SINGAPORE — For budding authors, a way to get one’s foot in the literary scene is none other than via an anthology — where one contributes a short story or poem in a collection of works edited by someone else.

Publishers here say they have seen more anthologies emerge in the market in recent years, and have published more of such books. They added that they see merit in rolling out anthologies because of their various advantages, such as strength in numbers (especially for lesser-known authors) and an avenue for self-expression, among others.

Ethos Books, for example, would have published some 25 anthologies between 2010 to 2017 (including forthcoming titles), an increase from just five anthologies between 2000 to 2009.

Ng Kah Gay, associate publisher at Ethos Books, pointed out that anthologies “bring together multiple voices and perspectives”, adding that publishers deploy them “as a tool to spotlight an issue or trend, and to catalyse conversation as well as necessary thought over these issues or trends”.

He cited titles Ethos Books has published, such as No Other City (2000) as an example.

An “increased awareness of the power of narratives to inform our sense of identity” has also led to more anthologies being commissioned by the public sector and initiated by individuals or agencies, said Ng.

For example, the Ministry of Education commissioned Ethos Books to produce two anthologies of short stories — Telltale: 11 Stories and Here and Beyond: 12 Stories — as prescribed GCE O-Level Literature texts. “Most recently, Marc Nair (A 2016 Young Artist Award recipient) and Yen Phang came to Ethos Books with This is not a Safety Barrier (2016), an anthology of poetry and photographs that they conceptualised as an articulation against the invisible barriers that shape our daily lives,” he said, adding that the present time is also a period when anthologies “are intersecting with the bloom of self-expression”.

Jason Erik Lundberg, fiction editor from Epigram Books, also noticed their rise in popularity. “Five years ago (and earlier), it seemed that the majority of anthologies being produced were of older works, in attempts to canonise certain writers and works as important and worthy. Since then, anthology editors have focused more on new and original writing, which is necessary for the vitality of the literary scene; there have also been many more anthologies being curated in recent years,” he observed.

Epigram has published a few anthologies so far — Best New Singaporean Short Stories: Volume One in 2013 and Volume Two in 2015 (with Volume Three slated for 2017), and We Contain Multitudes: Twelve Years of Softblow in 2016.

Lundberg noted that anthologies (which can contain reprinted or original material) are beneficial to publishers in that they “gather many disparate short stories or poems in one place, and introduce readers to writers they might not be familiar with yet”.

He added: “These books, in the case of “best of” or “year’s best” anthologies, focus on the highest quality writing being produced within a given amount of time, and can help set a new standard of excellence for writing in a given genre or region.”

Yeow Kai Chai, festival director of Singapore Writers Festival (SWF), agreed. Anthologies “are a savvy platform for publishers to consolidate estimable works by new and established writers for a strong, marketable pitch”, he said, citing examples such as The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singaporean Short Stories and Union: 15 Years of Drunken Boat, 50 Years of Writing from Singapore.

These collections provide “an invaluable overview of the literary scene, filtered through the specific lensing of the anthology editors”, he added.

Moreover, “agents and event organisers also find it useful to peruse anthologies for talent-scouting for events and other publishing ventures. For budding writers, anthologies are a less intimidating way to get their names out, and a mark of endorsement by being associated with the canonical names in the collections”.

SWF, too, has commissioned a Great Wall of Sayang exhibition for this year’s festival, which involves a sprawling bookcase made of wine crates on the lawn of The Arts House, conceptualised specially for the occasion.

Curated by BooksActually and Mary Bernadette Lee, six visual artists expressed their interpretation of the theme of the festival (Sayang) on the back of the crates, while on the flipside, copies of a new Sayang anthology — comprising a new collection of original short stories written by Singaporean writers and printed by Math Paper Press — were made available free.

“The Singapore Writers Festival has always encouraged cross-disciplinary collaboration between the literary arts and the other art forms, as this will yield creative sparks and promote dialogue,” explained Yeow.

And an anthology does just that, say publishers. “I believe the variety of voices presented by an anthology induces a mood (in readers) to experiment and try,” said Ng.

Who knows, someday that might lead to greater things for the literary industry.