Speakers & Moderators

Adan Jimenez is a writer, translator, and prose, comics, and localization editor. He is best known as one half of AJ Low, the writing team behind the Sherlock Sam series of children’s mystery books. His comic Xocolatl: Language in an Alien Spacetime with artist Josephine Tan will be coming out in 2027. He is the proud child of Mexican immigrant parents and became an immigrant himself when he moved to Singapore. He loves comics, LEGO, books, games (analog and video), science fiction, and food. He plays and studies a lot of video games in his free time.

Amanda Ruiqing Flynn works across words and images. She was a winner of the Golden Point Award 2025. Her prose and poetry have been featured in Best New Singaporean Short Stories (Epigram Books), Oyster River Pages, ONE ART: a journal of poetry, QLRS and This Is Southeast Asia. Her visual art has been exhibited internationally in both solo and group exhibitions. She serves as a judge of The Voices of Today Literary Translation Prize 2026. Raised in East Sussex, UK, she now resides in Singapore, her birthplace. She spends her free time moonlighting as a librarian at Casual Poet Library and conjuring up stories with her young son.

On the work front Ames is a trained humanities teacher and children’s book author. But she enjoys her job mothering her 3 children most of all. She writes stories for them and other children like them, because she firmly believes in the power of the next generation to effect change.

Angela Erickson is Head of Libraries at United World College Dover Campus in Singapore. A former English teacher, her interests include reading culture, global literature, and the role of libraries in shaping empathy and inquiry. Outside of work and reading, she enjoys exploring Singapore’s green spaces and mountaineering.

Angela is the Director of Professional & Education Development at PCF Sparkletots Preschool, where she leads initiatives to strengthen teaching quality and educator growth across the organisation. She designs and implements professional development programmes that empower educators to deliver meaningful learning experiences. Angela is committed to nurturing a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, ensuring that both teachers and children thrive.

Chong Lingying is a writer and publisher based in Singapore. She is a member of literary arts collective, Books& Collective. She manages business development at Marshall Cavendish Education. In 2022-2023 she managed the launch of BookData.sg and the Frankfurt Book Fair pilot for Singapore Book Publishers Association. She ran independent comics publishing house, Asiapac Books, from 2018 to 2022. She has served on the committees of the Singapore Book Publishers Association and Sing Lit Movement (previously BuySingLit). In 2020, she co-founded COMIX.SG, Singapore’s online home for comic artists.

Clair Wang 是香港國際文學節的活動及傳播經理，她已負責三屆青少年讀者節，致力於向更多年輕讀者推廣閱讀與創作的樂趣，Clair 擁有香港大學英語文學碩士學位。

Clair Wang is Events & Communication Manager at the Hong Kong International Literary Festival, where she has overseen the Young Readers Festival for three years. She holds an MA Diploma in English Studies (Literature) from HKU.

Crispin Rodrigues is the author of 4 collections of poetry, the latest being dragon.paper.wind. (Pagesetters, 2024). He is also the co-editor of Crazy Little Pyromaniacs, an anthology of young Singapore poets. His work has been featured in several online and print journals. He is currently working on a new poetry collection.

Darel Seow is an award-winning visual storyteller and educator known for illustrating tales of the natural world with a unique brand of wry wit and whimsy. His illustrated works include Marvellous Mammals: A Wild A to Z of Southeast Asia and Where Are All the Birds? His multi-disciplinary practice spans public art and interactive experiences, with commissions from the British Museum, Asian Civilisations Museum, and the Singapore Art Museum. Beyond his studio practice, he is a dedicated educator who has engaged 30,000 students from over 50 schools, using storytelling and play to explore man’s changing relationship with nature.

Ecology meets storytelling in Debby Ng’s work, which brings conservation science out of journals and into everyday life. A Singapore-based ecologist, photojournalist, and National Geographic Explorer, she weaves photographs and narrative to translate research on infectious disease into stories about how people, animals, and the environments they share shape community health. She is the author of Marvellous Mammals, a children’s book that introduces families to Southeast Asia’s most elusive wildlife through vivid, research-grounded storytelling. Debby lectures at the National University of Singapore, where she completed her doctoral studies.

Photo by Wallace Woon.

