Literary News: Singapore Literature Levels Up

#BuySingLit becomes a year-long movement and rebrands to Sing Lit: Read Our World

The fifth edition of the annual #BuySingLit movement returns with a refreshed identity, announcing a new name – Sing Lit: Read Our World. The name change comes as the industry-led initiative expands into a year-round movement to bring Singapore literature (Sing Lit) to audiences all day, every day.

About Sing Lit: Read Our World

Sing Lit: Read Our World is an industry-led movement to celebrate stories from Singapore, with homegrown book publishers, retailers and literary non-profits coming together to encourage more people to discover and embrace Singapore’s literature. Through buying and reading local works, you support the writers who bear witness to our lives, as well as the businesses in our community that deliver these stories to us. Most of all, you will experience the profound joy of unravelling the multi-faceted world around you.

For more information, visit https://singlit.world/

Over the course of the year, the Sing Lit: Read Our World movement will be rolling out a slate of hybrid programmes and community activities that will introduce readers to the diversity of Singapore literature through innovative and multimedia initiatives. Upcoming events include:

February 2022: Sing Lit Blk Party
March 2022: Singapore Literary Book Bazaar
11 – 13 March 2022: My Sing Lit (Malay programmes)
16 April 2022: My Sing Lit (Tamil programmes)

During the past year, Sing Lit has played an important part of many people’s lives as they stayed home and looked for new worlds to travel to. As we return to hybrid and physical events, Sing Lit: Read Our World celebrates Sing Lit, the communities and people behind Sing Lit, and the role it plays in documenting, reflecting and re-imagining our daily lives.

The Sing Lit: Read Our World movement is steered by the literary organisations Singapore Book Council (SBC), Sing Lit Station (SLS), Singapore Book Publishers Association (SBPA) and a marketing module consisting of Chong Lingying (Asiapac Books), Goh Eck Kheng (Landmark Books), Ng Kah Gay (Ethos Books), Mindy Pang (Marshall Cavendish) and Tan Waln Ching (City Book Room), supported by the National Arts Council (NAC) and in close partnership with the larger Sing Lit industry.

William Phuan, Executive Director of Singapore Book Council said,

“In previous editions, #BuySingLit movement was a two weekend festival that championed Sing Lit, bringing our literary community together and encouraging hundreds of thousands of Singaporeans to discover and embrace local literature. We want to build on that momentum and reimagine how we can bring Sing Lit to more communities, readers, homes and families. With this year-round shift, the Sing Lit movement aims to make reading, supporting and buying local books an everyday occurrence.”

To start off, Singapore Book Council will organise a series of literary events, My Sing Lit, which will focus on Sing Lit in the mother tongue languages (Chinese, Malay and Tamil) and their works in translation. In February, Sing Lit Station will present Sing Lit Blk Party, a one-day hybrid festival celebrating Sing Lit as a rallying call to all Singaporeans. Expect panel discussions, virtual performances, multidisciplinary explorations and commercial tie-ups in a celebration of Sing Lit.

Charlene Shepherdson, Station Control of Sing Lit Station said, “As we start emerging from our homes and reconnecting with friends and communities, SLS wants to capture the spirit of rediscovery and provide an opportunity to everyone to share the books that got them through the past year and a half. There were also many new books launched over the period so our hybrid festival will be a hurrah for Sing Lit, a thank you for being our comfort blanket and an appreciation for the worlds it allowed us to explore in a time when travel was limited.”

Audiences can also look forward to another Book Bazaar organised by the Singapore Book Publishers Association in March 2022. Offering a wide variety of teen and literary books in the various mother tongue languages, it will showcase the best in the Singapore literary publishing scene, featuring established and independent literary content makers.

“The initiative brings together people from all corners of the Sing Lit ecosystem – the writers, publishers, translators, illustrators, editors, readers and more – building a sustainable community that will keep Singapore literature going through these uncertain times,” added Shepherdson.

Readers can engage with Sing Lit authors and content at any time through the Sing Lit: Read Our World social media channels:

Follow Sing Lit: Read Our World on the following channels for event and community updates:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/singlit.world
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/buysinglit/
Telegram (Sing Lit is LIT 🔥): https://t.me/singlitislit 
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/SingLitReadOurWorld
Hashtags: #singlit #readsinglit #singlitftw

The platforms will feature year-round content to educate and inform audiences about Sing Lit, such as book releases and recommendations, monthly updates on Sing Lit happenings as well as behind-the-scenes peeks into the lives of Sing Lit creatives.

About Author

Editor_Kitaab

Namrata is a published author who enjoys writing stories and think pieces on travel, relationships, and gender. She is a UEA alumnus and has studied travel writing at the University of Sydney.

She is also an independent editor and a book reviewer. Her writings can be found on various sites and magazines like the Asian Review of Books, Contemporary South Asia Journal of King’s College-London, Mad in Asia, The Friday Times, Daily Star, The Scroll, Feminism in India, The Brown Orient Journal, Inkspire Journal, Moonlight Journal, The Same, Chronic Pain India and Cafe Dissensus.

Her short stories have been a part of various anthologies . She has also published two short story collections of her own along with two solo titles as well. She is currently working on her debut novel. She loves travelling the length and breadth of the world and enjoys capturing the magic of life in her words. She is always in pursuit of a new country and a new story.

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