1H 2026 highlights and author talks by Vivian Teo
Author talks by Singapore children's book author, Vivian Teo, and her book-related highlights in the first half of 2026.
I know it's already the second half of 2026, so this update for the first half of the year is coming a little late. But better late than never! 😁
Started the year with Epigram Books' First Look Conference in January, where Epigram Books authors get to share about their upcoming books with industry stakeholders. I really appreciate the opportunity to share about Mikaela Kong: Return of the Dragons and it's always nice to see old friends and make new ones at the event over yummy refreshments!
The first half of this year was also really exciting because we could all start using the SG Culture Pass in March for preapproved Singapore literature🥳 It was amazing to see so many Sing Lit - including my books - highlighted and displayed so prominently in bookstores.
It's been about 6 months since the initiative has started, and I think it has definitely helped with Singlit book sales. I believe this is one reason (and also from the school talks and events I've been doing) that a number of my My BFF Is an Alien books have been on the Top Ten Fiction shelves at POPULAR bookstores for many weeks.
Actually, I feel my books belong in the Top Ten Children's Books category at the bookstore, since they lean more toward middle grade than young adult (I know they’re sometimes considered early young adult, but most of my readers are probably middle grade), rather than in the Top Ten Fiction display, which lists Adult and Young Adult books. Still, I’ll take it, as long as my books get a prominent display. 😄
Quite often it's not easy for Singlit, especially Singlit children's books, to stand out among a sea of international publications in bookstores, so the SG Culture Pass and the more prominent display in bookstores is something I'm really thankful for.
March was also the month where Mikaela Kong: Return of the Dragons was published and I went to Epigram Books to sign the preorders.
It was really surreal to see all three of the Mikaela Kong books at bookstores displayed alongside My BFF Is an Alien.
Even more surreal was seeing Return of the Dragons appear in the Straits Times Bestseller list not long after it was published. I understood preorder sales weren't included in the tabulation of the list and I didn't hold any events to sell my book, so this was such a pleasant surprise. Thank you to everyone who got my book 🙏
March also brought the good news that two of my books were nominated for awards: The Epic Tale of Mikaela Kong for the Hedwig Anuar Children's Book Award (HABA) and Mikaela Kong: Champion of the Realms in the Singapore Books Awards. Spoiler alert: I didn't win either 😆 But I'm thankful for being shortlisted - I don't take nominations for granted at all 🙏
This year, the Singapore Book Council also held a Meet the HABA Shortlist event in April prior to the award ceremony and it was such a nice opportunity to meet fellow shortlistees and share more about my book with invited guesMets.
On the school front, I visited my alma mater, Methodist Girls' School (Secondary) in April on an invitation from the school's Library Club.
I had such a fun time sharing about my books, their inspiration and my writing and publishing journey with some 50 members of the CCA and students who came for the session. I was very impressed by the thoughtful questions asked by the students and the publishing/craft specific ones from the aspiring writers👏
I also visited Si Ling Primary School...
and Yew Tee Primary School for assembly talks, where I got to sign books next to one my favourite authors, Neil Humphreys, at the latter!😁
The Singapore Book Awards ceremony took place in late April, where Champion of the Realms was nominated in the Best Young Person's Fiction Title. Didn't get to take many pics as it was a really packed event with many awards being presented, but here's one of me and the Epigram fam.
May took me to Park View Primary School...
Teck Ghee Primary School...
and North Spring Primary School where I met the P3-P4 students during assembly.
The Asian Festival of Children's Content (AFCC) also happened in May, and it was where I launched Mikaela Kong: Return of the Dragons...
and had a fun time chatting with Low Ying Ping, Tori Tadiar and Victor Ocampo at our AFCC panel.
The HABA ceremony took place at AFCC and though I didn't win, I still had a wonderful time seeing and catching up with fellow creatives. Thank you HABA judges for nominating The Epic Tale of Mikaela Kong and the Singapore Book Council for organising the biannual event, which really encourages local writers and helps highlight Singlit children's books 🙏
In June, I also managed to drop by the Sci-Fi Pop-up Library at Parkway Parade. It's a pretty cool display of sci-fi books (My books are available for borrowing there!) and is only there till 11 April 2027 - so do drop by if you can!
My last event for the first half of 2026 is the Singapore Children's Book Festival in June, where I was a part of the Meet the Storymakers programme. I had a great time sharing about the inspiration behind my stories, and how to find and develop story ideas in 'From K-pop to Aliens' 🤗 Thank you to everyone who dropped by - it was especially nice to see parents accompanying their kids at the session 😊 Thank you to the Singapore Book Publishers Association for inviting me and organising the festival.
Growing up, I read mostly eurocentric books because there weren't many Singlit children's book. Today our kids have a lot more Singlit choices, but in all honesty, writing and publishing is not something that's easy to sustain - whether as an author or business - here in Singapore for many reasons. Yet, it's so important for our kids here to see themselves represented in stories. If not, how would they know their stories matter as much as their peers in other parts of the world, and that our stories here in Singapore are also worth reading and telling? I truly hope those of us passionate about writing and publishing for children can keep doing what we love 🙏 So, do support Singlit and our local authors, illustrators and publishers, ok? 😊
That is all for the first half of 2026. So far the second half has been busy as well with school visits and events, and all while I'm editing the fourth and last book of the Mikaela Kong series. We're expecting to publish it early next year 😉
Thank you to the schools who invited me in the first half of the year and likewise to Readers' House who facilitate many of my visits. I really do enjoy meeting readers and encouraging them to read and write. If there are any educators here who would like me to visit their school, please feel free to get in touch with me via the contact form in my website 😊
PS: I'm more active on Instagram, so do follow me there if you'd like more timely updates! Feel free to DM me on author talks over there too! Until the next update, have a wonderful rest of 2026!
©Vivian Teo. All content and photos are copyrighted to Vivian Teo unless otherwise specified.
Comments