Epigram Books
 | |
| Industry | Publishing (and Design) |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | Singapore |
| Products | Literary Fiction, Cookbooks, Food guides, Children's books, Poetry, Memoirs, Art and Photography, Special interests, Coffee table books, Custom publishing |
| Website | Epigram Books |
Epigram Books is a Singapore-based independent publisher that publishes fiction and non-fiction with a focus on Asiatic themes and a strong emphasis on design. They also produce commemorative books and coffee table books for galleries, corporations and other institutions.
The company was established in 1991 as a design consultancy called Epigram. They branched into publishing with the release of mountaineer David Lim's first book, Mountain to Climb: The Quest for Everest and Beyond. Since, they have published various books ranging from literary fiction to cookbooks, food guides, children's books and memoirs. The design arm continues to provide services such as art direction, publication design, branding, signage and way-finding, and editorial development.
Epigram Books is also well known in the Singapore arts and literary scene. They continuously publish fiction and poetry by Singapore-based writers, poets and playwrights like Jean Tay, Haresh Sharma and Kevin Keane. In 2005, they published a photography book featuring the work of Singapore-born Hollywood celebrity photographer Russel Wong.
In 2011, Epigram Books introduced the Omnibus series. So far the series, which collect the works of local playwrights, consists of works by Tan Tarn How and Chong Tze Chien.
In 2010 they published There's No Carrot in Carrot Cake, a guide book to Singapore's street food (or hawker food as it is commonly known), the foreword to which, written by Singapore's Ambassador-At-Large Tommy Koh, sparked off a debate in the media about the need for a culinary school to preserve Singapore's food heritage.[1] Another popular food-related publication under their imprint is the continuing series of Heritage Cookbooks. The Heritage Cookbooks series consist of family recipes by Singaporeans of various backgrounds. Published under this series so far are Irene's Peranakan Recipes, Madam Choy's Cantonese Recipes, and Robin's Eurasian Recipes.
Also under their imprint is the illustrated children's series The Diary of Amos Lee. The first book in the series won the International School Libraries Network's (ISLN) Red Dot Book Award for Best Junior Book.[2] The third and latest book in the series The Diary of Amos Lee: I'm Twelve, I'm Tough, I Tweet! was launched in November 2010.
Epigram Books recently published the first book by Singapore's food blogger Dr Leslie Tay. The book was launched in December 2010.
Popular titles published by Epigram Books
- The Syonan Years: Singapore Under Japanese Rule 1942 - 1945 by Lee Geok Boi
- Russel Wong Photographs: 1980 - 2005
- The Little Nightingale Who Can't Sing by Angie Featherstone (Illustrated by Stephanie Wong)
- Boom by Jean Tay
- Everything but the Brain by Jean Tay
- Those Who Can't, Teach by Haresh Sharma
- Even When She Forgot My Name by Wong Chai Kee
- Fridays with Philip by Philip Lee
- Irene's Peranakan Recipes by Irene Yeo
- Madam Choy's Cantonese Recipes by Choy Wai Yuen
- Robin's Eurasian Recipes by Robin Pereira
- The Diary of Amos Lee: I Sit, I Write, I Flush by Adeline Foo (Illustrated by Stephanie Wong)
- The Diary of Amos Lee: Girls, Guts and Glory by Adeline Foo (Illustrated by Stephanie Wong)
- The Diary of Amos Lee: I'm Twelve, I'm Tough, I Tweet by Adeline Foo (Illustrated by Stephanie Wong)
- A Gardener's Log by Thien
- Southbound: The Singapore Antarctica Expedition by Lulin Reutens
- There's No Carrot in Carrot Cake by Ruth Wan and Roger Hiew
- The End of Char Kway Teow and Other Hawker Mysteries by Dr. Leslie Tay