Ning Cai (writer)
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Ning Cai | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
蔡嬣 | |||||||
 Ning Cai at her MisDirection book launch at Books Kinokuniya on 19 April 2018 | |||||||
| Born | Cai Ning 16 October 1982 | ||||||
| Nationality | Singaporean | ||||||
| Other names | Magic Babe Ning Mind Magic Mistress | ||||||
| Education | MSc in Creative Writing | ||||||
| Alma mater | Ngee Ann Polytechnic RMIT University University of Edinburgh | ||||||
| Occupation(s) | Writer, Entrepreneur, Magician, Model | ||||||
| Years active | 2006–present | ||||||
| Known for | South East Asia's first professional female magician | ||||||
| Notable work |
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| Spouse |
(m. 2014) | ||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||
| Chinese | 蔡嬣 | ||||||
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| Website | ningthing | ||||||
Ning Cai (Chinese: 蔡嬣; pinyin: Cài Níng; born 16 October 1982)[1] is a Singapore Literature Prize nominated author. She is best recognised for her illusionist/escapologist stage character Magic Babe Ning, and named by Channel News Asia as South East Asia's first professional female magician. Cai has been credited with popularising magic in Singapore.[2]
In October 2014, Cai announced her retirement from performing as Magic Babe Ning to focus on her writing career. Soon after, she published her 2016 Singapore Literature Prize nominated autobiography Who Is Magic Babe Ning?. She made a brief return to magic as the Mind Magic Mistress in 2017. To date, she has published 3 nonfiction books and 2 fiction books, with her latest bestselling crime fiction novel Misdirection being the first in a young adult trilogy.[3]
Education
Ning Cai was born in Singapore on 16 October 1983 and is the eldest of three sisters. She studied in Methodist Girls School, where she completed both her 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]
Upon graduation from Methodist Girls School, she progressed her tertiary education at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where she pursued a diploma in Film Sound and Video with the intention 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]
Career in magic
2006 to 2009
Cai found herself gaining recognition for the magic tricks that she honed over the years from watching David Copperfield and Princess Tenko beginning at the age of 5.[4] In 2006, she joined a local magic competition and placed 2nd runner up. This unexpected win led her to eventually decide to be a full-time professional performer after graduating from University.
When Cai first burst onto the entertainment scene, she was widely acknowledged as "Singapore’s only professional female magician"[5] by publications including The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao, The New Paper, My Paper, Mediacorp Channel 8 News and Lianhe Wanbao.[6][5][7][8] Cai disliked being typecast as the typical female in magic who plays submissive roles to males and only performs magic with silks, flowers, umbrellas, or rabbits, so she incorporated fire-eating, choreography with samurai swords, twirling fire balls, spikes, and weapons in her shows.
In October 2014, after 10 years performing, Cai announced that she would be retiring from her work as stage character Magic Babe Ning.[9] Her retirement came as a surprise to her fans, who had seen the homegrown artist rise to an international status, performing for royalty in Oman and gracing television screens in Europe, Asia, and the UK. She cited her upcoming wedding that December and her desire to focus on writing for her retirement.[10]
Writing career
Cai received an MSc in Creative Writing at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland.[11] She graduated with a 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 who is still out there. 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 had spent six consecutive weeks on The Straits Times bestsellers list.[15][16][17]
Literary influences
Cai has cited various literary figures as her influences. They include Neil Gaiman, Terry Moore, and Elizabeth Watasin.[4] The highly fictitious nature of the works by these authors eventually translated to many of her ideas as a writer.
Other projects
Cai 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 organised 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]
Bibliography
- 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)
- ^ Singapore, Daily (10 July 2009). "Singapore Daily".
- ^ The New Paper (9 October 2010). ""Magic casts spell on S'poreans"". The New paper.
- ^ Paper, The New (10 April 2018). "Magician Ning Cai set to release first book in new young adult trilogy".
- ^ a b c d Cai, Ning (2014). Who is Magic Babe Ning. Singapore: Marshall Cavendish. ISBN 9789814561266.
- ^ a b "Singapore's Only Professional Female Magician". Lianhe Zaobao. 14 October 2007.
- ^ "The Sum of All Illusions". Current Events Issue. September 2008.
- ^ "The Bag Page". The Straits Times Urban. 12 September 2008.
- ^ "Trick with Treats". The Straits Times LIFE!. 12 September 2008.
- ^ "Final disappearing act from illusionist Magic Babe Ning". AsiaOne. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Magic Babe Ning: No more magic". TODAYonline. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Your Heart is the Best GPS: Writing for Self-Healing & Creative Personal Development". Peatix. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Ning Cai | University of Edinburgh - Academia.edu". edinburgh.academia.edu. Retrieved 10 March 2020.
- ^ Books, Super Cool (28 September 2016). "NING CAI'S MAGICIENNE: WHAT IT TAKES TO TRULY WRITE A YA NOVEL FROM THE HEART". Medium. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Magicienne". Marshall Cavendish.
- ^ "Misdirection (Book One of The Savant Trilogy)". Epigram. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Straits Times Bestsellers". The Straits Times. 24 April 2018.
- ^ "Straits Times Bestsellers". The Straits Times.
- ^ "HOME | Mighty Magic Lab". mightymagiclab.com. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
- ^ "Writer Ning Cai aims to give away 50 books around S'pore by year's end". TODAYonline. Retrieved 29 August 2018.