The World of Words-Kuala Lumpur (WoW-KL) festival will be held at Bank Negara’s Sasana Kijang in Kuala Lumpur from Sept 17 to Sept 19, with a wide range of activities and competitions lined up for children, youths and adults.
For the organiser, international best-selling author Sajeet Soudagar, the vision is for WoW-KL to snowball into a national movement to make reading a Malaysian culture again.
He expects over 2,000 people to participate in the festival, from schoolkids to university students, publishers, book clubs, authors and other members of the public.
Its goal? Simply “to bring back the magic of words”.
“It is the beginning of an ongoing effort to embed reading in our daily lives, through school book clubs, writing competitions, reading challenges, and digital innovations like a ‘reading coin’ rewards system that will allow children to earn points for reading reviews and redeem them at bookstores.
“The goal is simple but urgent: to rebuild Malaysia as a nation of readers, writers, and thinkers,” he said in a press release.
The first day of WoW-KL has been set aside especially for children and schools, with a short story competition to be held for both primary and secondary school students.
There will also be a writing workshop and forums with authors of children’s books, with parents and teachers able to discuss the roles that homes and schools play in shaping lifelong readers in their children and students.
The second day is geared towards varsity students and young adults, and on the agenda is a short story competition centred on contemporary themes, workshops, as well as a forum titled “How to Make Literature Cool Again”.
There will also be discussions on forging careers in writing, publishing and even digital storytelling, to raise awareness on how literature can be turned into a viable career.
On the final day, there will be author talks, book launches and workshops on storytelling and screenwriting, before the closing and awards ceremony for competition participants.
“The unsung heroes of Malaysia’s literary world – illustrators, editors, bookshops, librarians, and more – will be honoured.
“It is a day to remind Malaysians that literature belongs to everyone,” said Sajeet, who founded publishing company StoreMe Books and Media.
Those in attendance will include Malaysian Mental Health Association president Andrew Mohanraj, education pioneer Parmjit Singh, storyteller Tutu Dutta, student writer Nurul Qurratu’ Aini and book “influencer” Diana Yeong.
The festival will be supported by the National Library of Malaysia, Financial Services Library of the Bank Negara Malaysia, Writers’ Association of Malaysia, British Council Malaysia, and Google Malaysia.
“If you are a parent, bring your children and show them the magic of books. If you are a student, join the competitions and let your voice be heard. If you are an educator, bring your class and reignite their imagination.
“If you are simply someone who has not picked up a book in years, come, and let this festival remind you why you once loved stories,” said Sajeet.