A banker by profession and teacher by choice, Swapnil Mishra holds the confluence of enterprise and social goals close to his heart. Swapnil is an Adjunct Teaching Mentor at the Singapore Management University, mentoring students through classroom projects on social finance and economic development in partnership with Singapore-based voluntary welfare organisations like Trybe and We Care. In his free time, Swapnil searches for challenges that help him get lost in the wilderness. He has run a marathon, hiked the remote Tasmanian marshlands and done a solo bushwalking trek into Australia’s central deserts. He lives in Singapore with his wife and two growing boys.

Behind the pseudonym A.J. Low are husband and wife team Adan Jimenez and Felicia Low-Jimenez. Adan previously co-wrote a children’s book, Twisted Journeys #22: Hero City. He loves comics, LEGO®, books, movies, games (analog and video) and Doctor Who. Felicia spent most of her childhood with her head in the clouds and her nose buried in a book. The Sherlock Sam series is Felicia’s debut writing effort, after accumulating years of experience buying, selling and marketing books.

Jennani Durai is a former journalist, a VONA/Voices fiction fellow for 2016, and a co-author of the official commemorative book of Singapore’s 50th birthday, Living the Singapore Story (2015). She was selected for the Ceriph Mentorship Programme (Prose) in 2014, and won both third prize and an honourable mention in the 2015 Golden Point Awards. Durai currently lives in Guatemala with her husband, and Regrettable Things That Happened Yesterday is her debut collection of short fiction.

Ken Kwek is a screenwriter, film director and playwright. He spent his childhood watching movies on an ancient machine called a VHS player. Ken studied literature at the University of Cambridge and dramatic writing at New York University. He worked as a journalist and a cook for a few years, then wrote and directed several movies that (unfortunately) cannot be viewed on a VHS player. Timothy and the Phubbers is his first children’s novel.

Jeanette Yap is a graduate from Nanyang Technological University’s School of Art, Design & Media. Her works are inspired by nature, books and good people. She has worked with Epigram Books, developing and illustrating the Emma and Ginger picture book series. Those titles are Dad’s at Home, Dad’s Too Busy, Dad’s For Sale and Dad’s Dyslexic Too.

Adrian Pang is the Artistic Director of Pangdemonium, a theatre company. After graduating from a Keele University with a degree in law and psychology, Mr. Pang began working as an actor in the U.K., on stage, TV, and film. He has also appeared on the Singapore stage, and since returning to Singapore more than 10 years ago, he has been seen frequently on TV, on Chinese-language dramas, as well as the host of several popular Chinese-language variety shows, and the hit game show, Deal or No Deal.

Nuraliah Norasid holds a PhD in English Literature and Creative Writing from Nanyang Technological University. She works as a research associate at the Centre for Research on Islamic and Malay Affairs (RIMA), where she studies marginalities and the confluence of religious ideas and secular society. Her writing has been published in QLRS, Karyawan Magazine, AMPlified and Perempuan: Muslim Women Speak Out. The Gatekeeper is her first novel.

Jeremy Tiang is a full-time writer and translator. His short story collection, It Never Rains on National Day (Epigram Books, 2015) was shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize; he also won the Golden Point Award in 2009. He has translated more than ten books from Chinese, including novels by You Jin, Yeng Pway Ngon, Zhang Yueran, Chan Ho-Kei and Wang Jinkang, and been awarded an NEA Literary Translation Fellowship, a PEN/ Heim Grant, and a Henry Luce Foundation Fellowship. Jeremy also writes and translates plays, including A Dream of Red Pavilions (performed off-Broadway by Pan Asian Rep), The Last Days of Limehouse (Yellow Earth, London), A Son Soon by Xu Nuo (Royal Exchange, Manchester) and Floating Bones by Quah Sy Ren and Han Lao Da (The Arts House). Jeremy is a Singapore citizen; he has lived in Brooklyn for the last three years.

