Q & A: Phillipa Milne

Lit-wise, Hong Kong and Singapore are both busy at the moment.  The Hong Kong International Literary Festival started on Monday, October 26, and runs through until November 8. Meanwhile, The Singapore Writers Festival starts tomorrow, October 30, and also runs until November 8.  (The two Festivals often overlap; when last year I asked why, I was told it enabled authors travelling long distances from the West to visit both Hong Kong, and Singapore.)

Today, Phillipa Milne, Programme Manager, Hong Kong International Literary Festival, answers questions.  Tomorrow, it will be the turn of Yeow Kai Chai, Festival Director, Singapore Writers Festival.

So: over to Phillipa…

Ubud Censorship / Upcoming Festivals

The Ubud Writers & Readers Festival starts today, and runs through until November 1. The start of the Festival has been marred by censorship. This year is the 50^th anniversary of communist repression and killings in Indonesia, in 1965. Ubud Writers & Readers Festival had planned to mark the anniversary – but the authorities had other ideas.

David T. K. Wong by Lee Li Ying

Author and philanthropist David T. K. Wong is an elder statesman of Asian letters. Here, Lee Li Ying, one of his editors at Epigram Books, the Singapore-based publisher of Adrift, the first part of his multi-volume family memoir, reveals him to be a man who knows his passion, purpose and priorities.

Q & A: Chantal Jauvin

Chantal Jauvin co-authored, with Dr. Amporn Wathanavongs, The Boy with A Bamboo Heart, an account of Dr. Amporn’s life.

Dr. Amporn, the founder of the Foundation for Rehabilitation and Development of Children and Family (FORDEC), is today one of Thailand's most generous benefactors – but he didn’t have an easy start to life. Orphaned at six, he scrambled for survival in the markets of Surin.  At fifteen, he became a boy soldier, trekking through the Cambodian jungle. His tumultuous experiences left him prone to self-loathing, but through learning to accept the kindness of others he surmounted his self-destructive tendencies. After a spell as a Buddhist monk, he was able to follow his true vocation, and, eventually, to save the lives of over 50,000 street children.

Asian Review of Books / More Catching-up

See the Asian Review of Books for ever-interesting discussion. Here is a list of reviews, excerpts, letters, essays, and round ups published whilst I was away:

The Sunday Post / Catch-up

The Sunday Post usually offers a rojak* of items from the previous week, but since I’ve been away, this one covers the last fortnight…

But One Last Thing....

Also, this is the cover of my new novel, Olivia & Sophia.  I hope you like it.

Olivia & Sophia is a fictionalised account of the adventures of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the founder of Singapore, as seen through the eyes of his two wives.

It's in paperback, from Monsoon Books, publishing Nov 1 in Asia and Australia, and next year in the UK.  I'll post more about it when I'm back...