Rosemarie Somaiah
Rosemarie Somaiah, storyteller, teacher and writer, is a Partner with Asian Storytelling Network (ASN).

Rosemarie has taught, led workshops and told stories in local and international schools, museums, over the radio, in the libraries, on the MRT and the Singapore Flyer! She has performed at The Esplanade, The Arts House, the Asian Civilizations Museum, the Substation, Singapore Art Museum, Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts, and at festivals like the ‘Singapore International Storytelling Festival (‘SISF)’, the ‘Asian Congress of Storytellers,’ ‘Kidsfest’, ‘The Asian Children’s Festival’ the ‘Asian Children’s Writers and Illustrators Conference’ and ‘The Storytellers Showcase’ in Singapore. She works with all ages including children, teenagers, and adults, and performs and trains people at all levels including schools, community and corporate organisations.

In the recent past, she has been to the ‘Man Hong Kong International Literary Festival’ as well as ‘Bookaroo Children’s Literature Festival’ in India, presenting her work there as both author and storyteller with the support of the National Arts Council. In 2012, she represented Singapore at the ‘International Workshop on Story Heritages of Asia’ organised by Asia Culture Network, Seoul, Korea. In 2011 she featured Singapore children’s writing at ‘Spotlight Singapore’ in Cape Town, South Africa. In 2010, she was invited to the ‘Regional Meeting on the use of Asian Folktales in Classrooms’ organised by the SEAMEO (Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation) and APCEIU (The Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding) in Bangkok. Prior to that, she presented different sessions for children and adults at the ‘Scottish International Storytelling Festival’ and the ‘Beverley and East Riding Folk Festival’ in the UK; as well as at the Coorg Public School in Karnataka, India.

In 2012, her book ‘The Never Mind Girl and other stories’ was published by Ethos Books, Singapore. Other books include ‘Indian Children’s Favourite Stories’ by international publishers, Tuttle Publishing. Her writing for adults has been published in ‘Ceriph, Issue 2 – Housing Singaporean thoughts’, ‘Coast – a mono-titular anthology’ and ‘Balik Kampung’.

Earlier writing includes stories and scripts for the Singapore History Museum (SHM) where she had led workshops that included storytelling and drama based-sessions such as ‘Stuff and Stories’, ‘Myths and Legends’ and ‘Dragons and More!’ Her work helped create a commemorative comic for the SHM, and she is featured on the VCD produced by the Ministry of Education called ‘It’s Story Time…’ She helped compile the children’s book ‘Gateway to Singapore Culture’ published by Asiapac Books in 2004, as well as ‘Colours of Harmony’ (2005) and ‘Colours of Love’ (2006) and ‘A Giving Heart’ (2007) published by the Inter-Religious Harmony Circle, supported by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (‘MYCS’), to promote Racial Harmony.

Other performance highlights include scripts and performances in the ‘Children’s Mozart Festival’ organised by the Substation, a performance in the short-play festival ‘Short and Sweet, Singapore,’ and a script and performance at a seminar on ‘Men and Violence’ based on a case history for the MYCS. She has worked with musicians and artist on collaborative work presented at various venues including private galleries, the University Cultural Centre and the Esplanade.

An active volunteer within the community, Rosemarie has led The Storytellers’ Circle of the Society for Reading and Literacy (SRL) for more than ten years and has produced a series of family-oriented public performances such as Chapter One to Five of ‘New and Old, Read and Told’, as well as ‘Sea Stories’ for the SRL. She is a member of the Singapore Drama Educators Association (SDEA) and a founding member of the Storytelling Association (Singapore).