In the first week of June, I will be attending the Asian Festival of Children’s Content (AFCC) in Singapore as a speaker. Needless to say, I’m very excited about it as the AFCC is without doubt the biggest event of its kind in Asia. It brings together creators of children’s content from across the world, with the intent of producing and making available quality books and other media for Asian children.
The session I’m going to be part of is titled “The Future of Fantastic (YA) Fiction”, part of the Writers’ and Illustrators’ Conference. My co-panellists are Lara Morgan and Sally Gardner. Here’s the description from the AFCC website:
Magic schools, paranormal adventure, pessimistic visions of the future—the biggest trends in young adult literature in the past decade have revolved around fiction that draws upon the weird and fantastical. Join these speculative fiction authors as they discuss the ins and outs of science fiction and fantasy for young adult audience.
With cross-cultural exchanges taking on ever greater importance today, I’m expecting this to be an inspiring and meaningful experience. I can’t wait to meet my co-panellists and other authors, illustrators, filmmakers, teachers, librarians and other people involved in creating children’s content and bringing it to Asian kids.
Of course, attending the AFCC would not have been possible without the organizers, the National Book Development Council of Singapore. A big thank you to them for inviting me.
~PD