People aren't boycotting SingLit, they just don't know about it, say insiders on poor readership, Singapore News

AsiaOne

2 days ago

An avid reader of fantasy and dystopian fiction, 27-year-old Megan often turns to social media platform Goodreads and TikTok sub-community BookTok for recommendations on what to read next.
Both platforms have become go-to resources for book lovers to discover trending reading lists and reviews on popular titles.
"I haven't come across much Singapore Literature (SingLit)," said Megan, who declined to give her full name. She told AsiaOne that the only SingLit titles she had encountered were from English class during her schooling years.
Many readers have similar experiences with SingLit, and are largely unaware of the vast range of titles and genres published by the literary community in Singapore, as seen in the results of the National Library Board's (NLB) National Reading Habits Study 2024.
Only three in 10 adults had read a SingLit book in the past 12 months, according to the study released on June 26 which surveyed 3,725 Singapore residents.
Among the 2,575 respondents that were non-readers of SingLit, over half said that they were unaware of local authors and literary works.
25 per cent of the group also said that they were not interested in Singaporean themes, and 18 per cent said that they were unable to find SingLit books in the genres that they like reading. Lack of awareness, not lack of interest
"I have friends who are otherwise big readers but have basically no awareness of what titles are being released in the local scene," said local author Lee Wen-yi.
Speaking to AsiaOne, the 26-year-old recounted a time working in a SingLit-focused bookstore, where "someone came in and said they didn't even realise Singapore had authors".
Though that experience was definitely "on the extreme end", it "still speaks to the wider condition", saying that the results of the NLB survey did not surprise her.
"It's not like people are actively boycotting SingLit — most times they genuinely don't know what books exist to interest them, or where to find them," she said.
Alex Chua, Co-founder of Book Bar, an independent bookstore that features local and Asian literature, echoed Lee's sentiments and said that he has encountered his fair share of "people who walk in not knowing there were so many Singapore authors".
Chua thinks that interest in SingLit has been picking up over the years however, adding that he has noticed a constant flow of newcomers in attendance at Book Bar's events, which range from book launches to poetry readings. 'Same themes or subjects'
The lack of interest in SingLit may also be attributed to the common misconception that SingLit works are "always about the same themes or subjects", said 27-year-old poet Laura Jane Lee.
Laura and Wen-yi agreed that the misconception may be due to "what's being put in the school syllabus", since most readers' first impression of SingLit is through literary texts in school.
While such texts "have a lot of literary value, they aren't always what will hook everyone into searching out more local writing," Wen-yi told AsiaOne.
The necessity to study such texts on a deeper level may sometimes lead readers to think SingLit is "boring".
Sceptics may also think that local literature is "not as good as international authors" and that "the quality of the writing is not good", said Book Bar's Chua, sharing that there are many internationally published local writers, such as Amanda Lee Koe and Low Ying Ping.
Laura shared similar thoughts, adding that there is a "tendency for the average Singaporean reader to look towards anglophone centres of literary production as a metric of literary merit", suggesting the need for a shift in perspective towards SingLit.
Speaking to AsiaOne, Associate Professor Angelia Poon from the English Language and Literature Department at National Institute of Education (NIE), also said that "there is actually a wide range of texts to choose from — poetry, novels, short stories, plays, non-fiction, essays."
"We sometimes forget that SingLit is multilingual," she said, adding that there is a multitude of vernacular literature that has become more accessible with English translations.
"Given how diverse Singapore literature is, it'll be hard for one not to find something that would be of interest." Limited marketing resources
The discoverability of SingLit is also impacted by the lower marketing budgets that local publishers and bookstores have, according to those whom AsiaOne spoke to.
Even in a digital age with BookTok and online book communities gaining traction, a majority of readers are still only exposed to books from Western publishers, said Wen-yi, who released her debut novel in 2023.
"Just in terms of scale, it is hard for the much smaller number of SingLit titles — with much fewer marketing resources behind them — to break through the noise," she said.
"It takes a much more concerted effort, or a stroke of luck and virality — like with Teo You Yenn's This Is What Inequality Means — for a SingLit title to gain the same kind of traction," she added.
Internationally published books, under household names like Penguin Books or Harper Collins, understandably get more attention and "are supported by much bigger distribution and publicity networks than local indie publishers have", Wen-yi said, which unfortunately result in "a disparity in the support behind each title".
Apart from traditional marketing efforts, Book Bar's Chua also said that SingLit books could be better promoted by Singaporean politicians, of whom many are known to be book lovers.
"I think that we like to talk about our sports stars, but there isn't as much talk about our literary stars, like Jemimah Wei who clinched a US$500,000 (S$636,935) book deal," he told AsiaOne, adding that there are often so many new titles published each month that he struggles to find space to display them in store.
Wen-yi also highlighted a visit to mainstream bookstore, Popular, during a recent trip to Malaysia where she noticed "a whole bookshelf section of local Malaysian authors".
Similar displays of SingLit at mainstream bookstores locally could provide the needed boost for local works, she said.
Speaking to AsiaOne, Assistant Professor Ann Ang from the English Language and Literature Department at NIE also said that there could be greater efforts by NLB and government agencies to promote SingLit.
While they do a "stellar job", she believes that more could be done to bring literary works on permanent display in public places.
She raised Poems on the MRT — a collaboration between the National Arts Council, SMRT and Sing Lit Station that displays excerpts of Singapore poetry throughout SMRT's train network — as a good example, though "unfortunately temporary" as it will only run till the end of October.
Bringing SingLit to the public space could also take the form of "an excerpt from a book in place of a mural", or "quotes set into the facade of our cultural institutions, universities and libraries", she added. SG Culture Pass: Will it boost readership?
As announced during Budget 2025, eligible Singaporeans will receive $100 in SG Culture Pass credits in September.
Apart from tickets to local performances and exhibitions, credits may also be used to purchase SingLit titles, said the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY).
According to the Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) website, SG Culture Pass credits will also be valid to purchase festival passes and selected ticketed programmes at the festival in November.
When asked if the SG Culture Pass would boost SingLit readership, Chua said that it would "definitely allow people who might have been unwilling to spend on a SingLit book to give it a chance".
While optimistic that the credits would provide the much-needed push for some readers, Wen-yi also said that "it's unlikely to make that much of a difference specifically for SingLit, unless it's accompanied by big marketing pushes for the books".
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