Southeast Asian History as Inspiration: A Look into Children’s Historical Fiction
Panel Eva Wong Nava, Hannah Ming Yit Ho, Ho Lee-Ling Stephanie | Moderator: Sim Ee Waun
Virtual * | Online on AFCC Website | Festival Pass
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While history is an excellent resource for the creation of stories, the adaptation of history into fiction is a complicated process. Hear from our panel as they discuss the functionality of historical fiction for young readers and the balancing act between ensuring the objectivity of the historical accounts and their own voice as a fictional writer.
Eva Wong Nava (Singapore)
Eva was born on a tropical island where a merlion spurts water. Eva has done many things in life, but writing remains her most favourite thing to do. She combines degrees in literature and art history and writes stories that explore identity, culture, and belonging by adding a dash of magic. Eva has written an award-winning middle-grade book and several picture books.
Hannah Ming Yit Ho (Brunei Darussalam)
Hannah is an assistant professor in English studies at the faculty of arts and social sciences at Universiti Brunei Darussalam. She read her PhD in contemporary Asian diaspora literatures at the University of York. She was a postdoctoral fellow at King’s College London and University of California. Her research interests include contemporary anglophone Bruneian literature. Her scholarly work is published in international peer-reviewed journals like Global Society and Southeast Asian Review of English.
Ho Lee-Ling Stephanie (Singapore)
Lee-Ling (Stephanie) is a Singapore historian and author. She is a partner of The History Workroom LLP, researching and creating history-related content for exhibitions, workshops and publications. Her books, Habibah: Story of an Island Girl, and Adventures of Admiral Zheng He are inspired by Southeast Asian history.
Moderator 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.
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