Asia in the Heart, World on the Mind

The Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) Seminars are sessions that focus on specific aspects of the literary community and this year’s seminars are on young adult literature, the translation of children’s books, and blogging!  Of course I am writing this post to invite all of you to attend the blogging sessions. =D The AFCC Seminars are on Monday, May 27, and the first blogging session (9:15 - 10:15 a.m.) is a presentation from Steph Su entitled "Getting the Most Out of Blogging." Steph is a ROCK STAR in the YA book blogging world and you definitely don't want to miss her presentation. I'm moderating the next blogging session (10:15 - 11:15 a.m.), "Blogging - Today and Tomorrow," a conversation on the future of blogging and the blogging journeys of Steph Su and Candy Gourlay . While Steph is a rock star in the YA book blogging world, Candy is a rock star in the author blogging world and I am honored to be their moderator. The last blogg...

The shortlists are up for the inaugural SingTel Asian Picture Book Award , an annual award for an outstanding unpublished picture book with a distinctly Asian theme. Here is the shortlist for SingTel Asian Picture Book Award – Author, and here is the shortlist for SingTel Asian Picture Book Award – Illustrator. Congratulations! :o) The winners will be announced at the Asian Festival of Children's Content in Singapore.   [Thanks to Naomi Kojima for the tip!]

The Indonesian Board on Books for Young People is hosting the 1st Asia and Oceania Regional International Board on Books for Young People Congress - May 23 to 26 in Bali! This inaugural congress is open to all children’s literature specialists, writers, illustrators, publishers, librarians, storytellers, educators, and promoters, and will focus on how Asia and Oceania regional stories can play in the world children’s literature market and be used to educate children about respect, understanding, and tolerance in the global multicultural society. I hope to attend this congress one year! Who's going? :o)

In one month, it'll be the 2013 Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) in Singapore! The 2013 AFCC is: The Preschool & Primary Teachers Congress Date: May 25 (Saturday) For: Primary, preschool, and kindergarten teachers; parents; librarians; and language specialists The Parents Forum Date: May 26 (Sunday) For: Parents and children; primary, preschool, and kindergarten teachers; and librarians Seminars Date: May 27 (Monday) For: Writers, illustrators, translators, BLOGGERS (!!!), and industry professionals The Writers & Illustrators Conference Date: May 28-29 (Tuesday-Wednesday) For: Writers, illustrators, publishers, librarians, literary agents, distributors and retailers, translators, teachers, and other professionals related to children’s content The Media Summit Date: May 29 (Wednesday) For: Producers, television and film executives, commissioning editors, comic artists, screenwriters, authors, publishers, app developers, animators, filmm...

PRESS RELEASE: School is out, summer is in! What better way to spend your summer break than cooling off at the halls of Bayanihan Center reading your latest collection of Filipino comics at the Summer Komikon 2013! Come join us for another fun-filled day of buying local comics, meeting your favorite comic artists, challenging your drawing and story-telling skills on April 13, 2013 from 10 am – 7 pm at the fifth consecutive year of Summer Komikon, also from the organizers of the main Komikon held every last quarter of the year (since 2005). For a Php 100 entrance fee, fill all of your comics’ cravings for the year in just one day! It’s FREE for 12 until 12! All kids (under 12) arriving before noon get to enter for free! So grab our Summer Komikon Tabloid: The First Edition at the entrance so you will not miss out on anything, especially the list of all the new titles being released. Highlights will be on our kid-friendly comic creators with special guests like Jomike Tejido –...

The Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) awards the 2013 PBBY-Alcala Prize to Dominic Agsaway, an illustrator from Bulacan and a member of Ang Ilustrador ng Kabataan (Ang InK) . This is Agsaway’s first time to win the contest. This year’s PBBY-Alcala Prize called for entries based on the 2013 PBBY-Salanga Prize-winning story, “Ngumiti si Andoy” wri tten by Michael Jude C. Tumamac, a story inspired by the life of Andres Bonifacio . Honorable Mentions in this year’s contest went to artists Sergio Bumatay III and Francin Cruz. Bumatay and Cruz are also members of Ang InK.     Agsaway shall receive twenty-five thousand pesos, a medal, and an opportunity to be published. Prizes will be awarded in a ceremony to be held during the celebration of National Children's Book Day at the Cultural Center of the Philippines on July 16, 2013. For inquiries about the contest, please contact the PBBY Secretariat at pbby@adarna.com.ph.

To celebrate Bangkok, Thailand being the 2013 UNESCO World Book Capital, some international schools organized the Bangkok Book Awards . Congratulations to the authors, illustrators, and publishers below! Bangkok Book Awards - Picture Book Category Winner The Umbrella Queen , written by Shirin Bridges and illustrated by Taeeun Yoo (Greenwillow Books, 2008) Bangkok Book Awards - Junior Book Category Winner Tua and the Elephant , written by R.P. Harris and illustrated by Taeeun Yoo (Chronicle Books, 2012)   Bangkok Book Awards - Teen Book Category Winner Behind the Painting: And Other Stories by Siburapha (Silkworm Books, 2001)