diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index ef6e24d..858d6d7 100755
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ S-Expressions derive from LISP, and include some basic datatypes common to all v
   <dt>Symbols</dt>
   <dd>Of the form <code>with-hyphen ?@!$ a\ symbol\ with\ spaces</code></dd>
   <dt>Strings</dt>
-  <dd>Of the form <code>"Hello, world!"</code><br/>
+  <dd>Of the form <code>"Hello, world!"</code> or <code>'Hello, world!'</code><br/>
       Strings may include the following special characters:
       <ul>
         <li><code>\b</code> &mdash; Backspace</li>
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ S-Expressions derive from LISP, and include some basic datatypes common to all v
         <li><code>\u<i>xxxx</i></code> &mdash; 2-byte Unicode character escape</li>
         <li><code>\U<i>xxxxxxxx</i></code> &mdash; 4-byte Unicode character escape</li>
         <li><code>\"</code> &mdash; Double-quote character</li>
+        <li><code>\'</code> &mdash; Single-quote character</li>
         <li><code>\\</code> &mdash; Backspace</li>
       </ul>
       Additionally, any other character may follow <code>\</code>, representing the character itself.
@@ -124,6 +125,7 @@ In addition to the standard datatypes, the SPARQL dialect supports the following
   <dd>Strings are interpreted as an RDF Literal with datatype <code>xsd:string</code>. It can be followed by <code>@<i>lang</i></code> to create a language-tagged string, or <code>^^<i>IRI</i></code> to create a datatyped-literal. Examples:
     <ul>
       <li><code>"a plain literal"</code></li>
+      <li><code>'another plain literal'</code></li>
       <li><code>"a literal with a language"@en</code></li>
       <li><code>"a typed literal"^^&lt;http://example/></code></li>
       <li><code>"a typed literal with a PNAME"^^xsd:string</code></li>
diff --git a/lib/sxp/extensions.rb b/lib/sxp/extensions.rb
index 5669510..d5e6c24 100644
--- a/lib/sxp/extensions.rb
+++ b/lib/sxp/extensions.rb
@@ -56,6 +56,7 @@ def to_sxp(**options)
 class String
   ##
   # Returns the SXP representation of this object. Uses SPARQL-like escaping.
+  # Uses any recorded quote style from an originally parsed string.
   #
   # @return [String]
   def to_sxp(**options)
@@ -69,14 +70,29 @@ def to_sxp(**options)
       when (0x0C)       then '\f'
       when (0x0D)       then '\r'
       when (0x0E..0x1F) then sprintf("\\u%04X", u.ord)
-      when (0x22)       then '\"'
+      when (0x22)       then as_dquote? ? '\"' : '"'
+      when (0x27)       then as_squote? ? "\'" : "'"
       when (0x5C)       then '\\\\'
       when (0x7F)       then sprintf("\\u%04X", u.ord)
       else u.chr
       end
     end
-    '"' + buffer + '"'
+    if as_dquote?
+      '"' + buffer + '"'
+    else
+      "'" + buffer + "'"
+    end
   end
+
+  # Record quote style used when parsing
+  # @return [:dquote, :squote]
+  attr_accessor :quote_style
+
+  # Render string using double quotes
+  def as_squote?; quote_style == :squote; end
+
+  # Render string using single quotes
+  def as_dquote?; quote_style != :squote; end
 end
 
 ##
diff --git a/lib/sxp/reader/basic.rb b/lib/sxp/reader/basic.rb
index 21ef63a..abc128b 100644
--- a/lib/sxp/reader/basic.rb
+++ b/lib/sxp/reader/basic.rb
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ class Basic < Reader
     def read_token
       case peek_char
         when ?(, ?) then [:list, read_char]
-        when ?"     then [:atom, read_string] #"
+        when ?", ?' then [:atom, read_string] #" or '
         else super
       end
     end
@@ -36,16 +36,18 @@ def read_atom
     # @return [String]
     def read_string
       buffer = ""
-      skip_char # '"'
-      until peek_char == ?" #"
+      quote_char = read_char
+      until peek_char == quote_char # " or '
         buffer <<
           case char = read_char
             when ?\\ then read_character
             else char
           end
       end
-      skip_char # '"'
-      buffer
+      skip_char # " or '
+
+      # Return string, annotating it with the quotation style used
+      buffer.tap {|s| s.quote_style = (quote_char == '"' ? :dquote : :squote)}
     end
 
     ##
diff --git a/lib/sxp/reader/common_lisp.rb b/lib/sxp/reader/common_lisp.rb
index 275b463..aef8b4d 100644
--- a/lib/sxp/reader/common_lisp.rb
+++ b/lib/sxp/reader/common_lisp.rb
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def read_vector
     # @return [Array]
     def read_quote
       skip_char # "'"
-      [options[:quote] || :quote, read]
+      [options[:quote] || :quote, read.tap {|s| s.quote_style = :squote if s.is_a?(String)}]
     end
 
     ##
diff --git a/lib/sxp/reader/sparql.rb b/lib/sxp/reader/sparql.rb
index b87ed19..2e4cbd3 100644
--- a/lib/sxp/reader/sparql.rb
+++ b/lib/sxp/reader/sparql.rb
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ def initialize(input, **options, &block)
     def read_token
       case peek_char
       when ?" then [:atom, read_rdf_literal] # "
+      when ?' then [:atom, read_rdf_literal] # '
       when ?< then [:atom, read_rdf_uri]
       else
         tok = super
@@ -144,6 +145,7 @@ def read_token
     #
     # @example
     #   "a plain literal"
+    #   'another plain literal'
     #   "a literal with a language"@en
     #   "a typed literal"^^<http://example/>
     #   "a typed literal with a PNAME"^^xsd:string
diff --git a/spec/common_lisp_spec.rb b/spec/common_lisp_spec.rb
index 68bf016..2d6842c 100644
--- a/spec/common_lisp_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/common_lisp_spec.rb
@@ -61,7 +61,9 @@
 
   context "when reading strings" do
     it "reads `\"foo\"` as a string" do
-      expect(read(%q("foo"))).to eq "foo"
+      res = read(%q("foo"))
+      expect(res).to eq "foo"
+      expect(res.quote_style == :squote)
     end
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/reader_spec.rb b/spec/reader_spec.rb
index 971116f..60af942 100644
--- a/spec/reader_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/reader_spec.rb
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@
       %q{"\n"} => "\n",
       %q{"\r"} => "\r",
       %q{"\t"} => "\t",
+      %q{"\'"} => "\'",
       %q{"\u0080"} => "\u0080",
       %q("\u07FF") => "\u07FF",
       %q("\u0800") => "\u0800",
@@ -75,9 +76,18 @@
       %q("\U000FFFFD") => "\u{FFFFD}",
       %q("\U00100000") => "\u{100000}",
       %q("\U0010FFFD") => "\u{10FFFD}",
+
+      %q{'\b'} => "\b",
+      %q{'\f'} => "\f",
+      %q{'\n'} => "\n",
+      %q{'\r'} => "\r",
+      %q{'\t'} => "\t",
+      %q{'\''} => "\'",
     }.each do |input, output|
       it "reads #{input} as #{output.inspect}" do
-        expect(read(input)).to eq output
+        res = read(input)
+        expect(res).to eq output
+        expect(res.quote_style).to eql (input.start_with?('"') ? :dquote : :squote)
       end
     end
   end