#BUYSINGLIT 2019: SINGLIT HAS SINGAPOREANS HOOKED

#BuySingLit 2019: SingLit has Singaporeans hooked
  Third edition boasts biggest turnout and number of events to date

#BuySingLit events: (clockwise from top left) Paarvai 2019; World of Books, Luxury of
Knowledge – Malay Book Fair 2019; Celebrating SingLit With Nature; panel discussion with
Charmaine Leung and Melissa De Silva as part of the #BuySingLit Yong Siak Street Party.

Over 45,000 participants – the biggest to date – spent their March weekends
attending the third edition of the annual #BuySingLit, Singapore’s largest
movement promoting local literature by homegrown publishers, retailers and
literary arts nonprofits.

#BuySingLit 2019 saw a record high of close to 100 events being organised across
the island – thanks to the combined efforts of 61 programme partners, several of
which came from non-literary industries, including new partners to the #BuySingLit
movement, such as Grab and Mapletree.

In a post-event survey involving 800 participants, 74% of the respondents said their
interest in Singapore literature increased after attending the events. In addition,
90% of them said they were satisfied with the programmes.

“Many participants were pleasantly surprised by the diversity of programmes this
year, which included innovative initiatives such as the Sing Lit Cloud printers and
the mystery book redemption via GrabRewards,” said William Phuan, Executive
Director of the Singapore Book Council. “The public was exposed to Singapore
literature, or SingLit, through new ways. We hope all these events have whetted
the appetite of Singaporeans and encouraged more of them to check out the
rich offerings from our local literary scene,” Mr Phuan added.

Many of the events found new audiences as they took place in novel locations
and neighbourhood spaces. These events include the Pesta Buku Melayu
Singapura 2019 (Malay Book Fair 2019) at Wisma Geylang Serai; #BuySingLit Yong
Siak Street Party in Tiong Bahru organised by independent bookstore
BooksActually; as well as Hello SingLit! x Arts in Your Neighbourhood, a

collaboration with Arts in Your Neighbourhood, organised by Woods in the Books
at Toa Payoh HDB hub.

“The Pesta Buku Melayu Singapura 2019 was the first-ever event that involved
several Malay publishers coming together to promote Malay literature in the
heartlands,” said Syed Ali, Director of Pustaka Islamiyah, who was one of the co-
organisers of the book fair. “Seeing the community rally together was like a
throwback to the old kampung days, and we hope to continue nurturing the
growing interest in Singapore Malay literature,” Mr Syed Ali noted.

Sheila Lim, one of the participants at the #BuySingLit Yong Siak Street Party, said:
“I grew up in Tiong Bahru, so being able to immerse myself in the programmes at
Yong Siak and see my old neighbourhood come to life through literature was
quite special for me.”

Highlights from #BuySingLit 2019 can be found in the video here, and the event
photos can be found here.

For those hungry for more SingLit, they can look out for the popular Sing Lit Cloud
printers coming to a location near them. The printers will be rotated to new
locations starting this month. Further updates can be found here.

Likewise, #BuySingLit book vouchers are valid till the end of August 2019 for
redemption. They can be redeemed at participating bookstores that include
Books Kinokuniya, Popular, MPH, Times, BooksActually, City Book Room, Grassroots
Book Room, Woods in the Books and more. The full list of participating bookstores
can be found on the #BuySingLit website, buysinglit.sg/participating-bookstores/.

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For media enquiries, please contact:
   ●   DID: Shafienas Salleh, 6342 5125
   ●   Email: shafienas@bookcouncil.sg

About #BuySingLit
#BuySingLit is an industry-led movement to celebrate stories from Singapore.
Advocating ‘Buy Local, Read Our World’, homegrown book publishers, retailers
and literary non-profits have come 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.

The #BuySingLit movement is supported by the National Arts Council, with the
Singapore Book Council as secretariat, and DDB Group Singapore as the official
advertising agency.

#BuySingLit Working Committee
This committee comprises passionate people from the following local book
businesses and literary organisations who are working together to champion
Singapore literature.

1. BooksActually
2. Books Kinokuniya
3. Bubbly Books
4. City Book Room
5. Closetful of Books
6. Crimson Earth
7. Epigram Books

8. Ethos Books
9. Grassroots Book Room
10. Landmark Books
11. Lingzi Media
12. Marshall Cavendish International (Asia)
13. MPH Group
14. National Arts Council
15. Pansing Distribution
16. Popular Book Co
17. Pustaka Nasional
18. Singapore Book Council
19. Singapore Book Publishers Association
20. Sing Lit Station
21. The Arts House
22. Times Experience
23. Unggun Creative