Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

Wow. The Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival (YRF) is the first and only English literary festival in Hong Kong especially for children. The second YRF started on March 11 and features sessions such as a poetry slam led by Australia's current poetry slam champion Luka Lesson and a picture book writing workshop led by Singaporean author David Seow.   I hope to attend this festival one year! If you are in Hong Kong, you should check it out - this year's festival doesn't end until March 22! Anyone willing to share pictures or stories from the festival? :o)

I'm excited to present this interview with Mio Debnam ! Mio is a children's and young adult book writer and editor, and the regional advisor of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Hong Kong. Read my conversation with Mio below to learn all about her work, SCBWI Hong Kong, and the children's and young adult book scene in Hong Kong. Welcome, Mio! Please share your love story with children's and young adult literature. :o) My love of books started when I was just a tot – my parents read to me a lot, and I loved hearing stories. With regards to reading, I think I can pinpoint the birth of that interest, to when I was about six, and I had my tonsils out. You know how, for many kids, the only silver lining to a tonsillectomy is limitless jelly and ice cream? Well, sadly for my poor mother, I hated both, and went on a hunger strike. To persuade (bribe!) me to eat liquidized soup, Mum went down to the second hand bookshop and bought me the full s...

This was originally posted at Into the Wardrobe on May 27, 2009. Welcome Roseanne Thong , author of children's picture books with a distinctly Asian flavor! :D Roseanne, you have worked as a journalist and as an English teacher. What was your path to publication as a children's book writer? My path to publication as a children's writer was purely accidental! After my daughter, Maya, was born, I was inspired to write stories on basic themes that appeal to toddlers: shapes, colors, and numbers. Unfortunately, I just locked these ideas in a drawer, thinking that no one would be interested, other than my own child. One day, a good friend saw the manuscripts and insisted that I send them out to children's publishers. I learned how to send a query letter by joining SCBWI (Society of Children's Writers and Illustrators) and sent my manuscripts out to SCBWI's list of recommended publishers. A year later, I had sold my first book! What motivates you to write children...