Clara Ng

Clara Ng (last name pronounced ; ; born 28 July 1973) is an Indonesian writer who is known for both adult fiction and children's literature.

During her childhood in Jakarta, Ng enjoyed reading and read at an advanced rate.

After finishing her primary and secondary education in Indonesia, during which time she took up writing, Ng went to the United States to study at Ohio State University.

Ng was born in Jakarta on 28 July 1973 with the name Clara Regina Juana and was raised in the Kemayoran sub-district.

She took up reading at a young age, reportedly capable of reading translations of The Adventures of Tintin by kindergarten.

She also enjoyed Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale The Snow Queen, which influenced her writing.

By age 11 she was reading adult-oriented works by Mira W.. Ng attended Budi Mulia Elementary School from 1979 until 1986, then attended Van Lith Middle School until 1989; it was while in middle school that she taught herself creative writing and began creating works.

She completed her high school education at Bunda Hati Kudus, graduating in 1992.

While in high school, she became interested in social issues, including discrimination faced by ethnic Chinese, LGBT, and women.

After her graduation in 1997, she worked in the US for a year before returning to Indonesia to work at a shipping company.

After three years working there, in which time she married and had two miscarriages, Ng quit to become a professional writer.

Her trilogy Indiana Chronicle was well received.

Since then, she has released several novels, as well as numerous short stories (including one anthology) and twenty-one children's books, and some collections of fairytales.

Ng, who is a stay at home mother, writes in her spare time at home.

Her topics are different depending on the genre she is writing in; her adult-oriented works often deal with minority groups, while her children's books are meant to teach empathy.

After high school, Ng went to the United States and began studying at Ohio Dominican University in Columbus, Ohio, but later transferred to Ohio State University; she graduated with a bachelor's degree in interpersonal communications in 1997.

While in the US, she read numerous children's books; these later influenced her writings.

After graduating, she spent a year working in the US before returning to Indonesia in 1998.

Upon her return to Indonesia, she spent three years working in the human resources department of Hanjin Shipping but left after she had two miscarriages, the first when she was seven months pregnant and the second at seven weeks.

While staying at home, she took up writing.

Ng made her debut as a novelist with Tujuh Musim Setahun (Seven Seasons A Year) in 2002, which sold poorly.

She gained recognition with her Indiana Chronicle trilogy, which consists of Blues (2004), Lipstick (2005), and Bridesmaid (2005).

These works were classified as pop literature, but readers identified with the main characters — urban working women.

Tempo magazine notes that the trilogy pioneered the metro pop genre in Indonesia.

Between Lipstick and Bridesmaid, another novel, The (Un)Reality Show, was released in 2005.

In 2006, Ng's short story "Rahasia Bulan" ("The Moon's Secret") was included in a lesbian and gay-themed short story collection of the same name.

The work also included stories by Alberthiene Endah, Djenar Maesa Ayu, and Indra Herlambang.

That year, she published two novels: Dimsum Terakhir (The Last Dim Sum) and Utukki: Sayap Para Dewa (Utukki: Wings of the Gods).

The following year Ng published another two novels, Tiga Venus (Three Venuses) and Gerhana Kembar (Twin Eclipse).

The latter, which was initially run as a serial in the newspaper Kompas and later picked up by Gramedia, was about lesbianism.

The title was a result of Ng combining the Sun (commonly representative of men) and the Moon (commonly representative of women) to create a united symbol to represent homosexuality.

Her children's works have won three Adhikarya Awards from the Indonesian Publishers Association, and LGBT groups have praised her novel Gerhana Kembar (Twin Eclipse; 2007) for avoiding stereotyping the group.

However, some educators have protested the lack of an explicit moral message in her children's books.

Ng launched a short story collection, Malaikat Jatuh (Fallen Angel) in 2008.

The collection dealt mainly with death.

The collection was followed in 2009 by the novel Tea For Two, which was first published as a serial in Kompas.

Ng's short story "Barbie" was adapted as a film by actor-cum-presenter Raffi Ahmad in 2010, with Yuni Shara in the titular role.

Barbie followed the story of a night-club singer and her lover, a security guard at the club.

The film premiered at the LA Lights Indie movie festival.

That same year she released two other books, Dongeng Tujuh Menit (The Seven-Minute Fairytale) and Jampi-jampi Varaiya (Varaiya's Incantations).