Pico Iyer is the author of more than a dozen books, including international favourites such as Video Night in Kathmandu, The Lady and the Monk and The Global Soul. His books have been translated into twenty-three languages and two of his recent works, The Open Road (on his first thirty-four years of talks with the Fourteenth Dalai Lama) and The Art of Stillness, appeared on best-seller lists. Since 1982, he has been a constant contributor to Time, The New York Times, Financial Times, Vanity Fair, Granta and more than two hundred other periodicals worldwide. His three TED Talks have received more than eight million views so far. Born in Oxford, England, partly based in California and a longtime resident in Japan, Iyer graduated from Eton, Oxford and Harvard and is currently Ferris Professor of Journalism at Princeton.

Monica Lim and Lesley-Anne Tan are a mother-and-daughter writing team. Monica Lim is the mother and Lesley-Anne Tan is the daughter, although sometimes their roles seem reversed. Lesley-Anne eats her veggies and occasionally has to force Monica to do the same. She’s weird that way. (“No, I’m not!” says Lesley-Anne). Monica runs her own writing business, has a blog on education and published a book in October 2013 entitled The Good, the Bad and the PSLE. Lesley-Anne is still in school so she mostly writes essays and papers, which isn’t quite as fun. They have done three writing projects together, Secrets of Singapore, Danger Dan and Gadget Girl and the first Danger Dan series. The idea for the character Danny came about from their experience living with a highly imaginative little boy obsessed with superheroes and comics. If Lesley-Anne could have a super power, she would choose the ability to stop time, so that she can finish studying for her exams and writing books in no time at all. Monica’s preferred super power is mind control, so that she can make Lesley-Anne stop dreaming about time freezes and get back to work.

Peh Shing Huei is a Singapore Literature Prize winning-author and journalist with more than 15 years experience in the media industry. He was The Straits Times' news editor and China bureau chief. He is the author of two best sellers, Neither Civil Nor Servant and When the Party Ends.

Lily Kong’s short stories and other writings have been published in magazines and newspapers. She won the NUS Literary Society Writing Contest for an English short story in 1985 and the National Arts Council’s Beyond Words Chinese Picture Book Writing Contest in 2013. She majored in English Literature and Economics at the National University of Singapore and holds teaching diplomas in English as a Second Language, Speech and Drama, Public Speaking and Early Childhood Education. She is effectively bilingual.

Warran Kalasegaran studied Politics with International Studies at the University of Warwick. He graduated with a Master of Public Policy from the University of Tokyo, where he wrote Lieutenant Kurosawa’s Errand Boy, his first novel. He recently started working at Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Emily Lim is an award-winning children’s book author. She was the first outside North America to win three Independent Publisher Book Awards (“IPPY” awards) for her books, Prince Bear and Pauper Bear (Bronze Medal 2008), Just Teddy (Bronze Medal 2009), and Bunny Finds The Right Stuff (Silver Medal 2010). Ms Lim is also the first Southeast Asian recipient of the Moonbeam Award, for her book, The Tale of Rusty Horse (Moonbeam Gold Medal 2009). In addition, Just Teddy was on the Red Dot Award Shortlist in 2010, and Bunny Finds The Right Stuff was on the Hedwig Anuar Shortlist in 2011.

Quek Hong Shin is a freelance illustrator who has illustrated several picture books including The Amazing Sarong, Lolly's Secret and the Ahoy, Navy! series for RSN's 50th anniversary. The Amazing Sarong–the first book he wrote and illustrated–was shortlisted for Best Children's Title at the Singapore Book Awards 2016. He conducts workshops for primary school children and is an advocate for Superhero Me, an inclusive arts movement for children with special needs. He intends to promote local culture to the young through his works and storytelling.

Amanda Kee is an English Literature undergraduate at the National University of Singapore under the University Scholars Programme, and has also contributed articles for the Programme's online magazine, The Cinnamon Roll. In following her interest in publishing, she has previously held a number of book-related jobs, including a stint at Woods in the Books, as well as an internship with Epigram Books.

Sebastian Sim grew up in a two-room HDB flat with parents who were part of the pioneer generation of independent Singapore.

