What is the Future of Book-selling?
Panel Denise Tan, Ibrahim Tahir | Moderator: Hwee Goh
The book-selling business is facing significant challenges in recent years. This panel features local bookstore owners and booksellers who will share their challenges and solutions in bringing books to readers and growing a community of readers in today's digital age.
Denise Tan (Singapore)
Denise started Closetful of Books after six years of working with children’s literature. With Closetful of Books, she shares her love for reading through specially-tailored workshops with authors and illustrators and super-duper fun book fairs in local and international schools. Denise also puts her studies in Mass Communications and English Literature to good use by spending all her time reading.
Ibrahim Tahir (Singapore)
Ibrahim Tahir is the principal bookseller at Wardah Books, an independent bookshop specialising in Islam and matters of Muslim interest. He has run Wardah Books for over 20 years. Ibrahim has also served as editor for several publishing houses in Singapore, and has worked on community and reference book projects.
Moderator Hwee Goh (Singapore)
Hwee Goh leads the editorial and strategic communications team at The Media Consultants Singapore. Apart from media and presentation training, her forte is in teaching news-related writing to clients in government, as well as the private, and social services sector.
Hwee was a MediaCorp scholar classically trained at the Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism. She spent 16 years at Channel NewsAsia, traveling on the political beat with three of Singapore’s Prime Ministers. As a leading journalist and commentator, Hwee wrote Opinion Editorials for TODAY newspaper on topics ranging from politics to her personal life. Hwee curated daily local news coverage and content on CNA as news editor from 2005-2010.
Hwee is actively engaged on @hweezbooks where she regularly reviews books and is followed for both her own reads and as well as upcoming middle grade/teen reads. Since 2014, Hwee’s Book Share Club (FB/IG) has also made space for promoting SingLit. Hers is a bookish account dedicated to celebrating reading, collecting books, loving book characters and creating content with fellow authors, publishers and book distributors.
Hwee is also the bestselling author of 12 children’s books and is most appreciated for her experience as a journalist, and her insights on reading and writing. She is well known on the Singapore bookish circuit, regularly speaking at schools and moderating international and local authors. Hwee has held book chats with Samantha Shannon, Ruta Sepetys, and with Singapore authors published internationally such as Rachel Heng and June CL Tan.
Programme dates and times are subject to change.