Homegrown publishing house Buku Fixi has nabbed the top prize at the inaugural London Book Fair International Publishing Industry Excellence Awards, presented yesterday.
The local publisher walked away with the Adult Trade Publisher Award, the most coveted honour of the ceremony, beating out publishing houses from across the globe.
In the three years it’s been in operation, Fixi has made a name for itself by showcasing new Malaysian talent, focusing mainly on edgy, urbancentric Bahasa Malaysia literature such as Khairul Nizam Bakeri’s Pecah and Dayang Noor’s Jerat novels, and English releases such as the KL Noir anthologies. Recently, Fixi also ventured into translating works by renowned Western authors, starting off with translated versions of Stephen King’s Joyland and Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane (whose title was translated into Lautan Di Hujung Lorong).
The full winners of the LBF International Book Industry Excellence Awards are:
IPA Freedom to Publish Award : Ihar Lohvinau, Belarus
Korea Market Focus Outstanding Contribution Award: Eric Yang Agency
The Bookseller International Adult Trade Publisher Award: Fixi, Malaysia
The Crossmedia Award for Best Use of IP: Robert Kirkman, Skybound, US
The International Academic and Professional Publisher Award: University of Chicago Press, US
The International Education Initiatives Award: Indigenous Literacy Foundation, Australia
The International Educational Learning Resources Award: Penguin Australia
The International Literary Agent Award: Anneli Høier, Leonhardt & Høier Literary Agency, Denmark
The International Literary Translation Initiative Award: Best Translated Book Award, US
The International Trade Children’s and Young Adult Publisher Award: Tara Books, India
The UK Publishers Association Copyright Protection Award: Oxford University Press, Pakistan
The Market Focus Achievement Award: Motilal Books of India
The Publishers Weekly International Book Industry Technology Supplier Award: Publishing Technology, China
The Publishing for Digital Minds Innovation Award: (to be decided at pDMC)
British Council International Digital Publishing Entrepreneur of the Year Award: Ricardo Almeida, Brazil
See Also: Fixi Verso Publishes First Bahasa Malaysia Translations of Stephen King and Neil Gaiman Novels
Story: TheBookseller.com
