New Delhi World Book Fair 2016

From 7-17 January 2016, the National Book Development Council of Singapore led a group of Singapore authors to represent the country  at the New Delhi World Book Fair 2016 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi! These authors are: Coonoor Kripalani, Damyanti Biswas, Nur-el-Hudaa Jaffar, Kamaladevi Aravindhan, and Susanna Goho-Quek.

The New Delhi World Book Fair,  which has been held for the past 41 years, is a major calendar event in the publishing world, and is organised by the National Book Trust, India. 

Highlights of the trip included book launches, school talks and panel discussions, as well as the set-up of a Singapore booth displaying local titles!



The NBDCS booth @ the Fair!

HIGHLIGHTS OF ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED BY SINGAPORE AUTHORS:

Book Launch & School Workshop: Ahlcon International School (13 Jan)
Susanna Goho-Quek launched her book Teddy Bear Activity Book in conjunction with a workshop for teachers from different schools hosted by the Ahlcon International School. This launch was attended by a representative from the Singapore High Commission.

Panel Discussion: Communicating Asian Themes through Children’s Content (14 Jan)
Speakers: Coonoor Kripalani, Kenneth Quek, Nur-el-Hudaa Jaffar, Susanna Goho-Quek, Atanu Roy (India), Dr Shekhar Sarkar (India)
Moderator: Manas Mahapatra

This panel comprised of speakers from India and Singapore and allowed for a lively discussion of the topic coming from our various viewpoints.
 

School Talks: Ahlcon International School (15 Jan)
Ahlcon International School hosted Damyanti Biswas, Kamaladevi Aravindhan and Nur-el-Hudaa Jaffar for 45-minute talks with their students. As it was still the school holidays in Delhi, the students signed up voluntarily to attend the talks. Each talk had a minimum of 30 students participating!

Outside the Ahlcon International School

Panel Presentation: Singapore Writers and Their Stories (15 Jan)
Speakers: Coonoor Kripalani, Damyanti Biswas, Kamaladevi Aravindhan, Nur-el-Hudaa Jaffar, Susanna Goho-Quek
Moderator: Kenneth Quek

In this presentation, the authors each spoke about their current and forthcoming projects.

School Talks: Salwan Public School (16 Jan)
Salwan Public School hosted Coonoor Kripalani, Damyanti Biswas, Kamaladevi Aravindhan, and Susanna Goho-Quek for 2-hour workshops with students and parents.

Coonoor held a book-making workshop for students age 9-11, Kamaladevi conducted a writing workshop for students aged 12-14, Damyanti held a writing seminar for students age 14 and up, and Susanna conducted a workshop on creativity for parents!

Bookshop Talk: Full Circle Bookshop (17 Jan)
At the Full Circle Bookshop, Susanna Goho-Quek and Coonoor Kripalani held a 1.5-hour session with children. Susanna led the children through a storytelling and illustration activity, while Coonoor led the children through yoga-poses from her book Yoga for Children.

There were 35 children participating in the session. After the session, the bookshop owner hosted the team for lunch!
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And concludes the trip to the New Delhi World Book Fair 2016. Til' next time! 

From left to right:
Damyanti Biswas, Susanna Goho-Quek, Kamaladevi Aravindhan, Kenneth Quek, Celine Chow, Nur-el-Hudaa Jaffar, and Coonoor Kripalani.