Bookworms & bibliophiles assemble! The world’s largest book sale is coming to Yangon (Jan 18-28)

Big Bad Wolf Books, billed as the world’s largest traveling book sale, is descending on Yangon later this month for the first time ever. The 11-day event will be held at the Myanmar Event Park (Mindhamma). 

The book sale will take place from Jan. 18 – 28, around the clock for 24 hours a day, and offer about 1 million books with discounts ranging from 50% to 90% off.

The event is being brought to Yangon by the director of Ready to Read Myanmar, U Myo Aung.

“I sell books so I was excited to bring a system that provides affordable options to a wide audience. I wanted to make books available to anyone who wants to read,” he told the Coconuts Yangon over the phone.

About three years ago, Myo Aung was introduced to Big Bad Wolf’s founders, Andrew Yap and Jacqueline Ng, through a mutual friend in Malaysia.

After attending the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale in Bangkok, Myo Aung was convinced that Myanmar needed a similar event to encourage more people to read English-language books.

“More people in Myanmar should learn English but most English books are unaffordable. Knowing one more language is important for our country’s development. We also need an educated workforce that can compete internationally,” he added.

Big Bad Wolf Books is the brainchild of Andrew Yap and Jacqueline Ng, who conceived of the idea in 2009. Both are founders of BookXcess, an online discount bookstore that resells books at bargain prices.

At the book sale, you’ll be able to browse all books from just about every genre including fiction, non-fiction, novels, literature (for adults and children) and young adult fiction. You’ll also be able to find merchandise such as posters and wallpapers.

The traveling bookstore has been all over Southeast Asia, selling books in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka, before making its first stop in Myanmar this year.