Masked citizens downtown at Singapore’s ArtScience Museum in the Marina Bay Sands resort. Image – Getty iStockphoto: Miguel Vidal
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Winners’ Ceremony on September 24
The Singapore Book Publishers Association has announced its finalists for the 2021 Singapore Book Awards, and they’re listed in nine categories:- Hybrid Book (a new category)
- Audiobook
- Illustrated Nonfiction Title
- Literary Work
- Young Persons Title
- Education Title
- Picture Book
- Nonfiction Title
- Book Cover Design
Books placed in contention as finalists include autobiography and biography, creative nonfiction, graphic novels, Singapore history, local community history, local heritage cuisine, textbooks, and supplementary educational titles.
A hybrid awards ceremony is anticipated for the program on September 24 when shortlisted publishers will attend the in-person event at the Jurong Town Hall’s auditorium. The awards program is to be streamed by the Singapore council in association with the ASEAN Book Publishers Association in what’s being called a “phygital” hybrid, sponsored by HP Singapore, Lazada, Markono Print Media, Rakuten Kobo, and Storytel Singapore. The program will have additional support from Info-Communications Media Development Authority, the National Library Board, and the council.
A hallmark of this prize program is that all entries must be published in one of the four official languages of Singapore–English, Tamil, Malay, and Mandarin Chinese. Each submission has been required to carry a Singapore ISBN and to have been published between January 1 and December 31, 2020.
Singapore Book Awards 2021 Finalists
Hybrid Book
| Title | Publisher | Author(s) |
| One Havelock Square | State Courts and Redbean De | The Nutgraf LLP |
| Our Blood Runs Red Just Like Yours | Potato Productions, parent company of Tusitala | Eric WK Ng and Matte Pte Ltd. |
Audiobook
| Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Narrator(s) |
| Cerita Mimi-Mimi Mahu Ke Mana | Pustaka Nasional | X Kwang Translated into Malay by Nur-El Hudaa Jaffar |
Nur-El Hudaa Jaffar |
| Telur Emas Permaisuri | Pustaka Nasional | Noor Farzinah Bte Noor Aziz and Nur Syafizah Bte Rohayat |
Saiful Amri Nur Sodiqin Mohd Fuad El Kiraz Sodiqin Raja Aniq Danie Bin Raja Muhd Qamarul |
| Impractical Uses of Cake | Storytel Singapore | Yeoh Jo-Ann | Joshua Lim |
Illustrated Nonfiction Title
| Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Design Team |
| How To Cook Everything Singaporean | Epigram Books | Denise Fletcher | Jael Ng |
| Celebrating Our City in Nature | National Parks Board and Redbean De | National Parks Board | National Parks Board |
Literary Work
| Title | Publisher | Author(s) |
| This Side of Heaven | Epigram Books | Cyril Wong |
| Sembawang: A Novel | Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) | Kamaladevi Aravindan Translated by Anitha Devi Pillai |
| And Softly Go the Crossings | Penguin Random House SEA | Danielle Lim |
| The Sea Speaks His Name | Penguin Random House SEA | Leila Chudori Translated by John H. McGlynn |
| Wing of the Locust | Scholastic | Joel Donato Ching Jacob |
Young Persons Title
| Title | Publisher | Author(s) |
| My BFF Is an Alien: Sabotage | Epigram Books | Vivian Teo |
| Sherlock Sam and the Seafaring Scourge on Sentosa | Epigram Books | A.J. Low |
| Raffles Readers: A Century of Adventures | Penguin Random House SEA | David Seow Claire Thamboo Simon Wray Linda Fitzpatrick Emma Nicholson Illustrated by Mark Yong |
Education Title
| Title | Publisher | Author(s) |
| I (Issue 15) | ILoveReading.sg | G. Shoba, editor-in-chief |
| iNSPIRE (Issues 27, 28) | ILoveReading.sg | G. Shoba, editor-in-chief |
| iTHINK (Issues 30, 31) | ILoveReading.sg | G. Shoba, editor-in-chief |
| New Discovering Mathematics 1A | Star Publishing | Chow Wai Keung Huo Da Ng Kok Min |
| Think Mathematics Textbooks 2A and 2B, eighth edition: bundle |
Shing Lee Publishers | Joseph B. W. Yeo Choy Ban Heng Teh Keng Seng Wong Lai Fong Sharon Lee |
| Under the Stars: Astrophysics for Everyone | World Scientific Publishing | Lisa Harvey-Smith |
Picture Book
| Title | Publisher | Author(s) | Illustrator(s) |
| Just a Little Mynah | Epigram Books | Evelyn Sue Wong | Dhanendra Poediono |
| Saturday’s Surprisingly Super-Duper Lesson | Epigram Books | Jolene Tan | Isabella Tong |
| The Marvelous Sugee Cake | Epigram Books | Quek Hong Shin | Quek Hong Shin |
| Captain Green and the Tree Machine | Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) | Evelyn Bookless | Danny Deeptown |
| The Boy and the Box | Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) | Leila Boukarim Shameer Bismilla |
Barbara Moxham |
| Everyday Ninja | Penguin Random House SEA | Leila Boukarim | Barbara Moxham |
Nonfiction Title
| Title | Publisher | Author(s) |
| The Longest Shortcut | Landmark Books | Anil David |
| Home Is Where We Are | NUS Press | Wang Gungwu with Margaret Wang |
| Lives and Times of HRH | NUS Press | Herman Ronald Hochstadt |
| The Votive Pen | Penguin Random House SEA | Nilanjana Sengupta |
| Fifty Secrets of Singapore’s Success | Straits Times Press | Tommy Koh, editor |
| Governing: A Singapore Perspective | Straits Times Press | S. Jayakumar |
| My Father’s Kampung: A History of Aukang and Punggol | World Scientific Publishing | Shawn Seah |
Book Cover Design
| Title | Publisher | Designers(s) |
| How To Cook Everything Singaporean | Epigram Books | Jael Ng |
| The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye: 5th Anniversary Edition | Epigram Books | Yong Wen Yeu |
| Early Hawkers in Singapore: 1920s to 1930s | Focus Publishing | Tony Law and Fish Chan |
| Food Republic: A Singapore Literary Banquet | Landmark Books | Lim An-Ling |
| The Longest Shortcut | Landmark Books | Goh Eck Kheng |
| If We Dream Too Long | NUS Press | Khor Seow Hooi |
The Singapore Book Awards also include a 10th category for Book of the Year. That one is juried after the other nine categories’ winners have been selected.
A new component this year involves a Readers’ Choice Award, with access to the top nine key categories (all but Book of the Year). Voting is available here. Only Singapore residents, 18 and older, may vote, and voting ends on September 20.
More from Publishing Perspectives on Singapore is here, and more on publishing and book awards is here.
More from us on the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the publishing industry is here.