Last month was all about women in translation, and I highlighted three different independent book publishers that focus on publishing works in translation.

In a similar vein, I wanted to highlight Epigram Books, an independent publisher based in Singapore. However, since English is one of Singapore’s official languages, much of what they publish is originally written in English and does not need to be translated.

Singapore is so diverse, and Epigram Books focuses on publishing books both from Singaporean authors and writers from the Southeast Asian region. In order to showcase the diversity of the books published by Epigram Books, I’ve split this into two posts. This week I will be sharing books from authors around the region, and last week I shared books from Singaporean authors.

Epigram Books is the publishing arm of the design company Epigram. Epigram Books was initially established to champion Singaporean literature, and to this day they publish a large number of Singaporean based authors, along with Singaporean classics. They also expanded their publishing scope to include literature from around Southeast Asia and are a great source of literature from the region.

They also have the Epigram Books Fiction Prize, that awards $25,000 SGD to the winner along with a publishing agreement for the book. It started out as purely for Singaporean authors in 2015, but is now open to all authors in Southeast Asia.

The prize is currently open for submissions until August 1, 2024. You can find out more details here. Stay tuned for news of the prize winner(s). The winner will be announced in February 2025, but long and short list will be announced earlier than that.

I believe we need more publishers focused on the Southeast Asian region. There’s so much potential here, with diverse cultures rich in storytelling. So I’m glad to see more opportunities for writers in this region.

I’ve included a range of nationalities in this list, there’s even one from Brunei! Keep reading for some more Southeast Asian literary inspiration.

Five books by Asian authors from Epigram Press

Here’s a list of five books by Asian authors from Epigram Press.

1. Tiananmen by Morgan Chua (1989)
   Singapore + China
2. Love, Lies and Indomee / Enak by Nuril Basri (2016)
   Indonesia
3. A Good True Thai by Sunisa Manning (2020)
   Thailand
4. The Fisherman King by Dr. Kathrina Mohd Daud (2020)
   Brunei
5. The Accidental Malay by Karina Robles Bahrin (2022)
   Malaysia

Keep reading to find out more about each one. I’ve listed them in order of when they were published.

Tiananmen (1989) – Singapore + China

by Morgan Chua

The events that took place at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China on 4 June 1989 attracted international attention and sparked outrage at the Chinese government’s military advance on student demonstrators. Twenty-five years on, a new generation of Chinese has grown up in a country that continues to grapple with issues of political liberalisation, democracy and censorship.

First published in 1989, acclaimed former Far Eastern Economic Review editorial cartoonist Morgan Chua’s Tiananmen takes an emotional yet incisive look at the aftermath of the 4 June protests and the international response it provoked.

This updated edition commemorates the 25th anniversary of this watershed incident with new cartoons and a look at where the key figures involved then, are today.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Epigram Bookshop
  • Author’s Obituary
  • Wikipedia
    • On the author
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Love, Lies and Indomee / Enak (2016) – Indonesia

by Nuril Basri,
Translated from the Malay by Zedeck Siew

Independent career woman Ratu needs a boyfriend—now. She can’t stand her mother’s nagging, and she’d rather die than be forced into an arranged marriage. Taking matters into her own hands, she trawls the internet in hopes of finding her dream man: tall, slim and look like a model. So when she meets a handsome stranger online who ticks all the boxes, will he turn out to be Mr Right?

Love, Lies and Indomee is a sharp and witty novel about the struggles of finding love in 21st-century Jakarta.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Epigram Bookshop
  • Author’s Website
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

A Good True Thai (2020) – Thailand

by Sunisa Manning

In 1970s Thailand, three young people meet each other with fateful results.

Det has just lost his mother, the granddaughter of a king. He clings to his best friend Chang, a smart boy from the slums, as they go to college; while there, Det falls for Lek, a Chinese immigrant with radical ideals. Longing for glory, Det journeys into his friends’ political circles, and then into the Thai jungle to fight. During Thailand’s most famous period of political and artistic openness, these three friends must reconcile their deep feelings for one another with the realities of perilous political revolution.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Author’s website
  • Epigram Bookshop
• You can buy the book:
  • Directly from the publisher (the author will get a larger percent)
  • Or on Amazon

The Fisherman King (2020) – Brunei

by Dr. Kathrina Mohd Daud

Finalist for the 2020 Epigram Books Fiction Prize

Eight years ago, Lisan the fisherman, who has always believed he was descended from royalty, left his wife and the Water Village. Now he’s back, and he says he can prove it. Six hundred years ago, a forbidden relationship between the royal children of Brunei set into motion a chain of events that will end with the death of a king…or the death of a god. As the story of Lisan’s true intentions – and what he was really doing in those years away – unravels, the story of those doomed royal children also spins to its inevitable conclusion.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Epigram Bookshop
  • Author’s page on the Universiti Brunei Darussalam
    • Dr. Kathrina Mohd Daud is an Assistant Professor in the English Studies programme
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

The Accidental Malay (2022) – Malaysia

by Karina Robles Bahrin

Winner of the 2022 Epigram Books Fiction Prize

Jasmine Leong wants to be the next CEO of Phoenix, her family’s billion-ringgit company known especially for its bak kwa. But when Jasmine discovers she is actually a Malay Muslim, her newfound identity threatens to upend her life and ambitions. Set in Kuala Lumpur and other areas of Malaysia, The Accidental Malay examines the human cost of a country’s racial policies, and paints a portrait of a woman unwilling to accept the fate history has designated for her.

Links:

• You can find out more on:
  • Goodreads
  • Storygraph
  • Epigram Bookshop
  • Interview with the author
• You can buy the book here on Amazon.

Final thoughts

I hope you found something of interest in this list of books published by Epigram Books.

Are you familiar with Epigram Books? If so, I’d love to hear which books you enjoyed from their collection or which books you are excited to read.

Do you know of any other independent publishers like Epigram Books? I’d love to hear all about them in a comment below!