Penguin Random House, the world’s largest trade-book publisher, will launch PRH South East Asia in 2019. The announcement was made on the eve of the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair. The new publisher will be based in Singapore with a mandate to discover and publish local and international voices across English-language adult and children’s fiction and non-fiction formats for Singapore and Malaysia, as well as from Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Brunei, and Myanmar. It will start with a list of about 50 titles a year. According to PRH, the establishment of PRH South East Asia marks the extension and expansion of its commitment to local publishing in Asia, which is currently represented by its Penguin Random House North Asia and Penguin Random House India companies.
Markus Dohle, Penguin Random House’s worldwide CEO said, “We are pleased to announce the launch of our Singapore-based Penguin Random House South East publishing operation, which joins our thriving imprints in India and China and our growing English-language publishing programs worldwide.”
Gaurav Shrinagesh, chief executive officer, Penguin Random House India and South East Asia, will oversee PRH South East Asia’s company, which currently is named Penguin Books Singapore. Shrinagesh said, “These are exciting times for book lovers, as publishing transcends geographies and languages to open access to literature from all over the world. PRH’s expansion into South East will broaden our audience reach and local consumer insights to create publishing opportunities to further develop our editorial portfolio by supporting local authors in emerging markets and building their audiences.” As its first hire, Shrinagesh announced the appointment of Nora Nazerene Abu Bakar as executive editor, effective November 2018, reporting to him. She will be responsible for building the local publishing list, managing acquisitions, and author relationships, with close retailer and marketing support initially from PRH India. The publishing house said that “her network of relationships and keen knowledge of the region will be key in establishing a publishing presence for Penguin Random House in Southeast Asia.”
