Maria Lam lives in Amsterdam and is Head of Marketing and Communications at Rose Stories. Maria is a great listener and a fun & the best companion to go out for dimsum with. She is passionate about what she does. She also enjoys watching films, travelling and great stories. Furthermore, she has plenty of experience working in the film industry and the creative domain.

Who is Maria Lam?

I was born and raised in Amsterdam-Noord in the eighties, when the area was not so hip and happening yet. I am the youngest out of 6 kids (5 girls and 1 boy) raised by a single-mum. You can imagine the mayhem.

I have been always loving great stories and books since I was little. I had the luck and pleasure to have spent A LOT of my time in the OBA, which was then still located at Hagendoornplein in an old convent. At the age of 18, I left Amsterdam and travelled the world for studies and great adventures. I went to the UK, Germany, Australia, and also China!

Since I returned to Amsterdam, I have been mostly working in the film industry. Film is one of my favourite forms of storytelling. After having lived in China for a while, I have completely embraced being bi-cultural and have gotten to know the Chinese Maria a lot better.

My love for Chinese stories, its culture and the food resulted in the Chinese cooking and story book, Maancake & Jasmijn. As the photographer, and storyteller, I co-wrote the book with Julie Ng. Julie was responsible for all the recipes in the book.

It was made by a fantastic female collective of 16 writers and 47 illustrators. All of them are Dutch and rebels in their own way.

What are your favourite China related book(s) which OBA must include and OBA readers must read?

Maancake & Jasmijn of course, but also The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan and Zoetzure Smaak van Dromen by Sun Li.

And these newcomers’ stories are universal and recognizable for everyone who seeks a greater and a more secured future. They are willing to leave their home country for the main sake of their children’s. The stories are bitter-sweet and sometimes they are also very funny. Just like life itself.

The Joy Luck Club was my first encounter with bicultural literature. It was as if I was reading the story from my own family. It was not quite as dramatic, but I shared many of the emotions from the book when I experience my own life during growing up. This sense of familiarity was also shared by my four sisters and my mum. I always keep the book close with me. I love to flip through it every now and then.

Zoetzure Smaak van Dromen is written by my friend Sun Li, and she is just a very cool person. She is not the “typical” Dutch-Chinese portrayed in the Dutch society, but she is a very hard working writer. I have only respect for her braveness for this very personal story.

What other thoughts would you like to share with us?

I think China Collection at OBA is a great initiative. It aims at bring more authentic Chinese stories to a much wider audience. Books are so important, especially at a younger age when they are basically our window to the world, and what many of our role models are based on. Therefore, it’s important that everyone has access to them.

We are now working hard at ROSE stories to create children’s books that reflect and represent today’s society even better. For example, I would’ve loved to have read a children’s book with a Dutch-Chinese female superhero - I would’ve been a total fan.

Instead I had to make work with a superman. Which is fine, too. But if you can’t see it, you can’t be it. This is why I think all Dutch children should read Bedtijdverhalen voor Rebelse Meisjes. You too can become whatever it is you want to be.

New release on 8^th March 2021: Bedtijdverhalen voor Rebelse Meisjes, Rose Stories.