School Talks and Creative Writing Workshops

Lesley-Anne Tan and Monica Lim conduct school talks and creative writing workshops as authors of the Danger Dan series.

School Assembly Talk
Writing – Not Just About Compositions! 

This talk is a sharing session with heart, designed to inspire the love of writing in students. Lesley-Anne candidly talks about her journey that led to her becoming a published author at age 16. Some of the areas she touches on include: 

• How to nurture the love of reading 
• How she discovered her passion for writing in primary school despite finding primary school compositions uninteresting 
• How she overcame personal challenges and barriers 
• The importance of owning your passion 

Lesley-Anne and Monica also share how the Danger Dan series came about and their writing style. They offer a rare glimpse behind the complex process of getting published which involves many steps: 

• Pitching
• Writing 
• Editing 
• Illustrations 
• Design 
• Proof-reading 
• Printing 
• Books hit the shelves at bookstores! 

Book sale and signing by the authors can be arranged.

Duration: Half an hour
Age group: Primary 3-6

Creative Writing Workshop
Quirks and Quarx: Unleashing Your Imagination!

This highly creative workshop is designed to inspire the love of writing in students, beyond formulaic compositions. Mother-daughter duo, Monica and Lesley-Anne, lead students in a series of fun games and activities to get their creative cells buzzing and unleash the writer in them!

During the workshop, the students are guided to create an original story of their own, with unique characters, exciting plots and a swirl of quirky details. No more dastardly cliches and tired, worn stereotypes! They might even spot a Quarx or two.

Time will be allocated for Question and Answer with freebie giveaways. Book sale and signing by the authors can be arranged.

Duration: One-and-a-half hours (can be combined with school talk to form two hours)
Age group: Primary 3-6

Feedback from student participants - English Language Seminar (East Zone) Writers Congress 2014:

80% - ‘Excellent’
More than 95% - ‘Excellent’ or ‘Very good’

Comments

“The sharing session was really inspiring!”
“Showed me how to write more creatively.”
“I want to create my own similes!”
“One of the best programmes I’ve attended.”

School Visits in 2014

Anglo-Chinese School (Junior)
Corporation Primary School
Holy Innocents Primary School
Nanyang Girls High
St Hilda's Primary School
St Joseph's International
St Nicholas Girls' School
Temasek Primary School


School Visits in 2015


Bukit View Primary School
CHIJ Kellock (Primary)
North Vista Primary School
Raffles Girls' Primary School
Riverside Primary School
United World College (East)
Winstedt School 

If you would like to know how to arrange for a school talk or workshop, please get in touch with Denise Tan of Closetful of Books @ email: denise@closetfulofbooks.com or phone: 9146 5522



About the Speakers

Lesley-Anne Tan 

Lesley-Anne Tan is currently studying at a junior college in Singapore. She is the co-author of the action-packed Danger Dan children’s book series, the first book of which was published in January 2014, when she was just 16.  

From a young age, Lesley-Anne has had a passion for writing and a fascination with words. She was part of the Gifted Education Programme (GEP) and topped her school's Secondary 4 level in Advanced Literature 2013.

Lesley-Anne has shared her love of writing at numerous schools and at several literary events, including the Hong Kong International Young Readers Festival, the Singapore Writers Festival's Words Go Round, the New Word Order series at the Singapore Arts House and the All In! Young Writers Media Festival. She has also been invited to speak at MOE’s Creative Arts Programme and the NTUC Back to School Fair, as well as conduct workshops for the East Zone Centre for English Language (Primary)Writers’ Congress and for schools under the Singapore Literature Project organised by Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (Singapore). She has been interviewed by the Straits Times, News Radio 93.8, Young Parents Magazine and Young Reader Club.

Monica Lim

Monica Lim runs her own writing agency for corporate clients. She also writes a popular blog on parenting and education issues, which was the basis of her first book The Good, the Bad and the PSLE: Trials of an Almost Kiasu Mother, published by Epigram Books in October 2013. The Danger Dan series is her second fictional work.

Monica has been interviewed by both Singapore and international media, including the Straits Times, Business Times, Lianhe Zaobao, Her World magazine, Young Parents Magazine, News Radio 93.8, Mediacorp, Channel News Asia, Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post, SingTao and RTHK, and the US documentary programme, Dan Rather Reports.