YOUNG AUTHOR SPOTLIGHT: Our Judges!

I am currently a first-year undergraduate in Singapore Management University pursuing my degree in Social Sciences! As I enter a new phase of my life, I look back on my journey of writing and how YRC has catapulted my love for writing when I was in Primary 4. Besides honing my writing skills, being a part of YRC has enhanced my creativity, which I realised is very important in today’s world as I embark on life. It has taught me to adopt various perspectives and to think outside the box. Up till now, I enjoy the process of writing essays, arguments, opinion pieces or whatever assignment I have been tasked to do. I believe the reason for that has to do with how Ms Khoo’s passion for writing has infected me since young and I am still grateful for that!

I’ve been writing since I was six or seven! I joined YAA and wrote two books under the guidance of Ms Catherine Khoo, who mentored me and helped me to grow and develop as a writer 🙂 After YAA I continued to write, and took part in various competitions such as the Commonwealth Essay Competition, Foyle Young Poets Award etc. It’s been about seven years since I last took part in YAA, but the whole process of revisiting my work again and again, looking through my drafts to re-edit and correct mistakes, and ultimately producing a piece I was proud of, was something that really shaped my foundation as a writer. To this day I still write once in a while in my pockets of free time, but mostly just poems and short excerpts. While waiting for JC to begin, I hope to fully develop an idea that’s been at the back of my mind for a while 🙂

I was born in Malaysia in the year 2002, moved to Taiwan before coming to live in Singapore. Like most writers, I enjoyed the art of creating worlds with nothing but the written language, making it come alive in the mind’s eye. The writing was something of a small hobby, one that YAA allowed me to express myself in the story I had written. But as life went on, I started to write less and less, finding an interest in engineering. But despite all the years that have passed I have still written personal stories, few and far, and the time I spent at YAA was one held with great fondness.

Good luck to all writers!

I have always been intrigued by the fantastical worlds of fiction.  I always liked to write continuations to my favourite movies that always ended on a cliff hanger, and before I knew it, I began to write my own
original stories since primary school. I joined the Young Authors Scheme when I was Primary 5, writing my first full-length short story ‘The Willow Tree Whisperers’ before continuing my passion by studying English Literature at University. I am now a writer in an online youth website called Thirst, finding joy in the opportunity to help others through words.

Hi! I’m Louise, and I’m currently studying in the Year 4 Integrated Programme in Methodist Girls’ School (Secondary). In my free time, you will probably find me reading, making bubble tea, playing the piano, or messing around on Garage Band. The genres of books I enjoy reading are historical and young adult fiction. The skills that I learned when I participated in the Young Author Scheme back in 2014 have stuck with me till today and have made me a much more critical reader and writer. Ever since then, I have always longed to publish another book under my own name. But what with school and exams, there never seemed to be any time! However, reading this year’s entries has definitely rekindled my interest in writing, and I will definitely continue writing again soon!

Since a young age, I’ve enjoyed pursuing writing as an escape and a way to express myself through fantasies and storytelling. I’m currently a 20-year-old Digital Game Artist, pursuing a degree in Game Design at RMIT University. After winning the 2013 Young Authors Awards, I have continued to pursue the art of storytelling through various different mediums, eventually landing on creating narratives through games and art. Though I do still enjoy traditional writing as a hobby, creating stories through games gives me unique insight into reader engagement in stories and participative storytelling. There are many ways of engaging people and telling stories, and I’ll forever be grateful to have my roots in the written word to carry me towards my goals as a creator.