{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}} {{Short description|Singaporean playwright}} {{Infobox writer | name = Stella Kon | birth_name = Lim Sing Po | birth_date = 15 April 1944 | birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland | occupation = Playwright | nationality = Singaporean | alma_mater = National University of Singapore | genre = }}
'''Stella Kon''' (''née'' '''Lim Sing Po''',<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fQk_6OEgDmQC&dq=%22stella%20kon%22%20%22university%20of%20Singapore%22&pg=PA91|title=100 Inspiring Rafflesians, 1823-2003|last=Tan|first=Guan Heng|date=2008|publisher=World Scientific|isbn=9789812779465|pages=91|language=en|access-date=20 December 2021|archive-date=30 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930213749/https://books.google.com/books?id=fQk_6OEgDmQC&dq=%22stella%20kon%22%20%22university%20of%20Singapore%22&pg=PA91|url-status=live}}</ref> born 1944) is a Singaporean playwright. She is best known for her play ''Emily of Emerald Hill'', which has been staged internationally. She is a recipient of the SEA Write Award.
== Biography == Kon was born in Edinburgh on 15 April 1944.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_428_2005-01-14.html|title=Stella Kon|last=Ahmad|first=Nureza|website=Singapore Infopedia|publisher=National Library Board Singapore|access-date=28 November 2017|archive-date=29 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181229073419/http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_428_2005-01-14.html|url-status=live}}</ref> She grew up in a mansion on Emerald Hill.<ref name=":4" /> Kon's mother, Kheng Lim (or Rosie Seow),<ref name=":2" /> was an actress who inspired her daughter's love of theatre.<ref name=":1" /> Kon's father, Lim Kok Ann, got Kon interested in science and literature.<ref name=":2" /> Kon was also related to Lim Boon Keng and Tan Tock Seng who were her paternal great-grandfather and maternal great-great-great-great-grandfather respectively.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hashimi |first=Hashirin Nurin |title=Renowned Playwright Stella Kon Tells The Story Of Her Great-Grandfather Lim Boon Keng In New Musical |url=https://www.tatlerasia.com/lifestyle/arts/stella-kon-lim-boon-keng-musical-victoria-theatre-singapore |access-date=14 February 2023 |website=Tatler Asia |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title="A View from the Bridge" programme |url=https://www.roots.gov.sg/Collection-Landing/listing/1322958 |access-date=14 February 2023 |website=www.roots.gov.sg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=adminhw |date=16 August 2012 |title=Experience Peranakan culture anew at Emily of Emerald Hill exhibition |url=https://www.herworld.com/life/experience-peranakan-culture-anew-emily-emerald-hill-exhibition/ |access-date=14 February 2023 |website=Her World Singapore |language=en-US}}</ref> Kon attended Raffles Girls' School and then went on to the University of Singapore, where she earned a degree in philosophy.<ref name=":2" />
In 1967, after she was married, she moved to Malaysia for fifteen years.<ref name=":4" /> For four years, she lived in Britain while her children were in school there.<ref name=":4" /> In 1987, she returned to Singapore.<ref name=":4" />
Kon was awarded the Merit Award in the Singapore Literature Prize.<ref name=":5" /> In 2008, she won the South East Asian Writers Award.<ref name=":5" /> Kon was inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame in 2014.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=http://www.swhf.sg/the-honourees/11-arts-culture-entertainment-media/106-stella-kon|title=Stella Kon|website=Singapore Women's Hall of Fame|language=en-gb|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201034735/http://www.swhf.sg/the%2Dhonourees/11%2Darts%2Dculture%2Dentertainment%2Dmedia/106%2Dstella%2Dkon|archive-date=1 December 2017|url-status=dead|access-date=28 November 2017}}</ref>
== Work == Kon was first published in ''22 Malaysian Stories'' (1962), with the work, ''Mushroom Harvest''.<ref name=":4" /> Kon won the Singapore National Playwriting Competition for three plays: ''The Bridge'' (1977), ''The Trial'' (1982) and for ''Emily of Emerald Hill'' (1983).<ref name=":3">{{Cite news|url=http://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/classic-singapore-plays-3-emily-of-emerald-hill|title=Classic Singapore plays #3 - Emily Of Emerald Hill|date=26 August 2014|work=The Straits Times|access-date=28 November 2017|language=en|archive-date=4 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181104050052/https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/classic-singapore-plays-3-emily-of-emerald-hill|url-status=live}}</ref>