Not one to shy away from the road less taken, he has travelled around the world to soak up different experiences and cultures, and tried his hand in diverse industries: a bartender at Boat Quay, an assistant outlet manager at McDonald’s, an insurance salesman, a prison officer in a maximum security prison, and a croupier in a casino.

Let’s Give It Up For Gimme Lao! is Sebastian’s first English novel.

David Seow is a well-known children’s book writer and a staple on the Singapore literary scene. He is an award-winning children’s book author of twenty- three well-received children’s books, including the Sam, Sebbie and Di-Di-Di Series (12 books), which feature his young niece and nephews as the main characters. Other titles include Alexander’s Adventure Machine and The Littlest Emperor. His latest books are There’s Soup on My Fly!, Blow A Kiss, If I Were a Blue Kangaroo and Emma’s Elephant.

Veteran author, editor and publisher, Catherine Khoo is the founder and director of Janus Education, Singapore’s first boutique publisher of imprints for under-18s, by under-18s. She was editor-in-chief of Asia 21, the only Asian publication that has been selected by the Ministry of Education as essential reading for their Humanities syllabus. Catherine is also the creator behind the Savvy series, having published two bestselling books. Singapore Savvy: 50 Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow and Malaysia Savvy: Top Profiles in Management. She is also the author of Love Notes and Golden Legends, a collection of legends from around the world.

Asad Latif, a former journalist, is the author of the biography, Lim Kim San: A Builder of Singapore, as well as a biography of politician and journalist Gerald de Cruz. Asad studied History at Cambridge, where he was a Chevening and S. Rajaratnam Scholar, and was a Fulbright Visiting Scholar at Harvard.

Lorraine Tan is a lecturer at the School of Humanities & Social Sciences, Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Her first children’s book, Pip’s Garden, won the First-Time Writers and Illustrations Award in 2009. In 2013, her picture book, Origami Girl, was the Singapore first prize winner for the Daekyo Eye Level Children’s Literature Award.

Darel Seow is a visual storyteller who illustrates the tales of the natural world through his unique brand of wry wit and whimsy. He works across a range of styles and media, especially enjoying digital and printmaking methods, to bring his creations to life. He is currently based in sunny Singapore.

Low Ying Ping holds a Master’s degree in English Literature from the University of Warwick. Her poems have appeared in Singa, the journal of the National University of Singapore Centre for the Arts; and QLRS (Quarterly Literary Review Singapore).

Gwen Lee is the author of City of Waves: Vivo City and the Editor-at-Large of Singapore Architect, the professional journal of the Singapore Institute of Architects. Trained as an architect in the UK, Gwen Lee is one of the few interdisciplinary writers straddling the fields of architecture and literature. Her first children’s book was Little Cloud Wants Snow! She also wrote two nursery rhyme collections told with a Singaporean flavour—There Was a Peranakan Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, published in 2014, followed by Jack and Jill at Bukit Timah Hill a year later. Gwen is a recipient of the National Arts Council's inaugural Arts Creation Fund and the winner of its Beyond Words Young and Younger initiative. She lives in New York, USA with her husband and daughter.

Linda Locke is a great-grandniece of Agnes Joaquim, and the story of Agnes and the creation of the Vanda Miss Joaquim is also a family story. She was previously a chief executive and creative director of Saatchi & Saatchi Advertising, and chairman and regional creative director of Leo Burnett Advertising, and has more than 300 creative awards to her name. She later started her own consultancy, Godmother Pte Ltd, and held several key positions at Club21, a luxury fashion distributor. She now serves on the board of two companies. This is her first children’s book.

Adeline Foo is an MFA graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Asia. She has 24 published children’s books, including seven national bestsellers. The Diary of Amos Lee: I Sit, I Write, I Flush! won the inaugural Red Dot award for “Best Junior Fiction” presented by the International School Libraries Network (Singapore) in 2009. The Diary of Amos Lee: I'm Twelve, I'm Tough, I Tweet! won second runner-up at the Popular Readers’ Choice Award in 2011. The Diary of Amos Lee is also published in India, Indonesia, China and the Slovak Republic. It has also been adapted for a 10-part TV series on Singapore’s MediaCorp children’s channel, okto.