Meet Zafar Anjum, a Singapore based writer who has authored two books, is a writer and a film maker. He edits a website for writers in Singapore, www.writersconnect.org. Apart from literature, Zafar’s other interests include cinema and traveling.
Chillibreeze short listed him as a potential author to interview. His perspective of the Asian market is an interesting one. I read a nice article by him on the publishing industry in India http://www.writersconnect.org./?link=Inside-India%E2%80%99s-publishing-business-.html&cat=5&id=50
Our interview with Zafar was coordinated by Sohini Rajpal and Preeti Sharma. If you want to get in touch with them or the author, mail us.
1. Tell us about yourself
I’m a Singapore-based writer. I’ve authored two books and am working on my third. In 2002, my short story, ‘The Rats’, won me an invitation to the Conference of New South Asian Creative and Academic Writers (26-30 June, 2002) at Colombo, Sri Lanka. In 2006, another short story, ‘Waiting for the Angels’, was short listed for the TLM New Writing Prize (The Little Magazine, India). It later appeared in an anthology of fiction (by new Indian writers), First Impressions (2006). Recently, yet another short story, “E.D.”, has appeared in The Little Magazine (Vol VII: Issue 1&2, 2007).
My works of journalism and fiction have been published in India and abroad. I’m also the founder-editor of Kitaab.org, a website dedicated to Asian writing in English. Apart from reading and writing, I’m also a lover of cinema. I’ve dabbled in making short films and documentaries. Now in the sunny Singapore, I live for my twin dreams: writing and filmmaking. Though I’m chasing my dreams, I’m also aware of the Jewish prayer: May your dreams never come true! I think life is exciting because of its overt and covert contradictions. Visit my website www.zafaranjum.com for more information on my work.
2. You are a writer and are associated with literary magazines, publishing activities in South East Asia. Do you think e-publishing could change the publishing dynamics for authors?
The way things are moving in the electronic direction, it will certainly impact the traditional publishing dynamics. Look what turbulence the print media is going through. What is fundamentally changing is the way people are increasingly accessing and consuming information and entertainment. People are spending more time on screens, be it their computers or smart phones or e-book readers. So, there has to be content for all these channels.
This does not mean that books, in their traditional physical form, will completely vanish. There will be books as long as there will be trees. But what will increasingly happen, in my estimate, is that every major book will have its physical as well electronic version, and a time will come when the later will overtake the former in terms of adoption and sales. The physical books might then become a minority (people will order books online or download them; more bookshops will down their shutters). This will happen first in the developed markets, followed by countries like India where adoption of new technology is a bit slower.
As far as authors are concerned, they will have more choice in terms of availability of publishing platforms. Internet is a democratizing medium. So, it will make it easier for writers to get their work our there. It is a boon for new writers. But the ease of entry does not guarantee literary superstardom. There will still be gatekeepers of quality-so getting into quality e-zines or getting published by big-name e-publishers will still be tough.
3. Do you think that e-books would become popular in India and in South East Asia?
The popularity of e-books will increase with the adoption of smart phones or such devices. Today I am reading electronic versions of books that are not easily available or are out of print. Tomorrow I might be reading more contemporary books in their electronic form because they might be cheaper and more convenient to read (or consume in audio form) that way.
In Singapore, I already see young people reading books (or longer texts) on their phones on the bus. Singapore National Library has a website where people can submit their short stories or download a short story to be read on their PDAs or phones. In Japan, people are reading novels on their cell phones. Elsewhere, people are tweeting their novels. In the next two generations, e-books might become the mainstream reality.
4. Will readership change from hard copy to electronic?
If I understand your question correctly, it is again a matter of who the readers are. New generation of pupils, who are now in kindergartens and primary schools, who are using computers and laptops from an early age, will form the new readership in the next 10-15 years. They might be largely consuming e-text.
Meanwhile, people will be consuming both hard and electronic copies. Devices, prices and the ease of convenience (fitting with people’s lifestyles) will determine what kind of readership will get primacy.
5. What kind of timeline do you envisage for South East Asian countries to adopt e-reading?
I think it will happen progressively. We might see major adoption in 10 to 15 years. But that’s my guess.
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