''Emily of Emerald Hill'' is a one-woman play that debuted in 1984 and was directed by Chin San Sooi.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=http://0-www.lexisnexis.com.lib.utep.edu/hottopics/lnacademic/|title=Singapore story worldwide hit: Classic tale by Stella Kon set for Gateway|last=Hopkins|first=Michelle|date=8 September 2006|work=North Shore News|access-date=28 November 2017|url-access=subscription|via=LexisNexis|archive-date=31 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231013727/https://lib.utep.edu/wamvalidate?url=http%3A%2F%2F0-www.lexisnexis.com.lib.utep.edu%3A80%2Fhottopics%2Flnacademic%2F|url-status=live}}</ref> The melodrama follows the life of a Peranakan woman who is married into a family she doesn't know at age 14 to a man twice her age.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://0-www.lexisnexis.com.lib.utep.edu/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=3XNG-YVM0-00K1-R3YR&csi=270944,270077,11059,8411&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true|title=This 'Emily' is a real gem|last=Al-Attas|first=Suraya|date=18 October 1999|work=New Straits Times|access-date=28 November 2017|url-access=subscription|via=LexisNexis}}</ref> The story was primarily inspired by Kon's grandmother, but also includes stories drawn from the rest of her extended family.<ref name=":1" /> The ''Herald Sun'' said that the writing in ''Emily'' was "colorful and smartly written."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=200211011097860217&site=ehost-live|title=Emily's Winning Ways|last=Kate|first=Herbert|date=1 November 2002|work=Herald Sun|access-date=28 November 2017|url-access=subscription|via=EBSCOhost|archive-date=30 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220930213812/https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=200211011097860217&site=ehost-live|url-status=live}}</ref> The Honolulu Star-Bulletin wrote that "The play is rich with the details of everyday life in a well-to-do Singaporeean Chinese family."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15434927/honolulu_starbulletin/|title=East-West Center Play Presents a Moving Look at Singapore Life|last=White|first=John W.|date=29 April 1987|work=Honolulu Star-Bulletin|access-date=28 November 2017|pages=28|via=Newspapers.com|archive-date=1 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182726/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/15434927/honolulu_starbulletin/|url-status=live}}</ref> The play was performed at the Commonwealth Arts Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1986.<ref name=":3" /> It has also been performed in Hong Kong, Australia, the United States and in Germany.<ref name=":4" />
Kon's play, ''The Human Heart Fruit'', was staged by Action Theatre in 2002 and starred Nora Samosir.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://0-www.lexisnexis.com.lib.utep.edu/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=4612-B2N0-0058-X44M&csi=270944,270077,11059,8411&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true|title=Stella Kon's Not a Tutti-Frutti|date=8 June 2002|work=The Straits Times|access-date=28 November 2017|url-access=subscription|via=LexisNexis}}</ref> Kon's first musical, ''Exodus'', was written with the composer, Kenneth Lyen.<ref name=":0" /> Her second musical, ''Lost in Transit'', was performed at The Arts House in 2005.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=http://0-www.lexisnexis.com.lib.utep.edu/lnacui2api/api/version1/getDocCui?lni=7WXP-67W1-2R99-33YT&csi=270944,270077,11059,8411&hl=t&hv=t&hnsd=f&hns=t&hgn=t&oc=00240&perma=true|title=Lost in Musicals: She is Known for Her Plays, But Stella Kon's Passion Is In Writing Lyrics|last=Nanda|first=Akshita|date=24 October 2009|work=The Straits Times|access-date=28 November 2017|url-access=subscription|via=LexisNexis}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == * [https://www.emilyofemeraldhill.com/ Official site] * [http://sg.asia-city.com/city-living/article/interview-stella-kon Interview]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Kon, Stella}} Category:1944 births Category:Writers from Edinburgh Category:Singaporean women writers Category:National University of Singapore alumni Category:Raffles Girls' Secondary School alumni Category:Living people