A former educator, leadership consultant and trained counsellor, Denise has a keen sense of stakeholder identification and engagement. She enjoys the school classrooms with young people, and facilitated leadership and people management courses for adults both locally and overseas. Denise holds an Honours degree in History from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from the National Institute of Education (NIE), and a Master of Social Science in Professional Counselling from Swinburne University of Technology, where she was awarded Best Overall Performer. In 2020, she was one of 40 leaders in the NCSS 40-Under-40 social services sector programme. Most recently, she was selected as one of the civic and grassroots leaders for the refreshed People’s Association Leadership Community Programme, and was chosen to be featured in PA’s latest annual report.

Galen Yeo loves reading and is an avid book collector. An award-winning TV writer, director and producer, he co-founded The Moving Visuals Co., one of Singapore’s leading content producers. His credits include a wide range of genres: entertainment; documentaries; kids; and short-form content for channels like Mediacorp, Disney, Nat Geo, History Channel, and many others. From novellas to podcasts, he enjoys storytelling in all forms and mediums. He has moderated several AFCC talks over the years, and looks forward to learning from other creators.

Geraldine Teo-Zuzarte is Principal at SJI International Preschool. She holds a PhD in Early Childhood Education and is passionate about the development of children, especially those in their early years. Having been in the field of Early Childhood Education for more than 30 years, Geraldine held multi-portfolios from classroom teaching to faculty appointments to overseeing the professional development of almost 3,000 Early Childhood educators including pioneering an award-winning child study centre for more than a decade. As a seasoned speaker she has presented papers in conferences and workshops both locally and internationally. Geraldine has deep theoretical and practical knowledge on Early Childhood Care and Education and has been called upon to support national and global initiatives, including being appointed an ECDA Fellow for sectoral leadership in Singapore. Geraldine also sits on local charity board committees which include the Singapore Book Council and Every Child Matters. She is the board deputy chairperson for UNESCO’s Category 2 Centre’s governing committee at the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) in Seychelles.

Hidayah Amin is the publisher of Helang Books and IBBY Singapore founding member. Hidayah’s first short story, ‘The Funny Accident’, was published when she was 11. When the Singapore government acquired her childhood home, Hidayah resumed writing and published ‘Gedung Kuning: Memories of a Malay Childhood’ in 2010. Since then, she has written nine non-fiction books and 11 children’s books—‘The Mango Tree’ book won the 2015 Hedwig Anuar Book Award for Best Children’s Book while ‘Leluhur: Singapore’s Kampong Gelam’ is the winner of the 2021 NUS Singapore History Prize. Like Hemingway, Hidayah writes to express; not to impress.

Jane Wee has been a librarian with NLB since 1993. She started her career as a Librarian with the Public Libraries, joined the National Reference Library in 1998, and between 2012 to 2015, was the Region Head of Eastern Libraries comprising six branches in the Eastern part of Singapore. Currently the Head of Chinese Language, she is responsible for the overall strategic directions and implementation of nationwide reading programmes for the Chinese Language. Her team works on the development of the Chinese physical and digital collections in the entire public library network

A veteran educator with 19 years of experience at the Singapore American School, Kate Brundage is an Elementary School Librarian and the International School Libraries Network (ISLN) representative for the AFCC Teachers and Parents Programme Committee.

Lauren Ho is a Malaysian author who writes across genres for both children and adults, including the international bestseller Last Tang Standing. Her work explores identity, relationships, and the emotional undercurrents of contemporary life. She lives in Singapore with her family. IG: HelloLaurenHo

Loh Chin Ee is Associate Professor at the English Language and Literature Department and Associate Dean (Impact & Partnerships) at the Office for Research at the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. Her research focuses on reading at the intersection of equity, technology and globalisation.

She is the co-editor of Little Things: an Anthology of Poetry (Ethos, 2013) & Poetry Moves (Ethos, 2020). Her most recent edited book is The Reading Lives of Teens: Research and Practice (Routledge, 2025). You can read more about her work on www.lohchinee.com.

Lucia has been working in academic libraries, and also as a freelance illustrator and editor in the children’s publishing industry. Trained in Cultural Anthropology, Chinese Literature, Art and the Library and Information Sciences, she is now the language specialist for Chinese and Korean children’s literature at the International Youth Library in Munich, Germany.

