focusing on the development of the child’s aesthetic sense to widen our children’s narrow horizon.

5.15pm – 6.15pm

Gallery

In today’s world, children should be allowed to talk and discuss what they have in mind. In this dialogue, four 12-16 year olds, who are voracious readers, authors/poets themselves, will share their views on the type of content that they are avidly consuming. Children’s authors, illustrators, bloggers, academicians and other content providers are encouraged to discuss on what makes literature tick for the modern-day teenager.

5.15pm – 6.15pm

Living Room

The authors discuss their insights in the making the multicultural aspects of their writing deeper and more meaningful, an integral part of the stories they tell.

5.15pm – 6.15pm

Screening Room

Alvina Ling and Sarah Odedina discuss the various aspects of children’s publishing and their involvement with many award winning authors and books, including Harry Potter, The Graveyard Book, Where The Mountain Meets the Moon, A Gathering Light and The Daughter of Smoke and Bone.

9.30am – 10.15am

Chamber

Spurred by the success of Vikram Swarup’s  Slumdog Millionaire, Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight, the recent Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and locally, The Diary of Amos Lee by Adeline Foo, more young adult books are being adapted into screenplays, with great success. Singapore’s Media Development Authority recognises the opportunity in this rapidly expanding segment with a portfolio of schemes to support production houses, publishers and authors from the initial idea to the final product.

10.15am – 11.15am

Gallery

Today there are many Apps being created specifically for toddlers. Are they for entertainment or for education? What is involved in creating high quality digital materials that are suitable for toddlers? Hear from a Creative Director (Digital Publishing) for an App development company as we look at some toddler focused Apps.

10.15am – 11.15am

Living Room

When reluctant readers turn away from books, where do they go? Often to video games or sport. How do you reach these readers? You bend it like Beckham and give them books about gaming and sport! Drawing on their own experiences, Raewyn and Trevor will tell you about the challenges, pitfalls and rewards of writing sports fiction for reluctant readers. They will also share a few ‘slick tricks’ to getting published and ensuring those sales figures look good!

10.15am – 11.15am

Screening Room

The road to publication is different for every illustrator. As in any good story, it is a tale full of struggles and triumphs, elation and despair, an odd villain or two, some helpful sidekicks and many lessons learned. Sometimes the journey is one of personal growth and sometimes the journey is one that takes you many leagues across the sea! Join Isabel Roxas and James Foley as they discuss their tales of inspiration, and offer tips for aspiring illustrators waiting to begin adventures of their own.

11.45am – 12.45pm

Gallery

Chaired by Kathleen Ahrens, International Regional Advisor Chair, Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, Hong Kong

Writers are invited to submit their best first page of an unpublished manuscript, to be read and commented on by a panel of international publishing experts before an audience.

11.45am – 12.45pm

Living Room

The authors discuss their individual approaches in their writing, to the sensitive issues that resonate with their readers.

2.15pm – 2.45pm

In this presentation, Suzy Lee explores the notion of the border between fantasy and reality (as depicted in her award-winning series of wordless picture books, The Border Trilogy), the borders of image and text, the borders between children and grown-ups and the universality of picture books across borders.

2.45pm – 3.45pm

Living Room

Illustrating books for older children differs from illustrating picture books. With picture books, pictures and words together tell the story. With story books, words come first, and the story can be understood without pictures. So what does the illustrator need to know when illustrating a story book? This session will discuss how an illustrator can choose a passage of text, interpret the text visually and create characters, drama, time and place.

2.45pm – 3.45pm

Screening Room

Two award winning authors, Singapore-based Anu Kumar and Philippines-based  Candy Gourlay, discuss how they mine the rich seam of their diverse backgrounds to create story. By drawing on their own native mythologies and histories, their work reflects a richer, even more fantastic understanding of our unique Asian heritage.

4.15pm – 5.15pm

Living Room

Can you write ‘Muslim’ and still be interesting? “Absolutely!” says award-winning author Rukhsana Khan. She will offer insights on how to address Muslim themes in ways that will appeal to all kinds of audiences and shed light on this often misunderstood community.

5.15pm – 6.15pm

Living Room

Listen to this panel of judges and award honorees as they discuss what they think would make an award winning book.