Why book reviews matter and in search of Colombian women's literature

Singapore Writers Festival 2024

- Clement Yong

Reviews and opinions generate buzz around books, so the National Arts Council (NAC) should consider commissioning book reviews of Singapore works when they are published.

Arguing that this is a cost-effective way to help boost book sales, writer and editor Ruby Thiagarajan made the suggestion at the Singapore Writers Festival 2024 (SWF) on Nov 13.

But her proposal also came with a caveat in an industry of precarious margins: The arts authority must take care not to tie publishers' and authors' future funding to reviews or risk reviewers feeling they have a duty to hold back.

As SWF approaches its second and final weekend, Thiagarajan along with fellow writers and reviewers Ionathan Chan and Shawn Hoo, who reports for The Straits Times - held court in a jovial mid-week panel at The Arts House.

Titled Cultivating A Literary Ecosystem Through Criticism, they homed in readily on an oftoverlooked part of any healthy literary ecosystem.

Moderator Daryl Lim broached head-on a taboo of reviewing in a small community like Singapore's when his opening salvo got panellists to publicly declare works they hate.