Think print is dead? Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar on the book revolution and the bold voices shaping Southeast Asia's literary scene

Tatler Asia

a day ago

Every few years people will ask me, 'Are printed books dead?' But right now I see a revolution of books coming back.
- Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar -
Books are having a moment, says Nora, and have become akin to a calling card. 'If you are a CEO, you want to give [your] book to people. You see so many movies now about writers and there are Bookstagrammers and BookTokers. Celebrities have book clubs. They've all made books very fashionable. Every few years people will ask me, 'Are printed books dead?' But right now I see a revolution of books coming back. And I'm heartened to see that there are so many people who want to write.'
As AI disrupts publishing, Nora looks back on Penguin SEA's list and the books that have been both personal milestones and significant for the literary scene in Southeast Asia—and beyond—and for Asian authors.
See also: 'You don't have to choose between being an effective leader and being a good person'—Dr Bonnie Hayden Cheng on why kindness is a secret weapon in leadership Delivering debuts
Above Fall Baby by Lakshmi Pamuntjak
'When Penguin Southeast Asia started, the focus was English reading markets including Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines. We were really happy to publish this book from Indonesian author Laksmi Pamuntjak as mostly Indonesians were reading in Bahasa, and there were very few writers coming out of Indonesia writing originally in English. Pamuntjak did. Her book, Fall Baby, gave us an indication that Indonesia was ready to read more in English. It also won Best Literary Work at the Singapore Book Awards in 2020.'
Above And Softly Go the Crossings, by Danielle Lim
Above Harmony Heights, by Ong Chin Huat
'In 2021, Singaporean writer Danielle Lim's And Softly Go the Crossings won best literary work at the Singapore Book Awards. We always wanted to give a platform not just established voices, but to hidden, uncovered talent.' Harmony Heights, by Ong Chin Huat
'One recent debut that has done very well is Harmony Heights by Ong Chin Huat. Would I say it was a surprise? Every time a debut writer does well, it's a pleasant surprise. We do all we can to help debut writers. We want people to at least know their name, but if the book is a success then that's a bonus.' From Asia to the world
Above The American Boyfriend, by Ivy Ngeow
'Ivy Ngeow's The American Boyfriend is a book that we were very proud of. The author is Malaysian, but she lives in the UK. And it became very successful, both here as well as outside Southeast Asia, and was the book that made us believe that it is possible to publish a Southeast Asian writer here and get the word out to the world that we've got good stuff coming out of this region. Ngeow will be publishing a new book titled In Safe Hands in October.' Women supporting women
Above The Stories Women Journalists Tell, edited by Reta Lee
'Another thing I'm very proud of about our list is that we publish a lot of women. It's well known that any list is very much influenced by the publisher. They are the ones who set the direction. I'm drawn to books by women living in Southeast Asia. There's always been this innate character of women here that they don't usually speak, so when I started with Penguin I was very encouraged to see that there were actually many women who had something to say, and there still are. And it's not just the business leaders or movers and shakers. I've met a lot of women who have stories to tell and things to share which would be useful not just to other women, but also men. Stories Women Journalists Tell is a collection of stories from female journalists about their experiences in the field.' Romance calling
Above Love on the Second Read, by Mica de Leon
'Romance does well in Southeast Asia—and also in the West. I think this was especially true during Covid-19, because we were all at home and we looked to books to immerse ourselves in another world, and to fall in love with a character. We had a lot of time and we needed to connect—and that's when the romance genre really boomed. [It put] you in a world where there are two people connecting and falling in love and it made you escape the realities of Covid, and that just continues today. Love on the Second Read is my romance pick. It has been translated into Korean and Bahasa.' In translation
Above The Genealogy of Kings, by Tun Seri Lanang
'We have a series called Southeast Asian Classics, where we translate old books into English to keep these works alive and make them accessible to all readers, whether a different generation of readers or readers from another part of the world. One of the first ones we did was The Genealogy of Kings , which tells the story of how the Malayan Empire was born.
'We've since published quite a number of Classics. And we see that they really connect people. When someone from Singapore or Malaysia sees a translated work from Thailand, for example, they get excited. The region has many shared histories and we are a lot more similar than we ever realise, and by sharing stories we really become aware of our similarities and how connected we are despite the different geographical locations.
'At Penguin SEA, AI is not used for translations and we feel that AI cannot replace human translators. It's the voice and feel of the original story that you need to capture. There are nuances that AI cannot pick up on.' Modern classics
Above No Man River, Duong Huong
'This year we have started publishing modern classics, which are books that have come after World War II. The first one was published in May and is No Man River , written about the Vietnamese War. A lot of books [about the Vietnam War] are written by Americans, but this is written by a Vietnamese and it's very refreshing. It's about a town that lost all their men to the war, while the women were left to fend for themselves and to raise the children. We published it to mark the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War.' Taking risks
Above Final Reckoning, by Romen Bose
Above Misgovernance, by Edmund Terence Gomez
'Publishing Final Reckoning was risky. While we don't publish books about politics in Singapore from Singapore, we've published a number of books on politics from Malaysia. We received quite a bit of pushback for this book because people perceived it to be written in defence of Najib [Razak, former Prime Minister of Malaysia], who was supposed to be the villain and the perpetrator in the 1MDB [1Malaysia Development Berhad] scandal. What the author was trying to do was put everything on the table, and say that this is what you have been reading, but did you know that all these other things were happening as well? And we did have journalists writing to us and asking how we could publish this book. But as long as the author is able to verify sources for anything that goes into the book, we are okay to publish it.' Misgovernance: Grand Corruption in Malaysia, by Edmund Terence Gomez
'We also recently published a book call Misgovernance: Grand Corruption in Malaysia , which tells readers what is wrong with Malaysia such that scandals like 1MDB can happen. So, we don't take sides. We don't publish books by people only from a certain party, but we do avoid anything salacious or scandalous.' The next chapter
'The number of books we will be publishing in 2025 is actually fewer than in previous years as we are trying to be more focused and to be able to put in the necessary effort to make sure that every book succeeds. Now, we also know what works for us, so we're more confident that we can actually do more with a lower number of titles.
'In September Penguin Southeast Asia will be publishing Malaysia Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's book Rethinking Ourselves: Justice, Reform and Ignorance in Postnormal Times . We also have a book by Australian-Bornean poet and spoken word performer Omar Musa published in partnership with Penguin Australia, titled Fierceland due out in September.'