Christine Lim Simpson: Storytelling through pictures

The inaugural “Little Lit: Enriching Minds & Igniting A Writer’s Spark”, a Pre-Festival Event of the Singapore Writers Festival held at The Arts House on 24th May 2009, was a huge success.

Many heartfelt thanks to our sponsors and organisers - National Arts Council, The Art House, Monsters Under The Bed and Singapore Press Holdings, our publishers Ethos Books and Epigram, our distributor Marketasia everyone who helped out as well as ALL who attended the event.

The panel of speakers including poet Aaron Lee, authors Adeline Foo and Felix Cheong, together with illustrators Joshua Chiang, Lee Kowling, Stephanie Wong and myself were greeted by 200 odd attendees including children, parents, teachers, writers, aspiring writers and illustrators, plus many others who are keen to learn more about writing and illustrating for children.

All of us had lots of fun sharing with everyone our knowledge, journey and passion for children’s literature.

Adeline Foo, author of 13 children’s books, talked about the various career choices for a writer, and other aspects of writing such as book marketing, as well as sharing her process of writing The Diary of Amos Lee, a new book she collaborated with illustrator/book designer Stephanie Wong, who talked about the process in designing the character for Amos Lee and how to create illustrations and book cover for a novel that works.

Aaron Lee, a prize winning poet, an excellent speaker who was also the brilliant moderator for the event, talked about his love for poetry. He shared with us many inspiring poems that touch the hearts of children and adults.

Felix Cheong, an award winning poet and novelist, shared his wisdom on writing fiction for the tweens (children between 9 to 14 years old)and tips on penning the first word. A former TV producer and studio director,with the help of three youngsters, he demonstrated the use of sound to dramatise storytelling.

For me, it was a great privilege to speak at “Little Lit”. This is the first time artists are featured as part of the Singapore Writers Festival, which is Singapore’s most prestigious and only national literary festival.

My talk about Asian Influence in Children's Books covered a brief presentation of my work and illustration style for children’s books,a showcase of children's book illustrators in Asia, an introduction to Asian heritage, a peek into my childhood as a child to a Chinese opera performer and how I incorporate Asian elements, in terms of Chinese values and arts, in my new book “Guai Wu The Monster Child”, a story set in China during the Qing Dynasty, which should be in major bookstores by July.

Joshua Chiang, an all rounded animator and illustrator, shared his experience, tips and tricks on how he goes about creating his characters for cartoons and his first children’s book. His philosophy “Remain a child at heart always” conveys the message from every children’s book writer and illustrator.

Lee Kowling, a veteran in the book illustration scene, took us through her journey as an illustrator from the 90s till now. She explained how she developed a wide variety of illustration styles to meet the needs of the stories she worked on. It was a visual feast for the audience.

We look forward to bringing back the event again.