David Maybury | Blog

It has finally happened… my dream of being mistaken for James Bond Jnr has finally been realised. Well, not quite - I was asked to put the camera away on suspicion of industrial espionage. Seems there is fierce competition in the wilds of Singapore and beyond. I did manage to sneak some pics out though…

Amy Green has hit Singapore with a bang! The shiny, pink, shrink-wrapped cover had a prominent display in nearly every bookshop we were in - while Skullduggery has been surprisingly absent in Singapore and Asia - he has a much larger fan base in Australia. (Finding the skeleton detective next to Nancy Drew in Singapore - made a weird symmetrical sense)

We had a short stopover in Bangkok before heading to the southern islands for sun-shine, general lazing about and the full, quarter and half-moon parties. I didn’t get to meet too many writers/publishers this trip - but it I’ll take any excuse to go back.

Bangkok seems to have always been the worlds stopover capital and the city embraces the tradition, claiming writers Joseph Conrad, Graham Greene and John Le Carre among its visitors (and naming hotel suites after them). At a state level, Thailand is working hard to develop a literature programme - it launched the annual Children’s Book Day in 2005. (It’s the same day as Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s birthday, April 2. The Princess served as a judge on the Hans Christian Andersen Award Jury and champions education and technology in Thailand.)

A few books came recommended - including Ngarmpun (Jane) Vejjajiva’s The Happiness of Kati (a little too ‘Darby O’Gill’ for my liking…) There doesn’t seem to be too much UK/US stuff translated for Thai readers - though there are plenty of books on the shelves that I couldn’t read.