Stella Kon: Beyond Emily of Emerald Hill

Stella Kon is known for creating the beloved Emily of Emerald Hill – possibly the most frequently staged play in Singapore. She is also a novelist and musical theatre writer, and she has adapted her landmark play into a musical after falling in love with the genre. In this episode, Stella talks about the difference between writing plays and musicals, her favourite actor who played Emily, and her writing process. What Stella Talked About 02:15 – How Stella felt watching the first version of the play Emily of Emerald Hill come to life 04:13 – Why the character of Emily resonated with many and inspired countless adaptations 05:25 – Her favourite portrayal of Emily 06:10 – How the play evolved from draft to final product 07:07 – About creating Emily the Musical 08:26 – How Stella wrote “Love Was All I Wanted” for Emily the Musical 09:19 – What draws Stella to the musical genre 11:21 – Her musical Lim Boon Keng , which is based on the life of her great-grandfather 13:03 – Her new novel, 4 Pax to Emptiness 14:37 – Common themes in her work 16:33 – Her writing process, practices and rituals 18:45 – Her writing influences 20:10 – What’s next for Stella Kon 20:49 – Her advice to writers 22:17 – Writing is… 22:39 – Stella’s proudest moments Transcript and Resources Read the transcript : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/podcast-stella-kon-beyond-emily-of-emerald-hill/ Read the BiblioAsia article : https://biblioasia.nlb.gov.sg/all-sections/vol-20-issue-2-jul-sep-2024-emily-of-emerald-hill-stella-kon/ Subscribe to BiblioAsia for more stories about Singapore. This episode of BiblioAsia Podcast was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by Doppler Soundlab. The background music " Di Tanjong Katong " was composed by Ahmad Patek and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Stella for coming on the show. The song "Love Was All I Wanted" was written by Stella Kon and Desmond Moey. The BiblioAsia Podcast by the National Library Singapore tells stories about Singapore history.