From the 2019 Singapore Literature Prize celebration. Image: Singapore Book Council
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
New Category: Reader’s Favorites
Earlier this month, we covered winners in the 2020 Singapore Book Awards, which are produced by the Singapore Book Publishers Association.
Today’s announcement (August 31) features winners of the other key prize program in the island market, the 2020 Singapore Literature Prize, produced by the Singapore Book Council.
Wong Koi Tet) and Sithuraj Ponraj were the two biggest winners this year, both winning two awards each. Wong Koi Tet was the winner for fiction and creative nonfiction in Chinese, while Sithuraj Ponraj was the winner for poetry in Tamil, and a merit winner for fiction in Tamil.
The program, then, has 12 winners, as well as four merit winners, and content recognized here includes poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction. You’ll find multiple winners under a given category because this is the Singaporean program that awards work in all four of the nation’s official languages—Chinese, English, Malay, and Tamil.
And as so many in world publishing work to produce various digital evocations of their normally physical events, this is one which has created an online ceremony of more than an hour juggling four languages. No mean feat. We’ll embed the ceremony for you below.
Wong Koi Tet
Ten of the prizes this year go to first-time winners.
The program also has created a “readers’ favorite” category, something many prize programs like to include as a way of engaging the consumer base in a sense of involvement in the program and the market. Organizers report that close to 3,000 people voted in the readers’ choice category, again across the four languages of the program. Voting took place between July 22 and August 17.
Sithuraj Ponraj
Each winner in the core juried program receives 3,000 Singapore dollars (US$2,205), with 2,000 Singapore dollars (US$1,470) going to each merit prize winner.
Winners of the readers’ favorite vote get 1,000 Singapore dollars (US$735).
Another milestone pointed to by organizers is the fact that there were two winners in each of the four languages in the fiction category.
This not only shows the prescience of creating the four-language format but also to a deepening market in fiction.
In addition, Marylyn Tan has become the first woman to win the poetry prize in English, for Gaze Back.
2020 Singapore Literature Prize Winners
Gene Tan hosts the 2020 digital award ceremony for the Singapore Literature Prize at the old Parliament House, now called the Arts House. Image: Singapore Book Council
Poetry
- 《形成爱》 Love Comes Into Shape by吴耀宗 (Gabriel Wu)
- Gaze Back by Marylyn Tan
- Sepatu Mimpi Dream Shoes by Samsudin Said
- இத்தாலியனாவதுசுலபம் It is Easy to be an Italian by சித்துராஜ் பொன்ராஜ் (Sithuraj Ponraj)
Creative Nonfiction
- 《达哥打》 dakota by 黄凯德 (Wong Koi Tet)
- Pulp II: A Visual Bibliography of the Banished Book by Shubigi Rao
- Falsafah Pengkarayaan Melayu Singapura The Philosophy of Singapore Malay Creative Writing Process by Mohamed Pitchay Gani Mohamed Abdul Aziz
- வாழைமரநோட்டு Banana Money by ஹேமலதா Hemalatha
Fiction
- 《豹变》Black Panther by 黄凯德 (Wong Koi Tet)
- 《建国》Kian Kok by 谢裕民 (Chia Joo Ming)
- Nimita’s Place by Akshita Nanda
- Lion City by Ng Yi-Sheng
Merit Winners
- Tunjuk Langit Pointing the Sky by Jamal Ismail
- Labirin Al Maut Labryinth of Al Maut by Noor Aisya Buang
- மரயானைThe Wooden Elephant by சித்துராஜ் பொன்ராஜ் (Sithuraj Ponraj )
- வண்டியும்ஒரு நாள் ஓடத்திலேறும் Carriage will also board the Barge a day by அமீதாம்மாள் Yousuf Rowther Rajid
Readers’ Favorites
- 《风向鸡 – 李宁强的摄影诗》 Lee Leng Kiong’s Photography Poetry Book by 李宁强 (Lee Leng Kiong)
- Lost at 15, Found at 50 by Ashwini Devare
- Warna Sebuah Rahsia The Colour of Secret by Peter Augustine Goh
- வண்டியும் ஒரு நாள் ஓடத்திலேறும் Carriage will also board the Barge a day by அமீதாம்மாள் (Yousuf Rowther Rajid)
This year’s awards were hashtagged #WhyWeWrite, a campaign based on writerly motivation, and the digital program was prefaced by six panel discussions online, themed #AtHomeWithSLP.
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