Seet Khiam Keong (Chinese: 薛謙恭; pinyin: Xuē Qiāngōng), better known as "K.K. Seet", is an academic, writer and theatre director from Singapore. 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.

Academic career

Seet holds a PhD from the University of Exeter, and Master's degrees from the University of Edinburgh and the University of Toronto.[1] He has been the recipient of a Fulbright Fellowship (as Visiting Fellow at the City University of New York) and two British Council Fellowships.[2] Seet was responsible for establishing the Theatre Studies programme at the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 1992.[3] He was a tenured academic in the NUS Department of English Language and Literature for 22 years before choosing to take early retirement in June 2012.

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.[4] Seet has also published in journals such as Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies, TDR: The Drama Review, Theatre Journal, Theatre Research International, and World Literature Today.

Artistic career

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).[5]

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.[6][7]

Seet has hosted the TV shows Film Art and Art Nation on Arts Central of MediaCorp TV12 in Singapore.[5][8] and he was the face of the Speak Mandarin Campaign/ Huayu Cool in 2007.

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

Edited Volumes

Journal Articles

Children's

References

  1. ^ Ivory tower star power Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Weekend Today, 28–29 May 2005
  2. ^ Who says I'm camp? Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Sunday Times, 14 December 2003
  3. ^ Impeccably bilingual Archived 13 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, The Sunday Times, 5 February 2006
  4. ^ kkseet.com Archived 16 July 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Resumé section. Retrieved 19 January 2008
  5. ^ a b Playwriting contest judges' profiles Archived 14 January 2008 at the Wayback Machine, action.org.sg. Retrieved 19 January 2008
  6. ^ The Arena judge's profile Archived 7 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine, thearena.com.sg. Retrieved 2 March 2008
  7. ^ The Arena's Fantastic Four Archived 27 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine, Wassup, 1 November 2006
  8. ^ Art's making it on air, Channel NewsAsia, 18 May 2006

External links

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