Ning Cai (writer)

Ning Cai, born in Singapore on 16 October 1982 is the eldest of three sisters. She studied at Methodist Girls School, where she completed both PSLE and GCE O Level examinations. She was also credited with a certificate of distinction for competing in the Australian Mathematics Competition of 1997.[4]

After graduating from the School, she progressed to tertiary education at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where she pursued a diploma in Film,Sound and Video intending to work as a television producer and writer. Her alma mater later officially inducted Cai into their inaugural Hall of Fame in 2011, along with fellow graduates of the School of Film Media Studies, DJs Jamie Yeo and Justin Ang, one half of The Muttons.[4]

Ning Cai promoting her new book Misdirection at Neo Kinokuniya Singapore on 19 April 2018

Cai received an MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.[11] She graduated with distinction in November 2019[12] and has since resided permanently in Switzerland.

Cai has also collaborated with her longtime friend and mentor, John Teo, president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians (Singapore) in creating a dual-cover activity book Game of Thoughts: Understanding Creativity Through Mind Games, a book that invokes creativity within readers through a series of 'brain teasers, puzzles conundrums, thought experiments and writing exercises'.

In November 2016, Cai's middle grade novel Magicienne was published. It was co-written by Don Bosco, an award-winning Singaporean author for children's books. The fiction book features a young protagonist who has been described as a 'younger version of Magic Babe'.[13][14]

In April 2018, Cai launched the first book of her young adult trilogy. Titled Misdirection: Book 1 of the Savant Trilogy, the book follows dynamic parkour champion, Maxine Schooling, who wakes up from a three-year coma and discovers that her family has been murdered by a killer still at large. Cai's original manuscript was previously longlisted for the Epigram Books Fiction Prize in 2016 and subsequently reworked and published by Epigram Books. Her book has spent six consecutive weeks on The Straits Times bestsellers list.[15][16][17]

Ning Cai giving a lecture at Methodist Girls' School on 26 Jun 2018.

Cai now serves as the creative director of Mighty Magic Lab, a kids edutainment company which focuses on empowering the creativity and confidence of children through magic. The educational shows highlight important messages like fire safety, self-confidence, and ill effects of smoking.[18]

In 2015, Cai organized a local book hunt called #SG50books50days, an initiative to generate interest in reading books by local authors. Over the course of 50 days, she left 50 books from various authors at 50 different locations, to which she left clues via social media. Books published by local authors such as Neil Humphreys were obtained by those who managed to solve the clues.[19]

• Adventures of 2 Girls (Marshall Cavendish, 2012) – With Pamela Ho
• Who Is Magic Babe Ning? (Marshall Cavendish, 2015) – Foreword by Neil Gaiman
• Game of Thoughts: Understanding Creativity Through Mind Games (Marshall Cavendish, 2016) – with John Teo
• Magicienne: A Novel (Marshall Cavendish, 2016) – With Don Bosco
• Misdirection: Book One of The Savant Trilogy (Epigram Books, 2018)

• Ultimate Magic

• Official website
• Adventures of 2 Girls website