Stella Kon (''née'' Lim Sing Po, born 1944) is a Singaporean playwright. She is best known for her play ''

Emily of Emerald Hill ''Emily of Emerald Hill'' (''Emily'') is a play by Singaporean playwright Stella Kon. The play won the Singapore National Playwriting Competition in 1983. Premise In 1929, fourteen-year-old Emily arrives at Oberon Mansion, the Gan family home ...

'', which has been staged internationally. She is a recipient of the SEA Write Award.

Biography

Kon was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1944. She grew up in a

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

on Emerald Hill. Kon's mother, Kheng Lim (or Rosie Seow), was an actress who inspired her daughter's love of theatre. Kon's father, Lim Kok Ann, got Kon interested in science and literature. Kon was also related to

Lim Boon Keng Lim Boon Keng (; 18 October 1869 – 1 January 1957) was a Peranakan physician who advocated social and educational reforms in Singapore in the early 20th-century. He also served as the president of Xiamen University in China between 1921 and ...

and

Tan Tock Seng Tan Tock Seng (; 1798 – 24 February 1850) was a Malacca-born merchant and philanthropist from Singapore. Early life and business Tan Tock Seng was born in Malacca in 1798 to a Chinese Fujian, Fujianese immigrant father and local Peranakan m ...

who were her paternal great-grandfather and maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather respectively. Kon attended Raffles Girls' School and then went on to the

University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University. The university offers degree program ...

, where she earned a degree in

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

. In 1967, after she was married, she moved to

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

for fifteen years. For four years, she lived in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

while her children were in school there. In 1987, she returned to Singapore. Kon was awarded the Merit Award in the

Singapore Literature Prize The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organis ...

. In 2008, she won the South East Asian Writers Award. Kon was inducted into the

Singapore Women's Hall of Fame The Singapore Women's Hall of Fame is a virtual hall of fame that honors and documents the lives of historically significant women in Singapore. The hall is the creation of the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO), and grew out of an ...

in 2014.

Work

Kon was first published in ''22 Malaysian Stories'' (1962), with the work, ''Mushroom Harvest''. Kon won the Singapore National Playwriting Competition for three plays: ''The Bridge'' (1977), ''The Trial'' (1982) and for ''Emily of Emerald Hill'' (1983). ''

'' is a one-woman play that debuted in 1984 and was directed by Chin San Sooi. The

melodrama A melodrama is a Drama, dramatic work in which plot, typically sensationalized for a strong emotional appeal, takes precedence over detailed characterization. Melodrama is "an exaggerated version of drama". Melodramas typically concentrate on ...

follows the life of a

Peranakan The Peranakan Chinese () are an ethnic group defined by their genealogical descent from the first waves of Southern Chinese settlers to maritime Southeast Asia, known as Nanyang (region), Nanyang (), namely the British Empire, British, Portugu ...

woman who is married into a family she doesn't know at age 14 to a man twice her age. The story was primarily inspired by Kon's grandmother, but also includes stories drawn from the rest of her extended family. The ''

Herald Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

'' said that the writing in ''Emily'' was "colorful and smartly written." The Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote that "The play is rich with the details of everyday life in a well-to-do Singaporeean Chinese family." The play was performed at the Commonwealth Arts Festival and the

Edinburgh Fringe Festival The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as the Edinburgh Fringe, the Fringe or the Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest performance arts festival, which in 2024 spanned 25 days, sold more than 2.6 million tickets and featur ...

in 1986. It has also been performed in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Kon's play, ''The Human Heart Fruit'', was staged by Action Theatre in 2002 and starred

Nora Samosir Nora Samosir is a Singaporean actress of Indonesian descent who won a 2002 Life Theatre Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has been active in the Singapore theatre scene since 1979 and has worked in television and film. Some of her more nota ...

. Kon's first

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

, ''Exodus'', was written with the composer, Kenneth Lyen. Her second musical, ''Lost in Transit'', was performed at

The Arts House The Arts House (formerly the Old Parliament House) is a multi-disciplinary arts venue in Singapore. The venue plays host to art exhibitions and concerts. Built in 1827, the Old Parliament House is the oldest government building and perhaps the ...

in 2005.

References

External links

Official site

Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kon, Stella 1944 births Writers from Edinburgh Singaporean women writers National University of Singapore alumni Raffles Girls' Secondary School alumni Living people