How to Talk to Children About War

Danny Jalil (Singapore)

Danny studied Creative Writing and Screenwriting at LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts, and his novel The Machine Boy was a winner of NAC's Beyond Words: Young and Younger Award. He wrote the graphic novels Lieutenant Adnan and The Last Regiment, and Elizabeth Choy: Her Story, which were illustrated by artist Zaki Ragman and published by Asiapac Books. His latest historical novel Enrique The Black, published by Penguin Random House SEA, is out now. He has spoken at the Singapore Writer's Festival and hosted for the Asian Festival of Children’s Content, and conducts writing workshops in conjunction with Singlit Station. Connect with him on Instagram: @dannyjalil_writer 

Emily Balistrieri (US/Japan)

Emily was born in 1985 in Wisconsin and is now based in Tokyo. His published translations include Shaw Kuzki's Soul Lanterns, Eiko Kadono’s Kiki’s Delivery Service, and Takuji Ichikawa’s The Refugees’ Daughter. He has also translated fiction by Tomihiko Morimi, Ao Omae, Mikoto Mashita, Kugane Maruyama, Carlo Zen, and many others. He has also done the English subtitles for Takahide Hori’s film Junk Head and translated Cocosola’s mobile game The Witch’s Isle. Follow him on Twitter: @tiger.

Margarita Engle (US)

Margarita is the Cuban-American author of many verse novels, memoirs, and picture books, including The Surrender Tree, Enchanted Air, Drum Dream Girl, and Dancing Hands. Awards include a Newbery Honor, Pura Belpré, Golden Kite, PEN U.S.A., and NSK Neustadt, among others. Margarita served as the national 2017-2019 Young People’s Poet Laureate. She is a three-time U.S. nominee for the Astrid Lindgren Book Award. Her most recent books are Your Heart, Light for All, Rima’s Rebellion, and Singing With Elephants.

(Photo by Shevaun Williams)

Sim Ee Waun (Singapore)

Ee Waun is the author of The Little Singapore Book, The House on Palmer Road, its sequel The House on Silat Road, and most recently, We Shall Remember: The Story of Singapore at War. A history buff, she is passionate about bringing tales from Singapore’s past to life for children, and hopes that they (and their parents) would discover that our past is full of amazing stories. Ee Waun was a food writer of 30 years before switching to historical creative non-fiction. She holds an MA in International Journalism. In between writing, she teaches public speaking at the National University of Singapore.

Moderator Denise Tan (Singapore)

Denise started Closetful of Books after six years of working with children’s literature. With Closetful of Books, she shares her love for reading through specially-tailored workshops with authors and illustrators and super-duper fun book fairs in local and international schools. Denise also puts her studies in Mass Communications and English Literature to good use by spending all her time reading.