Asian Festival of Children's Content

By DAPHNE LEE
Tots to Teens

CHILDREN'S lit is beginning to get the attention it deserves in this part of the world. Last year, a children's literature module was introduced as part of University Malaya's English literature course.

And two days ago, on March 19th, a colloquim on children's literature was held at the university.

Perhaps most exciting for those passionate about children's literature is the Asian Festival of Children's Content. This event, which will take place from May 6-9 at The Arts House in Singapore, is co-organized by The Arts House and the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS). It incorporates the Asian Children Writers & Illustrators Conference (ACWIC) (organised by the NBDCS for the past 10 years), the Asian Children's Publisher's Symposium, the Asian Parents Forum and the Asian Primary and Pre-School Teachers Congress.

The festival's vision is "to provide the World's children with quality Asian content for education and entertainment", while its mission is "to foster excellence in the creation, production and publication" of materials, with Asian content and for children, in all formats.

Literature is, therefore, not the only thing on the agenda, although, I believe, stories are still very much the focus of event. It's simply a matter of widening the context in which stories are presented and experienced.

You have the book, the audiobook, the graphic novel, film, the video game, the stageplay. Maybe you even have the puppet show, and why stop there? Why not a shadow puppet play, an opera, and a made-for-television musical series? The possibilities are endless.This is, I suppose, a realistic and intelligent way of making stories relevant in today's world and to the 21st century  hyper-stimulated plugged-in child. If he won't read the book, give him the video game instead!

Anyway, there's still a lot going on to interest writers and illustrators, and publishers of boring old books.

This year's theme is Asian Content for the World's Children, which, hopefully, means that the question of how relevant Asian content is to the rest of the world will be addressed and discussed.

Well, right on day one, you have keynote speakers Kenneth Tan and Nury Vittachi talking about The Great Content Divide: Bridging the Gap between East and West and The Asian Invasion Starts Here respectively.

Here are some of the other highlights from the festival:

May 6

Writing Across Borders: Taking Asian Content to the World by Paro Anand & Christopher Cheng

Writing Faith & Religion: Dropping the Preachy Tone in Children’s and Young Fiction by Rukhsana KhanThe Postmodern Picture Book by John McKenzie

What Publishers Look For In Children’s and Young Adults stories? by Anushka Ravishankar & Sayoni Basu

May 7

How to Create the Best Multicultural Books by Holly Thompson & Daphne Lee

Weaving Historical Stories into Fiction for Children by Christopher Cheng

Picture Books: Knowing Your Voice by Naomi KojimaMultilingual Pluralities in Picture Books by Radhika Menon

There will also be workshops, panel discussions, book launches and the chance to get your story ideas evaluated by a professional in a series of one-on-one sessions.

For more information about speakers, the event's full programme schedule and ticketing go to www.afcc.com.sg.