(19 Jul 2020) Sheikh Faisal Sheikh Mansor, KLWBC2020 Secretariat Honorary Secretary, Malaysia, shared what Kuala Lumpur has been doing to work toward this goal.
“After the highly successful event, more virtual events are being held. Writing competitions, storytelling competitions and poetry writing and reciting competitions targeting children and adults managed to attract not just local communities, but people across the nation as well due to the advantage of online access. Other interesting competitions will be held throughout the year. These include among others, a short film competition adapted from local novels, where selected submissions that will be shown in the KLWBC2020 Film Festival to be held later this year.
The biggest event for local publishers, the Kuala Lumpur International Book Fair (KLIBF), that attracts over a million visitors every year has been now turned into an online event this year. Organized by the National Book Council in collaboration with several local book industry organizations, the KLIBF is partnering with Shopee, the top online marketplace in Malaysia to make the KLIBF Online 2020 possible. Over 140 publishers and book sellers are currently participating from June 25th – July 8th 2020. Over 100,000 discount vouchers are made available for readers nationwide.
Other than competitions and the book fair, a series of live talks and discussions are being conducted almost weekly by several parties. All these talks are being promoted over the KLWBC2020 social media platforms, as well as the organizers’ platforms. These free talks can be viewed by anyone, anywhere at no cost.
As we embark on the new norm, more new players have emerged that would shape the new ways of running the local book industry and promote reading to the masses. The KLWBC2020 Secretariat, through its KLWBC2020 Activities committee are continuously looking forward to work with anyone with new ideas so the overall KLWBC2020 program will stay relevant throughout Kuala Lumpur’s reign as World Book Capital 2020 and beyond. The KLWBC2020 Secretariat team is also open to collaborate with other cities around the world, creating new programs that promote the love of reading for all ages.”
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