SINGAPORE — Ms Kyla Zhao felt terribly isolated and homesick during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 as a student at Stanford University in the United States.
Books displayed on the shelves of the local literature section in Books Kinokuniya on July 4, 2024.Each week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into the trends and issues that matter. This week, we look at what motivates Singapore writers and how to invigorate the literary scene.
In June 2021, Berkley Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House, picked up her book and published it in January 2023. Her second book, Valley Verified, followed a year later. In 2017, Ms Rachel Heng’s first novel, Suicide Club, landed six-figure book deals with publishers in the US and United Kingdom.
Mr Ng Kah Gay 44, Ethos Books’ publisher, explained that the local publishing scene is already small, and any significant development such as the closure of a prominent publisher has “an outsized impact”.Mr Peh Shing Huei, founding partner and publisher of The Nutgraf Books, noted that the dwindling number of bookshops here has also adversely affected the literary scene.
“There’s no real way to get paid to be a writer full time,” said Mr Max Pasakorn, 27, who is now writing a full-length memoir. “Will I be able to feed myself next month if I really sit down and do a project uninterrupted without having to go back to a day job?” said Mr Pasakorn.Mr Max Pasakorn, 27, had his debut chapbook, A Study In Our Selves, published in 2023 by Neon Hemlock Press.Mr Daryl Qilin Yam, co-founder of the literary charity SingLit Station and a published author, said: “I wrote Kappa Quartet in a year. I wrote Lovelier, Lonelier in four years. It's still S$950 in terms of royalties.
Local writers described Singapore’s literary scene as “healthy” and “energetic”. They highlighted the emergence of new writers and the abundance of content being published, pointing to a vibrant and dynamic literary environment. Poet and photographer Marc Nair, 42, who has self-published some of his work, said that while he and the literary community at large are happy for writers who have made it big overseas, he wondered why those same opportunities are not available in Singapore.
She added that the key is to enable more Singaporeans to produce high-quality and engaging works of art. To that end, Mr Yam believes that Singapore’s literary scene will never be short of good local works.
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