Melanie Lee is the author of the award-winning middle-grade graphic novel series, Amazing Ash & Superhero Ah Ma and picture book series, The Adventures of Squirky the Alien. She also wrote Out & About in Singapore, a travel guide series for children. She is a part-time communications and creative writing lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences.

Melissa Candrasaputra is an author-illustrator and freelance creative. She loves print media so much that you will likely find her reading a paperback or a magazine at the kopitiam under her HDB block. Melissa co-authored and illustrated “Our Feelings” bilingual series, and was shortlisted finalist of 2025 Illustrator of the Year. She is also the overall creative force behind the book SITE.MA: Singapore in the Eyes of Mother Artists (2024). Melissa was born in Semarang, Indonesia, before moving to Singapore at the age of fifteen.

Nur-El-Hudaa is an editorial consultant and a published author and translator of children’s picture books, short stories and poetry. She has received awards such as the inaugural Mastera Prize for poetry translation and the Golden Point Award for her short stories and translation. In 2023, she was selected by the National Arts Council to join the Virtual Residency programme for poetry translation at the National Centre for Writing in UK. As an editorial consultant, she helps writers and publishers develop books for publication. Nur-El-Hudaa volunteers with the National Library Board as a storyteller.

Rachelyn Gordon is a Singaporean children’s author and creative writing educator who believes in the power of stories to build empathy, critical thinking and communication skills in young readers and writers. Her picture books, Rosie and the Mamak Shop (2000), Curly (2022) and Frank (2024) are warm and funny stories about identity, friendship, resilience, and above all, the power of laughter. Rachelyn has taught in international schools where she held leadership roles. She now focuses on leading workshops that help children explore real-world issues, discover their voices and write with passion. When she’s not writing, teaching, or reading picture books, she’s running after her son, Samuel, King of Tah Ching. Find out more at rachelyngordon.com or on Instagram at @teacherwhowrites.

Sarah Ang is a children’s book author and illustrator who gathers inspiration from nature and her love of history and science. Her books encourage children to be curious about the world around them. A keen advocate for the environment, Sarah wrote her three books, The River that Brings Us Life, Charlie the Sweeper and the Three Little Sheep Build a Better Future to inspire the young towards a cleaner, brighter, more sustainable Singapore.

Victor Fernando R. Ocampo is the author of the International Rubery Book Award shortlisted The Infinite Library and Other Stories (Math Paper Press, 2017; Gaudy Boy, 2021; Vibal, 2025 ) and Here be Dragons (Canvas Press, 2015), which won the Romeo Forbes Children’s Story Award in 2012. His experimental interactive fiction piece The Book of Red Shadows debuted at the Singapore Writers Festival in 2020 (Spaceship 13/Luck-IT) and its prequel story in an escape room format (with Tusitala), in 2026.

His writing has appeared in many publications including Apex, Future Fiction, Strange Horizons, 科幻世界 (Science Fiction World) and The Quarterly Literature Review of Singapore, as well as anthologies like The Best New Singapore Short Stories, Fish Eats Lion: New Singaporean Speculative Fiction, LONTAR: The Journal of Southeast Asian Speculative Fiction, as well as the World Fantasy-award winning Mapping New Stars: A Sourcebook on Philippine Speculative Fiction.

Wayne Rée (he/they) is a Singaporean writer. Together with Benjamin Chee, he co-created Work-Life Balance, the prose/comics hybrid that won Best Literary Work and Book of the Year at the 2023 Singapore Book Awards. He also co-created the comic, Worlds Apart: A Conversation About Mental Health, with Nurjannah Suhaimi. In 2025, Worlds Apart was reprinted in the anthology, How Are You Feeling?. Wayne lives with his wife and their cat/gremlin.

Wong Swee Yean is a professional storyteller with over 20 years of experience bringing the richness of Asian folktales to life across Singapore and the region. A four-term President of the Storytelling Association (Singapore) and Director of the 398.2 Storytelling Festival, she believes stories are bridges that connect generations, cultures, and hearts. She blends storytelling with playful elements such as paper crafts, music and movement to spark imagination and make traditional tales feel fresh and relevant.