Lights Up
With the objective of inculcating a vibrant literary arts scene in Singapore, the National Book Development Council (NBDCS) has been tirelessly promoting writing and publishing. Mr R. Ramachandran, executive director of the NBDCS, reflects on its evolution throughout the years.
1) Firstly, by way of introduction, what is the role of the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS)?
The National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) has been established since 1969 as a non-profit organisation. We are committed to creating enterprise opportunities for a vibrant writing and publishing scene in Singapore.
We promote storytelling, reading, writing and publishing in Singapore via a variety of training programmes and specialised courses to encourage content-creation and hone the skills of our publishing talents.
In doing so, we hope to establish Singapore as the Asian centre for publishing and the literary arts. Our vision is for Singapore to become a lively marketplace where regional and local literary talents converge to transact with international publishers and vice versa.
To further these ends, the NBDCS has been organising writing and publishing courses to sharpen the abilities of our authors and publishing in producing top-quality publications. We have been holding the annual Singapore International Storytelling Festival for the past 5 years to help authors develop engaging storylines and intriguing plot structures.
2) Since its establishment in 1969, the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) has had a long history of nurturing writers and promoting publishing in Singapore. What are some of the major achievements/ milestones that the council has achieved in the last two years?
The last two years have been busy ones for the Book Council. The fourth edition of the First Time Writers and Illustrators Publishing Initiative (FTWIPI), jointly organized by the NBDCS and Media Development Authority (MDA), was launched in December 2007. The Initiative comprises two categories—children’s books and comics/graphic novels. S$8,000 is awarded to each successful recipient for the publication of their first book. Furthermore, selected applicants in the Comics and Graphic Novels category will also be able to see their works published in a six-issue anthology series produced by top local comic publisher, Chuang Yi Publishing.
As a result of this initiative, we are seeing the publication of excellent and original Made-by-Singapore content. For instance, “The Elephant and The Tree” written by Lee Jin Pyn recently sold its international English language rights to Running Press, one of the US’s largest independent publishers. At the same time, nine stories from FTWIPI have been produced into a 2D animated series, titled “Tales Alive”, by Peach Blossom Media for worldwide distribution. This is testimony to the growing global interest and we hope to achieve greater success with the upcoming round of applicants.
Another notable effort to promote the Singapore publishing scene was NBDCS’ partnership with the National Library Board (NLB) in the Screen-to-Print initiative. Three local films—12 Storeys, Eating Air and 4:30—were selected to be converted into novels. Local writers were engaged to pen these films into fiction. These books are not merely a reprint of screenplays but are an extension of the local films, delving into the storylines and characters of these films in greater depth.
With the support of the National Arts Council, we have also set up the Singapore Writers Centre (SWC) in September 1006. The SWC is a one-stop service and networking centre where the writing community in Singapore can gain access to a myriad of services and resources tailored for their special needs. We are currently developing SWC facilities for writers to hold meetings and functions as well as provide reference materials to aid them in crafting their narratives.
NBDCS will continue to be involved in similar exciting initiatives to stimulate content re-purposing opportunities and potential that Singapore’s creative industry could tap into. We hope that this new initiative will spark peoples’ imagination to other re-purposing possibilities in the print and digital media.
3) In a world of developments in web 2.0 technologies, digital entertainment has begun to phase out traditional media such as books and magazines. Would you say that the printed word has lost its relevance? What then, is the role of the NBDCS in a world of rapid digitization? How is the NBDCS addressing this challenge?
Publishers are facing increasing competition from the challenges brought about by new technologies and changing consumption patterns. Portable music players and ubiquitous visual paraphernalia have resulted in shortened attention spans, eroding consumers’ interest in the humble novel.
The industry is undergoing rapid change as new processes and advancements in digital technologies and Web 2.0 emerge. Yet, opportunities abound for those who are able to harness the potential of new technologies. For instance, the presence of a variety of e-book readers in the market from the Iliad to Sony’s E-Book Reader and the latest from Amazon, the eKindle, offers new platforms for publishers to distribute their content and incorporate other value-added services for readers.
In Singapore, Peach Blossom Media was instrumental in creating animation features from stories published under the NBDCS and Media Development Authority’s (MDA) joint initiative, First Time Writers and Illustrators Publishing Initiative (FTWIPI). Singapore company, TCZ Studio, had demonstrated that comics could be created not just for print but for the mobile platform as well. Novel avenues of marketing, promoting and distributing intellectual property, such as via online platforms like Google Book Search and Amazon, are also popular channels that some publishers are embracing.
NBDCS is also branching into digital storytelling as a means to integrate traditional content creation with digital media technologies. Every individual, every community, every organization, has a story to tell. The task of putting these together in a digital file that runs on players such as Real Player, Quick Time, Windows Media Player and lasts no more than 4 or 5 minutes, is what we can call Digital Storytelling.
In September 2008, Singapore will become the first country in Asia to host a Digital Storytelling Congress. In partnership with the National Library Board, The Book Council and The Arts House are organising, the inaugural Asian Digital Storytelling Congress, Beyond Words 2008, from 5th to 6th September 2008. The two day Congress will be held at NLB, Victoria Street.
4) Recently, you received the inaugural Library Association of Singapore Professional Service Award. Congratulations, how do you feel your experience in library services can help in NBDCS’s charter to develop the publishing scene?
I appreciate LAS for giving me this award and hope that the LAS continues this practice of recognising librarians who have done good work. As a librarian, I dealt with information and books - its acquisition, organisation and dissemination. My role in NBDCS is an extension of my work with books and information—I am now involved in assisting and directing the creation of information and books and this is very satisfying as it maintains my links with libraries, librarians and the Library Association who have collectively nurtured me all these years and made my work so rewarding.
