THE Popular-The Star Readers’ Choice Awards (RCA) and Popular-BH Anugerah Pilihan Pembaca (APP) return for their 15th consecutive year at BookFest @ Malaysia.
Established in 2008, the RCA (for English titles) and APP (for Malay titles) aim to foster creativity among local authors while strengthening the literary industry by recognising their efforts and contributions.
Both awards, organised in collaboration with Star Media Group Bhd and Berita Harian, continue to celebrate exceptional local talents.
Over the past years, there has been an inspiring surge of remarkable works from Malaysian authors across diverse genres, further enhancing Popular’s mission to cultivate a love for reading and books among Malaysians from all walks of life.
Celebrating local talents
The RCA and APP have recognised numerous renowned personalities as winners. Previous RCA winners include Norhafsah Hamid (2023 and 2024), NF Afrina (2024), Tan Sri Tony Fernandes (2018), Robert Kuok (2018), Tun Dr Siti Hasmah Mohamad Ali (2017) and Tunku Halim (2015).
Meanwhile, previous winners who finished on the podium for APP include the likes of Teme Abdullah (2024), Sofia Roses (2023), Hadi Fayyadh (2019), Datuk Kazim Elias (2016) and Suri Ryana (2012 and 2013).
At last year’s RCA, the top three winners of the fiction category went to Norhafsah Hamid (Will You Love Me?), NF Afrina (Not Here to Stay) and Lilian Li (Duet Me Not).
In the non-fiction category, the top three winners were authors Norhafsah Hamid (Letters for the Fragile Heart), Ayesha Syahira (He Found You Lost and Guided You) and Dr Ariza Mohamed (Doctor in the Dock).
2025 nominees
Nominees are selected from last year’s best-selling fiction and non-fiction titles at Popular and Harris bookstores nationwide. The RCA 2025 nominees for the fiction category are:
> Norhafsah Hamid (If Only You Remember)
> Nuruljannah Usop (Lyrics and You)
> Raffeera (Ready Alert for Love)
> Yangsze Choo (The Fox Wife)
> Sue Lynn Tan (Celestial Kingdom #3: Tales of the Celestial Kingdom)
> Vanessa Chan (The Storm We Made)
> Shih-Li Kow (Bone Weight and Other Stories - Signed edition)
> Hanna Alkaf (The Hysterical Girls of St. Bernadette's)
> Aida (Forgive, Forget)
> Sajeet Soudagar (Silencing The Lambs)
Meanwhile, the nominees for the non-fiction category are:
> Liew Chin Tong (Second Takeoff: Strategies for Malaysia's Economic Resurgence)
> Kee Thuan Chye (Lim Kit Siang: Malaysian First - Vol Two)
> Ezzah Mahmud (The Art of Awaiting)
> Khoo Boo Teik (Anwar Ibrahim: Tenacious in Dissent, Hopeful in Power)
> Romen Bose (Shattered Hopes)
> Pahrol Mohd Juoi (Finding Beauty in the Storm)
> Datuk Joe Samad (Revisiting the Social Contract: The Malaysia-Borneo Perspectives)
> Chow Ee-Tan (An Elated State of Mind: Memoir of A Bipolar Person)
> Lilian Tan (Behind the Stories: The Making of The Edge, The People, The Elations + Heartbreaks of the past 30 years)
> Nuurianti Jalli and Ika Idris (Misguided Democracy in Malaysia and Indonesia: Digital Propaganda in South-East Asia)
The top three winners in each category will be rewarded with a certificate of recognition, atrophy and cash prize during an awards ceremony on April 5, to be held at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre (KLCC), in conjunction with BookFest @ Malaysia 2025 which will take place from March 29 to Apr 6 at the same venue.
A total of 10 books will be nominated in each category, with all Popular and Harris outlets nationwide displaying the 40 nominated titles on RCA and APP for readers to view.
All nominated titles will be sold at a 20% discount during the promotion period until May 4.
Vote for your favourite
Coming into the 15th year of the RCA and APP, winners will be selected based on the readers’votes with the slogan “Read to Vote, Vote to Win”.
Readers will also be in the running for prizes, whereby 100 selected RCA and APP voterswill receive a one-year Popular e-card membership and an RM50 gift voucher.
Readers are encouraged to vote for their favourite fiction and non-fiction titles on Popular’s website, the BookFest @ Malaysia website or Popular Malaysia’s Facebook page from now till March 2.
