Trainers/Speakers | The Singapore Book Council Academy

Smita Khanna

Smita has been working with Jacaranda Literary Agency for over two years. Within the agency she wears many hats – those of an assistant agent, running of Write Advice, which is Jacaranda’s editorial consultancy, as well as keeping an eye out for good book ideas and the right people to write those books.

Courses conducted:

Is My Book Agent Ready? Editing your manuscript for submission to an agent (2020)

Catherine Khoo

Author, educator, editor and publisher (in this order!), Catherine Khoo, has been writing and publishing since 1988.

She created the Young Author Scheme in 2003, mentoring under-18s to pen their first novella.

In 2005, she set up her own boutique publishing house, Experiences & Experiments Books, to showcase the works of her young authors as the big publishing houses deem them too childish! Since then, a selection of young authors’ books are available in print, as ebooks, and collected into anthologies. http://www.catherinekhoo.sg/estore

In 2010, she launched the Young Reader Club (YRC) magazine, the host of excellent stories by 10 to 14 year olds. YRC prides itself on its reputation of presenting excellent works of art, supporting emerging writers and connecting young authors with audiences of all nationalities, across lifestyles and cultures.

In 2017, she franchised out her creative education suite, Unique English Classroom, to Malaysia, http://www.english.edu.my/ (10 centres) and Philippines http://www.uecyoungauthors.com.ph/(8 centres).

Her vision: to build the next generation of thinkers and writers while creating a library of children’s literature for the region!

Courses conducted:

Anthony Koh Waugh

Anthony has been a writer-bookseller since 2007. As a full-time freelance writer, he has over seven years of writing experience for various online and print magazines. His portfolio ranges from lifestyle pieces and celebrity interviews to self-help articles and investigative reports. He founded Booktique Where Writers Shop, a literary bookshop in 2013 to support independent writers. His proudest achievement in writing was when POPULAR Bookstore CEO invited him to contribute his life-changing story to their corporate magazine Popular News.

Courses conducted:

How to Survive as a Freelance Writer (2018)

Lee Kow Fong

Lee Kow Fong, or Ah Guo, graduated with a BA(Hons) from the National University of Singapore and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Translation and Interpretation from the Nanyang Technological University. He received his MA in Children’s Book Illustration from Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University, UK in 2011. Besides teaching as a full-time lecturer at the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, he is also actively involved in the promotion and creation of children’s picture-books in Singapore.

Courses conducted:

Josef Lee

Josef Lee is a Singaporean picture-book writer-artist and his illustrated short stories have been shared online on his blog, 'Josef Lee's Bedtime Stories for Adults' since 2008. To date, he has created 18 picture-stories. In April 2017, Josef successfully published his first picture-book - 'Wake Me Up At Happyland' via a crowdfunding campaign. Since then, his works have attracted the attention of various publishers from Taiwan and China. Within two years, he has published a total of eight picture-books and one novel adaptation. Another of his work is currently being adapted into a children's play in China, and slated to be performed all around China.

Courses conducted:

Karen Lee

Karen is a storyteller and trainer with 20 years of teaching experience in the education field. She has been telling stories to people of all ages, from all walks of life, sharing with them hope, courage and a chance to understand the self and others. She has trained preschool teachers and volunteers who tell stories in their communities. She enjoys bringing to her audience the joy that can be gained from storytelling.

Courses conducted:

Lee Seow Ser

Lee Seow Ser is the author of The Rain Tree and Si Ma Guang and the Giant Jar. As project lead of To S.I.R. (Socially Inclusive Reads) with Love, she joyfully creates values-imbued picture books with stories in dyslexia-friendly font, Braille and tactile elements for children, with or without special needs, to enjoy.

