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| Credit: Lina Meissen Photography |
After a
childhood of moving around Asia, the Middle East and Europe, Karien van
Ditzhuijzen moved to Singapore in 2012. Karien has a degree in chemical
engineering, but gave up her career developing ice cream recipes to become a
writer. She now dedicates her life (in no particular order) to advocating
migrant workers’ rights, her family, her pet chicken and being entertained by
monkeys while writing at the patio of her jungle house.
As a
freelance writer and blogger Karien contributes to several publications in
Singapore and the Netherlands. In 2012 she published a children’s book in Dutch
recounting her childhood in Borneo. Karien van
Ditzhuijzen’s debut novel A Yellow House
was published by Monsoon Books in 2018. This poignant coming-of-age story, told
in the voice of inquisitive ten-year-old Maya, explores the plight of migrant
domestic workers in Singapore and the relationships they form with the families
they work for.
Karien has been working with
migrant domestic workers since 2012, when she joined HOME, a charity that
supports migrant workers in Singapore. In the following years Karien worked
closely with domestic worker writers, documenting their stories and sharing them
on the blog www.myvoiceathome.org and as editor of the anthology 'Our Homes, Our
Stories'.
The strong women Karien met
through her charity work were the inspiration for A Yellow House.
