Over 400 international authors, publishers, distributors, institutional buyers, literary agents and multimedia producers of children’s content will gather in Singapore for the inaugural Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) from 6 - 9 May 2010. To be held at The Arts House, this is possibly the first festival of its kind in the world to focus on Asian children’s content.
The organisers, The Arts House and National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS), hope the festival will give a boost to the creation, production and publication of children’s materials with Asian content in all formats. The meeting of international industry players is also aimed at improving the distribution and access of Asian content to children worldwide.
The global children’s content business, which includes books, games, films and music, is a multi-billion dollar industry.
The festival’s advisory board chairperson Claire Chiang said: “To date, we’ve had easy access to and benefited from a wide selection of education and entertainment content from the West. Asian materials, even those available, are seldom translated and promoted, and are therefore left unexplored. It’s a big loss for children worldwide, and an untapped industry with tremendous potential.”
Apart from providing a platform for children’s content industry players to network, the festival will also host established and emerging writers and content producers such as Singapore authors Jessie Wee and Emily Lim, the Philippines’ Karina Bolasco, publisher of Anvil Publishing, Malaysia’s Teri Tan, international correspondent for New York–based magazine Publishers Weekly, Risuan Aramcharoen, President of The Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand, Taiwan’s Irene Chen, a children's literature critic and writer, Hong Kong-based Nury Vittachi, a best-selling author, Kathleen Ahrens, the International Regional Advisor Chair for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Misako Ohnuki, the Director of Culture Division, Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO, and illustrator and translator, Naomi Kojima from Japan.
Other speakers include India’s award-winning writers Paro Anand and Anushka Ravishankar (‘India’s Dr. Seuss’), and illustrator Atanu Roy, Christopher Cheng, 2009 winner of the Lady Cutler Award for services to children's literature, and award-winning young adult novelist Ken Spillman from Australia, Jeff Yang, founder and publisher of the Asian American periodical aMagazine, from the US, award-winning author Rukhsana Khan from Canada, Greg Childs, media consultant and former BBC Children’s director and producer, from the UK, Nathalie Beau, a pioneer of children’s bookshops in France and a founder of the country’s Children’s Booksellers Association, and Suresh Seetharaman, co-founder of Virgin Comics LLC.
More information on the programme highlights, speakers and registration for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content is available at www.afcc.com.sg. Interested participants can register via the website from 25 February 2010.
The organisers, The Arts House and National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS), hope the festival will give a boost to the creation, production and publication of children’s materials with Asian content in all formats. The meeting of international industry players is also aimed at improving the distribution and access of Asian content to children worldwide.
The global children’s content business, which includes books, games, films and music, is a multi-billion dollar industry.
The festival’s advisory board chairperson Claire Chiang said: “To date, we’ve had easy access to and benefited from a wide selection of education and entertainment content from the West. Asian materials, even those available, are seldom translated and promoted, and are therefore left unexplored. It’s a big loss for children worldwide, and an untapped industry with tremendous potential.”
Apart from providing a platform for children’s content industry players to network, the festival will also host established and emerging writers and content producers such as Singapore authors Jessie Wee and Emily Lim, the Philippines’ Karina Bolasco, publisher of Anvil Publishing, Malaysia’s Teri Tan, international correspondent for New York–based magazine Publishers Weekly, Risuan Aramcharoen, President of The Publishers and Booksellers Association of Thailand, Taiwan’s Irene Chen, a children's literature critic and writer, Hong Kong-based Nury Vittachi, a best-selling author, Kathleen Ahrens, the International Regional Advisor Chair for the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Misako Ohnuki, the Director of Culture Division, Asia/Pacific Cultural Centre for UNESCO, and illustrator and translator, Naomi Kojima from Japan.
Other speakers include India’s award-winning writers Paro Anand and Anushka Ravishankar (‘India’s Dr. Seuss’), and illustrator Atanu Roy, Christopher Cheng, 2009 winner of the Lady Cutler Award for services to children's literature, and award-winning young adult novelist Ken Spillman from Australia, Jeff Yang, founder and publisher of the Asian American periodical aMagazine, from the US, award-winning author Rukhsana Khan from Canada, Greg Childs, media consultant and former BBC Children’s director and producer, from the UK, Nathalie Beau, a pioneer of children’s bookshops in France and a founder of the country’s Children’s Booksellers Association, and Suresh Seetharaman, co-founder of Virgin Comics LLC.
More information on the programme highlights, speakers and registration for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content is available at www.afcc.com.sg. Interested participants can register via the website from 25 February 2010.