Courses conducted:

Improving the reading comprehension skills of dyslexic children aged 7 – 9 (2018)

Caryl Lewis (Wales / United Kingdom)

Caryl Lewis (1978) is the author of eleven Welsh-language books for adults, three novels for young adults and thirteen children’s books. Three-times winner of the Wales Book of the Year, she came to prominence with her novel Martha, Jac a Sianco (2004) which, like most of her work, explores the lives of farming families in rural Wales. It was published in English translation as Martha, Jack and Shanco in 2007 by Parthian Books in translation by Gwen Davies and made into a successful feature film. Her novel Y Gemydd (2007) is being published in September this year in English as The Jeweller. Caryl Lewis has also written extensively for cinema and television, notably adapting her novel for the film version. Her TV credits include the Welsh-language scripts of the internationally acclaimed bilingual crime series Y Gwyll / Hinterland and Craith / Hidden.

Courses conducted:

Cynthea Liu

Cynthea Liu is an award-winning children’s book author, publisher and writing coach. Her picture book works are published Simon & Schuster, Sterling, and Disney Worldwide and her work has been translated into multiple languages. She is al so the publisher of Starts With Us, which empowers children to change the world in pursuit of their talents and interests.

Courses conducted:

Children’s Book Boot Camp (2019)

Okky Madasari

Okky Madasari is an award-winning Indonesian novelist and essayist. She has published five novels, one short story collection and three children’s novels since 2010. Her novels have been translated into English, Malay, German and Arabic. In 2017, Okky was selected by the US government to represent Indonesia for the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, US, from August to October 2017.

She regularly writes essays for Indonesian and international media and journals, and becomes a regular writer for the Jakarta Post (for samples of her article see for instance: https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2018/12/22/political-mothers-at-their-best-and-worst.html and https://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2018/07/24/hijab-avoided-subject-on-childrens-day.html), Jawa Post (see: https://www.jawapos.com/opini/25/10/2019/berharap-kepada-nadiem/ and https://www.jawapos.com/opini/21/09/2019/siapa-yang-bebal/) and Detik.com (see: https://news.detik.com/kolom/d-4274454/90-tahun-dongeng-keindonesiaan)

Okky has been providing writing workshop for essay, fiction, feature and reports and other writings for business purposes for general public, universities, government offices, communities and corporates. She has been developing a unique method to allow for a quick mastery of basic writing skills in producing quality pieces. She has giving workshops to people from private companies, state-owned firms, government institutions and universities.

Courses conducted:

Helen Mangham

Helen Mangham joined Jacaranda Literary Agency as a partner in 2013. Originally from the UK she started her publishing career in London at Curtis Brown literary agency as assistant to two of the senior agents. She was also one of the agency’s readers, responsible for reading manuscripts languishing in the ‘slush pile’. During this time she also worked as a freelance reader for Piatkus Books. She went on to work as a book publicist for Belinda Harley Associates where she promoted a range of high profile titles from leading UK publishing companies – including Michael Chabon’s ‘The Mysteries of Pittsburgh’, Andrew Morton’s controversial biography of Princess Diana, Whitley Streiber’s ‘Communion’ and the autobiography of Elton John’s lyricist Bernie Taupin.

Helen has lived overseas with her family for many years including stints in Budapest, Warsaw and Taipei before moving to Singapore.

Courses conducted:

From Pitch to Publication Masterclass (2018)

Rachel Maund

Rachel Maund has over 30 years’ experience of writing copy for publishers, and has been running training workshops on copywriting for 20 years, and on five continents. Her company, Marketability (UK) Ltd, is London-based but works with publishing clients all over the world, specialising in marketing and in training. She works across all publishing sectors, including large and small companies in STM, academic, schools, business/professional, travel, and trade. Clients include John Wiley, OUP, Cambridge University Press, Hachette, HarperCollins, SpringerNature, Taylor & Francis, SAGE Publications, World Scientific, Cengage, Pearson, Bloomsbury, and Bradt Travel Guides.

Courses conducted:

Sarah Odedina

Sarah Odedina has worked in publishing for almost 30 years and most of that time in the world of books for young readers. She has edited and published some of the biggest names in the field including J K Rowling, Neil Gaiman and Celia Rees. Sarah is editor-at-large for Pushkin Press Children’s Books as well as editor for SCOOP magazine. She also conducts workshops around the world for authors and editors working in the field of children’s literature.

