K. K. Seet
Seet Khiam Keong, better known as "K.K. Seet", is an academic, writer and theatre director from Singapore. He was a tenured faculty member in the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore (NUS) for 22 years and elected early retirement in June 2012. He was responsible for establishing NUS's Theatre Studies programme in 1992.[1] He is a prominent figure in the arts scene in Singapore, where he is particularly known for being a judge at several high-profile competitions and serving on a number of arts-related committees.
Seet holds a PhD from the University of Exeter, and Master's degrees from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Toronto.[2] He has been the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship (as Visiting Fellow at the City University of New York) and two British Council Fellowships.[3]
Seet has chaired the Grants Committee and Selection Panel for the Singapore Cultural Medallion and the Young Artist of the Year Awards in Theatre. He advises on multidisciplinary arts at the National Arts Council Singapore, and has been a member of both the Drama Advisory Committee and the Films Appeal Committee for Singapore's Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA).[4]
Seet has judged numerous arts-related competitions, including the Singapore Literature Prize, the Singapore Writers Festival, The Straits Times Life! Theatre Awards, and the televised shows the Fame Awards and The Arena.[5][6][7]
Seet has hosted the TV shows Film Art and Art Nation on Arts Central of MediaCorp TV12 in Singapore.[4][8] and he was the face of the Speak Mandarin Campaign/ Huayu Cool in 2007.
Seet has written fifteen books. The Istana was presented to Blair House, the official guest house of the US President. Another book, In Unison, was presented to the Vice Premier of China. A third, Singapore Celebrates, is buried in a time capsule. His book Death Rites was twice dramatised for TV by Arts Central.[9]
Seet was conferred the Special Recognition Award by Singapore's Ministry of Information, Communication and the Arts (MICA) in 2005 for his contribution to culture and the arts. In July 2012, he was presented the Singapore Theatre Vanguard Award by the arts community of Singapore.
Select bibliography
Non-fiction
- A place for the people (Times Books International, 1983) ISBN 9971650975
- Singapore celebrates (Times Editions, 1990) ISBN 9812041427
- The Istana (Times Editions, 2000) ISBN 9812320989
- Knowledge, imagination, possibility: Singapore's transformative library (National Library Board of Singapore and SNP Editions, 2005) ISBN 9812481079
- Prime: pride of passage (Keppel Land Limited and Straits Times Press, 2011) ISBN 9789812481894
Edited Volumes
- Old truths, new revelations: prizewinning ASEAN stories (Times Books International, 2001) ISBN 9812321829
- 5 under 25: prize-winning plays from the Writers' Lab (TheatreWorks, 2003) ISBN 9810488378
Children's
- Death rites: tales from a wake (Times Books International, 1990) ISBN 9812041850
- A single tear: a fairytale for all ages (2010) ISBN 9789810871345
References
- ↑ Impeccably bilingual, The Sunday Times, 5 February 2006
- ↑ Ivory tower star power, Weekend Today, 28-29 May 2005
- ↑ Who says I'm camp?, The Sunday Times, 14 December 2003
- 1 2 Playwriting contest judges' profiles, action.org.sg, retrieved on 19 January 2008
- ↑ No resting on laurels for Arena judge, The Campus Observer, 22 January 2007
- ↑ The Arena judge's profile, thearena.com.sg, retrieved on 2 March 2008
- ↑ The Arena's Fantastic Four, Wassup, 1 November 2006
- ↑ Art's making it on air, channelnewsasia.com, 18 May 2006
- ↑ kkseet.com, Resumé section, retrieved on 19 January 2008
