AFCC lectures are conducted by experts in the field of children and young adult literature.

Lectures are accessible with the festival pass. If you do not possess the festival pass for the day of the lecture, you can purchase and register the ticket separately. Ticketing links are provided in the session synopses below.

You can visit this page to find out how you can access the programmes. VOD sessions will be available from the day after the event to 30 June 2021, 2359 (GMT 0800).

27 May (Thursday) Reimagine

5:30pm – 7:00pm (SGT) Convert Time

Translating the Future: Why Translated Children’s Books are Vital

How can and will translation and translators play a role in shaping the next generation of children’s books and the landscape of children’s literature, particularly in a world where boundaries between countries, cultures and languages are becoming increasingly blurred? In this lecture, award-winning translator and children’s book author Lawrence Schimel will speak on the importance of translation and its increasing influence and impact in the world of publishing.

There will be a live Q&A segment during this session. This programme is supported by the National Translation Committee. 

This lecture is accessible with the festival pass. If you do not possess the festival pass for the day of the lecture, you can purchase and register the ticket separately.

Lawrence Schimel

Lawrence Schimel (US/Spain)

Lawrence Schimel (New York, 1971) lives in Madrid, Spain and writes in both Spanish and English. He's published over 120 books in a wide range of genres. He is also a prolific literary translator. His translations into Spanish include the graphic novel They Called Us Enemy by George Takei; his translations into English include the middle grade novels The Wild Book by Juan Villoro and The Treasure of Barracuda by Llanos Campos.

Lynette Morrison née Tan Yuen Ling

Moderator Lynette Morrison née Tan Yuen Ling (Singapore)

Lynette Morrison née Tan Yuen Ling is a published poet and the author of The Pittodrie Pirates series. She is Director of Studies, Associate Director of Student Life, as well as Residential Fellow at Residential College 4, National University of Singapore. An award-winning senior lecturer at NUS, Lynette teaches Systems Thinking at RC4.

28 May (Friday) Rebuild

3:00pm – 4:00pm (SGT) Convert Time

心坎里的绘本-绘本创作的儿童发展元素 (Picture Books In Our Hearts – The Components of Child Development in Picture Book Creation)

为什么有些绘本的议题能够让儿童那样喜爱呢?本演讲将剖析绘本与儿童发展的那些让幼儿爱不释手的元素,让绘本能够进入儿童的心坎里。

Why are some discussion topics in picture books so well-loved by children? This talk will analyse the elements in picture books that young children are fond of, and how this enables picture books to captivate them.

This lecture is accessible with the festival pass. If you do not possess the festival pass for the day of the lecture, you can purchase and register the ticket separately.

There will be a live Q&A segment during this session. 

Cheng Wan-Ni (郑婉妮)

Cheng Wan-Ni (郑婉妮) (Singapore)

郑婉妮博士来自台湾,专精于幼儿教育领域达二十年,曾参与学前教育政策发展和实务锻炼,见证台湾幼儿教育的演进与蓬勃发展,除了专精于幼儿教育领域的各种议题外,她近年来专注儿童手机游戏、媒体组合等新媒体之研究,并与儿童营销、消费、儿童流行文化结合。对于幼儿及青少年产品开发设计,以及成瘾设计的独到专长,更使其被延揽至台湾,日本等游戏公司作为儿童游戏产品之开发顾问。至新加坡后积极参与本地幼儿教育,并发展多元文化教育教材及华文课程的开发,以及本地幼儿教育教师职前训练。目前,郑博士担任新加坡华文教研中心的学前部门主任。

Dr. Cheng Wan-Ni has more than 20 years of experience in childhood development and is presently the Dean of Early Childhood Care and Education Department at the Singapore Centre for Chinese Language (SCCL). Dr. Cheng has taken a special interest in interactive games on smartphone devices and multimedia applications with a focus on marketing, consumerism and pop culture for children.

Su Zhangkai (苏章恺)

Moderator Su Zhangkai (苏章恺) (Singapore)

苏章恺 (Su Zhangkai) was formerly a part-time lecturer with the Department of Chinese Studies at the National University of Singapore and a secondary school teacher. He was conferred the 2013 Fellow of Academy of Singapore Teachers in recognition for his outstanding contribution towards professional development. He believes reading is the foundation of all learning and that with the right pedagogies and environment, learning the Chinese language can be easy and fun.

29 May (Saturday) Rebuild

12:30pm – 1:30pm (SGT) Convert Time

Between Illustration and Animation: Straddling Both Art Forms

Hear from renowned illustrator and award-winning animator 山村 浩二(Koji Yamamura) of Mount Head and A Country Doctor fame as he shares about how elements of character design and illustration styles play crucial roles in the storytelling process. Get an insight into the adaptation process, and uncover the differences in narrative flow between books and films. You may even get a glimpse at Koji’s illustrations in this lecture!

There will be a live Q&A segment during this session. 

This lecture is accessible with the festival pass. If you do not possess the festival pass for the day of the lecture, you can purchase and register the ticket separately.

Koji Yamamura (山村浩二)

Koji Yamamura (山村浩二) (Japan)

Koji Yamamura is an animator and illustrator. His anime short film Mt. Head (2002) was nominated for an Oscar and marked a turning point in his career and propelled him to prominence. He is also known for Franz Kafka’s A Country Doctor (2007) and Muybridge’s Strings (2011). His films have been awarded with more than 90 prizes and he also writes and illustrates picture books.
 