Courses conducted:

2x" />

Lynette Owen

LYNETTE OWEN is a copyright and rights consultant based in the UK. She has worked in the field of rights at Cambridge University Press, Pitman Publishing, Marshall Cavendish and then at Longman Group (more recently Pearson Education) where she held the post of Copyright Director. She regularly lectures about rights on publishing degree courses in the UK and also runs training courses in the UK and abroad, most recently in Brazil, Poland, India, Malaysia and the Middle East. She is the General Editor of, and a contributor to, Clark's Publishing Agreements: A Book of Precedents 9/e (Bloomsbury Professional, 2013) and is the author of Selling Rights 7/e (Routledge, 2014). In 2003 she was awarded the London Book Fair Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2009 she was awarded an OBE in the New Year Honours for services to publishing and international trade.

Courses conducted:

Paul Rozario-Falcone

Paul Rozario-Falcone is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, New York and Singapore. He is a licensed facilitator for the Amherst Writers and Artists method, which builds a supportive, affirming group writing practice. He was the co-founder of the Singapore Literature Festival in New York and the Second Saturdays reading series. He has led workshops at StoryFest 2018 and Textures 2019, both at The Arts House.

Courses conducted:

Safe Space Stories (2019)

Steven Sim

Steven has been an Educational Therapist with the Dyslexia Association of Singapore (DAS) since 2015. He has been trained to provide specialist intervention for children with Dyslexia. Steven also has a dual specialisation in English Exam skills to help equip students with various strategies and skillsets to perform well in National Examinations like PSLE.He holds a Specialist Diploma and a Post Graduate Certificate on Special Education Needs with the University of South Wales. He is currently pursuing a Master’s program with the same University.

Courses conducted:

Improving the reading comprehension skills of dyslexic children aged 7 – 9 (2018)

Dr Chris Mooney-Singh

Dr Chris Mooney-Singh has authored several collections of verse, the last being The Bearded Chameleon (Black Pepper/Red Wheelbarrow Books) and has appeared in numerous poetry and fiction anthologies. He co-founded The Writers Centre, Singapore, Red Wheelbarrow and the Lit Up Festival as well as the Singapore Poetry Slam™. Chris has also been a guest at international literary festivals in Australia, Hong Kong, South Korea, USA, the Philippines, India, Malaysia, and Singapore. In 2015, he was awarded a PhD in Literary Studies and Creative Writing at Monash University, Melbourne. In the same year, his verse novel Foreign Madam and the White Yogi received a Victorian Premiers’ Literary Award Commendation (Unpublished Manuscript category). Chris also teaches in the MA Creative Writing and short course in poetry at LASALLE College of the Arts.

Courses conducted:

Amy Spies

Amy Spies is a professional writer with credits in dramatic and comedic television, film, digital, video games, documentary as well as new and print media (see IMDB). She was part of the original development team of “Beverly Hills 90210” and “Melrose Place” and served as executive story editor, executive story consultant, and writer of many episodes of both. She wrote the movie “Girls Just Want to Have Fun”, and an award-winning Electronic Arts transmedia story/game “Majestic”. She also was trained in teaching mindful self-compassion, and mindful based stress reduction and has created and developed a mindful writing curriculum which combines the practices of writing and mindfulness. She has taught Mindful Writing at USC, UCLA, and Insight LA, as well as for television writing staffs and individuals.

Courses conducted:

Mindfulness Writing Session (2019)

Heman Tan

Chef Heman Tan is a man of many talents, in addition to having more than 20 years of culinary experience; he is also a competitive triathlete and a celebrated ceramist! Currently he is the Co-Founder cum Chef owner of Iron Supper ClubHe manages his dyslexia at work with the clever use of visuals, graphics and even the handy dictionary to remember recipes. As busy as he is, Heman is never too far away from being hands on in the kitchen and putting his creativity to good use.

Courses conducted:

Improving the reading comprehension skills of dyslexic children aged 7 – 9 (2018)

Benson Teo

Benson is an EduTech trainer in immersive media technologies and specialises in various content creation production workflow and software. He possesses both industry and training experiences in 360 productions, AR and VR.

Courses conducted: