Epigram Books

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Epigram Books
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HeadquartersSingapore
ProductsLiterary Fiction and Non-fiction
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WebsiteEpigram Books

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Epigram Books is an independent publishing company in Singapore. It publishes works of Singapore-based writers, poets and playwrights.

History

Epigram was founded in 1991 by Edmund Wee as a design agency.[1][2] Epigram began the publishing and designing of annual reports before expanding its portfolio to include more diverse design work such as wayfinding, corporate logo branding, and graphic design. Notable clients of Epigram include OCBC Bank, Singapore Airlines, Media Development Authority and CapitaLand.[3][4]

Epigram has won international awards for their designs of annual reports, including the Hong Kong Design Awards and the Graphis Gold Award for Annual Reports.[5][6] They are the first company in the world to win the Grand Prix award at the Red Dot consecutively.[5] They received commissions for commemorative books from agencies such as the National Trades Union Congress and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[2]

The company Epigram Books, the publishing arm of Epigram set up in 1999, published its first book with mountaineer David Lim’s Mountain to Climb: The Quest for Everest and Beyond. Epigram Books bore the design and printing costs of the book and sold five thousand copies. Epigram Books was incorporated as a separate entity from the parent company in July 2011.[7]

In 2015, Epigram Books launched a fiction prize, the Epigram Books Fiction Prize, with an award of $20,000. The first edition was won by O Thiam Chin.[8]

In January 2021 Epigram Books, which set up its London arm in November 2016, announced it would stop publishing in the United Kingdom in order to shore up its Singapore business amid the COVID-19 slowdown.[9]

Notable publications and reception

Epigram Books has published a series of cookbooks, under the Heritage Cookbook series.[10] In 2010, it published There’s No Carrot in Carrot Cake, a guide book to Singapore’s street food (or hawker food in colloquial terms). The book sparked a debate in the media about the need for a culinary school to preserve Singapore’s food heritage.[11][12]

A short story, Moving Forward, included in the compilation of Andrew Tan's Monsters, Miracles & Mayonnaise was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Short Story in 2013. Monsters, Miracles & Mayonnaise is one of the three graphic novels that was published by the company in 2012. Epigram Books is also the first Singaporean publishing house to have a comic book nominated for this prize.[13][14] Another graphic novel, Ten Sticks and One Rice by Oh Yong Hwee and Koh Hong Teng won an International MANGA Award (Bronze) in 2014.[15]

Other than publishing books by debut authors, Epigram Books has also taken to republish books that are out-of-print Singapore classics, such as Jean Tay’s Boom and Everything but the Brain and Goh Poh Seng’s The Immolation.[16][17] The company has also launched the Cultural Medallion series, where non-English literature award recipients are translated into English.[17] Some of the works include Singai M. Elangkannan’s Flowers at Dawn, Suratman Markasan’s Penghulu and Wong Meng Voon’s Under the Bed, Confusion.[18]

In 2016, Epigram Books was shortlisted for the Bologna Prize for the Best Children's Publishers of the Year at the 53rd Bologna Children's Book Fair. The award rewards creative, innovative publishers based on “The editorial projects, professional skills and intellectual qualities of work produced by publishing houses all over the world”.[19][20] In the same year, Epigram Books won four out of eight prizes at the Singapore Book Awards, including Book Of The Year for Sonny Liew's The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye and Best Fiction Title for Amanda Lee Koe's Ministry of Moral Panic.[21]

Epigram Books Fiction Prize

Launched in 2015, the Epigram Books Fiction Prize has been awarded annually to the best original and unpublished novel in the English language written by a Singaporean citizen, Singapore permanent resident, or Singapore-born writer.[8] Until 2023, the prize was Singapore's richest literary prize, with the highest prize being $25,000 SGD, before being surpassed by the Dr Alan HJ Chan Spirit of Singapore Book Prize.[22][23] The inaugural 2015 Prize was won by O Thiam Chin for his novel Now That It's Over,[8] while the 2016 Prize was won by Nuraliah Norasid for her novel The Gatekeeper[24] and the 2017 Prize to Sebastian Sim for The Riot Act. In 2018, Yeoh Jo-Ann's Impractical Uses Of Cake won, and it was announced that from 2019, the Prize prize will be open to writers from other ASEAN countries, not only Singapore.[25]

In 2020, Malaysian author Joshua Kam won, with his book, How the Man in Green Saved Pahang, and Possibly the World.[26]

In January 2021, two writers – Meihan Boey and Sebastian Sim – were named joint winners of the 2021 Prize.[27] This is the first time two joint winners have won the Prize and the first time an author has won it twice.[27][28]

Winners

Year Title Author Ref
2015 Now That It's Over O Thiam Chin [29]
2016 The Gatekeeper Nuraliah Norasid [30]
2017 The Riot Act Sebastian Sim [31]
2018 Impractical Uses of Cake Yeoh Jo-Ann [32]
2020 How The Man In Green Saved Pahang, And Possibly The World Joshua Kam [33]
2021[a] The Formidable Miss Cassidy Meihan Boey [34]
And The Award Goes to Sally Bong Sebastian Sim
2022 The Accidental Malay Karina Robles Bahrin [35]
2023 The Campbell Gardens Ladies’ Swimming Class Vrushali Junnarkar [36]
2025 The Mystical Mister Kay Meihan Boey [37]

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  1. ^ Joint winners

References

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  1. ^ (2013, 12 Sep) Award-winning designer receives University of Waikato award. Fuseworks Media.
  2. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Yap, S. "Immaculate conceptions". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015. Retrieved 28 January 2007.
  3. ^ (2008, 2 Dec). Winning Designers. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes20081202-1.2.33.15.aspx Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  4. ^ Matrin, Mayo. (2 December 2008) The art of annual report. Today. Retrieved from http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/today20081202-2.2.31.2.aspx Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  5. ^ a b Phan, M. (3 March 2008) Designed to send the message across. The Business Times. Retrieved from http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/biztimes20080303-1.2.18.1.aspx Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  6. ^ Chang, R. (4 September 2007) SLA’s annual report snags global graphic design accolade. The Straits Times. Retrieved from http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/newspapers/Digitised/Article/straitstimes20070904-1.2.57.18.2.aspx Script error: No such module "webarchive".
  7. ^ Nanda, A. (11 July 2011). The Monday interview with Edmund Wee: Novel way of life. The Straits Times. Retrieved from Factiva database
  8. ^ a b c Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Nur Asyiqin Mohamad Salleh (5 November 2015). "O Thiam Chin wins inaugural Epigram Books Fiction Prize". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Auto, Hermes (11 January 2021). "Singapore's Epigram Books to stop publishing in the UK | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Huang, L. J. (10 February 2008). "Preserving Mum's recipes". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 10 February 2015.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Tan, R.L. (22 January 2011). "Hawker Masters".
  12. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Seetoh, K. F. (25 August 2010). "Can our makan go global?". The New Paper.
  13. ^ Martin, M. (2013. 18 Apr). Graphic success: S’pore comics artist Drewscape nominated for Eisner Award. Today.
  14. ^ Yong, N. (18 April 2013). Local comic artist up for Eisner Award. The Straits Times.
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Announcement of Winners for the Seventh International MANGA Award". Archived from the original on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  16. ^ Nanda, A. (11 July 2011). The Monday interview with Edmund Wee: Novel way of life. The Straits Times.
  17. ^ a b Oon, C. (26 February 2013). Local book’s next chapter. The Straits Times.
  18. ^ (2012, 20 Dec). 18 Princes of print. The Straits Times.
  19. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Martin, Mayo (2 March 2016). "Epigram Books shortlisted for children's publisher award". MediaCorp. TODAY. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2016.
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Said, Nabilah (7 March 2016). "Epigram Books in the running for Bologna Prize for Best Children's Publisher of the Year". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Lee, Jian Xuan (10 May 2016). "Epigram Books scores big with 4 wins at Singapore Book Awards". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 1 June 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2016.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.hermes (26 September 2017). "Sponsorship secured for Epigram Books Fiction Prize, 10 on longlist". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 27 June 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Yong, Clement (19 April 2023). "Richest Singapore book prize worth $30,000 launched by SUSS | The Straits Times". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Said, Nabilah (24 November 2016). "First-time author Nuraliah Norasid wins $25,000 Epigram book prize". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Debut novel wins Singapore's richest literary prize, which opens to Asean writers next year". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. 22 November 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ho, Olivia (16 January 2020). "Malaysian writer Joshua Kam wins fifth Epigram Books Fiction Prize". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  27. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."A geek at heart: an interview with local author Meihan Boey". Time Out Singapore. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  28. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ho, Olivia (17 January 2021). "Epigram Books Fiction Prize splits award for the first time". The Straits Times. ISSN 0585-3923. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  29. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."EBFP 2015". Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  30. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."EBFP 2016". Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 15 March 2017.
  31. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2017". Archived from the original on 15 March 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  32. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Epigram Books Fiction Prize". Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  33. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Looi, Sylvia (17 January 2020). "Malaysian wins Epigram Books Fiction Prize, Singapore's richest literary prize for debut book | Malay Mail". www.malaymail.com. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  34. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."A geek at heart: an interview with local author Meihan Boey". Time Out Singapore. 25 January 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  35. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.bakchormeeboy (23 January 2022). "By The Book: Karina Robles Bahrin announced as winner of 2022 Epigram Books Fiction Prize". Bakchormeeboy. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  36. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Yong, Clement (10 February 2023). "Local fiction book prize goes to novel about women swimming in a condo, judges include Michelle Yeoh". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 April 2024.
  37. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Yong, Clement (13 February 2025). "Meihan Boey's third entry to Miss Cassidy series wins $25,000 Epigram Books Fiction Prize". The Straits Times. Retrieved 21 March 2025.

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