The literary scene in Singapore is something that is rather close to my heart, especially when it comes to subjects like genre fiction and “what constitutes good fiction”. While I do have opinions on the current state of things, I am not here to argue my case. At least, not for today.
From my observations, the so-called stagnation of “Singapore literature” can be stemmed from a few main reasons –
1) People are not reading.
2) People are not writing.
3) There are many titles but none of them are getting the publicity they should.
While the economics behind publication and all its publicity is not something I can talk about, I decided it’s time to do something instead of griping. Therefore, I decided that 2013 will be the year where I will review a local (Singaporean)/ regional (South-East Asian) publication once every two weeks.
And with that, Project: Regional was born.
So far, it has been rather rewarding, and it has proven one thing – Singapore has titles: Good titles, interesting titles, titles that could tug at your heartstrings, make you think, make you laugh, and entertain you. All we need to do is just to pick up a copy and help support the local literary scene.
It was recently said that the Great Singapore Novel has a long way to go before arriving. I am not in any position to decide what the Great Singapore Novel should comprise in order to be considered one, but I know that like every other country, we have our talents and gifts, people just need to get up and find them.
If you would like to take a glimpse into what Singaporean writers have been putting out there, take a look at Project: Regional, and maybe you’ll get interested in our local literary scene as well.
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