SINGAPORE, Oct 21 — Singapore novels are set to reach readers across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Myanmar following a landmark regional publishing agreement.
The pact was initiated by home-grown publisher Epigram Literary Foundation, formerly Epigram Books, and will take effect in 2026, The Straits Times reported today.
It was signed on October 17 during the Frankfurt Book Fair, ensuring that winners of the annual Epigram Books Fiction Prize will be simultaneously released in six Southeast Asian markets with larger print runs.
The prize – first launched in 2015 for unpublished English manuscripts – has been open to citizens and permanent residents of South-east Asia since 2020.
“Together, I hope we can leverage our combined scale to drive book sales and introduce readers to a wider range of South-east Asian stories,” Epigram founder and director Edmund Wee was quoted as saying.
The deal will initially run for three years in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, and five years in the Philippines.
Participating publishers include The Biblio Press from Malaysia, Indonesia’s Elex Media, River Books of Thailand, Milflores Publishing in the Philippines, and NDSP Books from Myanmar.
Wee told The Straits Times that exact print numbers will vary by publisher, but Elex Media alone has pledged to print 1,500 copies per title – a major boost compared to Singapore’s usual runs of a few hundred.
Wee hopes the partnership will spark broader regional collaborations, noting that Epigram has already given its partners first rights to translate the novels.
In recent years, Epigram titles such as Meihan Boey’s Miss Cassidy trilogy have found success in Britain, the United States, Albania and Italy — and this new deal could help cement Singapore’s literary presence in South-east Asia.
* Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story was published with the incorrect headline, “Singapore novels to hit bookshelves across South-east Asia under landmark S$3b publishing pact”. The headline has since been corrected.