Tomoko Shiga

Moderator Tomoko Shiga (Japan)

Tomoko Shiga is a translator and interpretor. She is proficient in English to Japanese and Japanese to English translation, and has been engaged for business negotiations with C-level executives. She has interpreted for famous Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto and Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, and has translated legal documents for Panasonic and the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

3:45pm – 4:45pm (SGT) Convert Time

Inspiration, Memory and Writing

An accidental encounter can lead to a lifelong passion, as it did for 黄善美 (Hwang Sun-mi) who discovered a classroom of books by chance, setting her on the path to becoming one of South Korea's most beloved children's book writers. In this lecture, hear from the acclaimed writer as she reflects on her writing journey, the tribulations faced and the sources of inspiration she draws from for her books.

There will be a live Q&A segment during this session. This programme is supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.

This lecture is accessible with the festival pass. If you do not possess the festival pass for the day of the lecture, you can purchase and register the ticket separately.

Hwang Sun-mi (黄善美)

Hwang Sun-mi (黄善美) (Korea)

Hwang Sun-mi is a South Korean writer, who has won many awards and published more than 40 books for adults and children. She graduated from the creative writing departments at Seoul Institute of the Arts and Gwangju University. Her book, The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly has been on bestseller lists for 20 years and has also been adapted into a comic book, a play, and a musical, and has been translated into 30 languages.

Alicia Dong-Joo Bang

Moderator Alicia Dong-Joo Bang (Korea)

Alicia Dong-Joo Bang is a professional storyteller and passionate educator based in the Republic of Korea. She has delighted children and adults with her storytelling performances for years, and she now directs international storytelling festivals in South Korea. She is the founder of Story School, a unique storytelling school in Korea. She also founded KISA, the Korea International Storytellers' Association. Alicia has also competed in the Tehran International Storytelling Festival.

5:00pm – 6:00pm (SGT) Convert Time

如何通过绘本阅读促进亲子关系 (How to Enhance Parent-child Relationship through Picture Book Reading)

获奖儿童作家刘旭恭将通过讲座,探讨绘本如何助于培养与促进亲子关系。他也将分享和孩子们进行阅读活动的方式,以及其方式对他创作模式的影响。

Explore how picture books can help nurture and cultivate the parent-child relationship in this lecture by award-winning children's author, 刘旭恭 (Liu Hsu Kung). Hear from him as he shares on his approaches to conducting reading activities with his children and how that has influenced the way he creates his works.

There will be a live Q&A segment during this session. 

This lecture is accessible with the festival pass. If you do not possess the festival pass for the day of the lecture, you can purchase and register the ticket separately.

Liu Hsu-Kung (刘旭恭)

Liu Hsu-Kung (刘旭恭) (Taiwan)

1995 年开始创作绘本,作品曾获信谊幼儿文学奖,丰子恺儿童图画书奖和波隆纳插画展入选等,现与家人住在台北。
Liu Hsu-Kung began writing picture books in 1995. His works have clinched the Xinyi Picture Book Children’s Literature Award and Feng Zikai Chinese Children's Picture Book Award, and were showcased at the Illustrators Exhibition. He is currently residing with his family in Taipei.

Su Zhangkai (苏章恺)

Moderator Su Zhangkai (苏章恺) (Singapore)

苏章恺 (Su Zhangkai) was formerly a part-time lecturer with the Department of Chinese Studies at the National University of Singapore and a secondary school teacher. He was conferred the 2013 Fellow of Academy of Singapore Teachers in recognition for his outstanding contribution towards professional development. He believes reading is the foundation of all learning and that with the right pedagogies and environment, learning the Chinese language can be easy and fun.

30 May (Sunday) Reignite

9:00am – 10:00am (SGT) Convert Time

A Window into Children’s Literature in Thailand

Understand Thai Children’s Literature in this special lecture that deep dives into its history, current developments and future trends. Presented as part of the Country of Focus: Thailand.

There will be a live Q&A segment during this session. 

Virine Hutasangkas

Virine Hutasangkas (Thailand)

Virine Hutasangkas is a lecturer at the Department of French, Faculty of Humanities, at Chiang Mai University. She obtained her PhD in Modern Literature (Children’s literature) from Université de Tours, France. Her main interest is comparative literature (children and young adult) under various themes such as immigration, intercultural translation and multiculturalism. She loves pancake.

4:30pm – 5:30pm (SGT) Convert Time

Joy of Reading: How to Develop Communities of Readers

This lecture will focus on the development of engaged communities of readers, particularly young children, who share the joy of reading. The evidence-informed talk will look at how these communities are underpinned by secure subject knowledge (of texts and of readers) and a reading for pleasure pedagogy. Teresa will also discuss how three characteristics – reciprocity, interaction, and strong reader to reader relationships – impact readers’ delight and desire.

There will be a live Q&A segment during this session. 

This lecture is accessible with the festival pass. If you do not possess the festival pass for the day of the lecture, you can purchase and register the ticket separately.

Teresa Cremin

Teresa Cremin (UK)

Teresa Cremin is Professor of Education at The Open University. An ex-teacher and pre-service lecturer, her research focuses on volitional reading and writing, teachers’ literate identities and creative pedagogies. Teresa is passionate about developing readers for life and works with the profession to ensure research-informed practice in reading for pleasure.

Loh Chin Ee

Moderator Loh Chin Ee (Singapore)

Loh Chin Ee is Associate Professor and Deputy Head (Research) at the English Language and Literature Academic Group at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. She is the co-editor of Little Things, Poetry Moves and co-author of Teaching Poetry to Adolescents: A Teachers' Guide to Little Things by Ethos Books. She recently produced and co-hosted the How We Read podcast series.