Ever wondered how life in North Korea is like? Wonder no more as we bring to you, Jia, a novel of North Korea and its writer, Hyejin Kim. Come join us as she shares her unique experience of meeting the North Koreans and writing a book regarding them.

Date: 21 July (Weds)
Time: 6.30pm
Venue: The POD, 16th Floor, National Library Building

About the Book, Jia
Jia, an orphaned young woman and talented dancer, lives in an isolated mining village. Sent there as a punishment after her father was taken away by the police for questioning the government in his classroom, Jia must now leave the village to search for her own future. The novel follws her journey as she makes her way to Pyongyang, and then to Shenyang in northeast China. Along the way, she finds love, friends, endures abuse and kidnap and survive in a new culture.

About the Author, Hyejin Kim
A writer amd education consultant currently residing in Singapore, Hyejin Kim has written two books in Korean and Jia, A Novel of North Horea, her first book for an English-speaking audience. She’s also the Korean editor of Global Voices, an award-winning website founded at Harvard University and has written for several publications, including Asia Times and OhmyNews.com. In addition, she is a voice actor and sometime-lecturer.

Inviting all budding poets and writers to join us for a conversation session with Emeritus Professor Edwin Thumboo.

Date: Friday, 9 July
Time: 6.00pm
Venue: The POD, 16th Floor, National Library Building
Registration required. Please email mark_ho@nlb.gov.sg

About the author
One of the earliest Singapore Writers to have a collection of poems published, Edwin Thumboo is also the first Singaporean to be conferred the South East Asian Writers Award and the Singapore Cultural Medallion in 1979 and 1980 respectively. In 2006, he was awarded one of Singapore’s highest honurs – the Meritorious Service Medal – as Distinguished Poet and Literary Scholar. Other accolades in his distinguished career include the National Book Development Council of Singapore prizes for poetry (1978, 1980, 1994), the ASEAN Cultural and Communication Award in Literature (1987) and the Public Service Star (Bar) in 1991.

The theme for READ! Singapore 2010 is “Roads Less Travelled”. Many may wonder why we are adopting this theme, with the theme almost pointing towards going to the outdoors and the relatively unknown, abandoning our own comfort zones and treading down unfamiliar routes. What has this got to do with reading?!

I believe the answer to this question can be found in the foreword of our latest short stories compilation.

“These are the choices that many face, from the corporate high flyer in the prime of his career who mulls the call to serve the destitute masses to the hot-shot lawyer who risks it all for the magic of the theatre. It is the dilemma of the student who must choose between the medical degree expected by her family and following her heart to be a world-class dancer, as well as the hopes of a homemaker who dreams of a second chance to fulfil the potential of her education and experience.

This is the passion we seek to stir and share in the novels, short stories and poems that READ! Singapore celebrates in 2010. Our theme this year, “Roads Less Travelled”, is a rallying call to everyone who has ever wondered what lies over the horizon and how it might be like to leave the path of conventional wisdom to pursue one’s true calling.”- N Varaprasad (Dr), Chief Executive, National Library Board.

Personally, I believe the theme “Roads Less Travelled” captures the entire essence of reading. Reading is an escapade for the mind. Very often, one is faced with the many choices that life throws at us, so how do we decide on which road is best for us? I say the answer lies in having the mind walk down the road first before we do the actual walking. Not sure if you are interested in dancing, why not pick up a related book and envision yourself on that path? Let your mind do the road less travelled first before you start on your own road less travelled.

On the other hand, there’s another group of us that laments over how mundane our lives has become, with no road being able to offer them the adventure they so desire. For this group, having the mind doing the “Road Less Travelled” is probably the only way to fulfil their desires. Hope to be knight in shining armor during the Medieval times or a shadowless assassin in ancient Rome. Perhaps maybe a noble king in olden China or an all-powerful, all-knowing wizard in the Persian Empire. However far-fetched your dream is, there is definitely a book to help fulfil them.

So wait no longer! Come and embark on a road less travelled with this year’s READ! Singapore. Come join us for our various book discussions and meet-the-authors sessions. Who knows? You may even discover your own Road Less Travelled…

We are just weeks away from the grand opening of READ! Singapore 2010. Look forward to the months ahead as we line up a list of fun-filled activities like books discussions and “meet the author” sessions.

What about last year’s hit event, the 144-hour reading marathon? This year, we have “something else” in place of it but we’re definitely not revealing it so soon.

So on your next visits to the libraries, keep your eyes peered to see what do we exactly have up our sleeves. You will surely not be disappointed.

See you soon at READ! Singapore 2010.

Thanks to all for your overwhelming support for the book nomination. We have received numerous quality entries, giving our selection committee a real headache.

These are the following books that have been shortlisted:

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold 

Raffles Place Ragtime by Philip Jeyaretnam

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D.Salinger

1984 by George Orwell

Kindly vote for your favourite book on the poll on the left. I shall leave you with this quote while you ponder over which book to vote for.

“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend” – Paul Sweeney

May the best book win!