The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organised by the Singapore Book Council (SBC) with the support of the National Arts Council.
The Award was briefly discontinued in 1999 and 2002 due to economic problems. [1]
Year | Fiction | Poetry | Non-Fiction |
---|---|---|---|
2020 [2] | Malay
Pointing the Sky by Jamal Ismail Labyrinth of Al Maut by Noor Aisya Buang Chinese Black Panther by Wong Koi Tet Kian Kok by Chia Joo Ming English Nimita’s Place by Akshita Nanda Lion City by Ng Yi-Sheng Tamil The Wooden Elephant by Sithuraj Ponraj Carriage will also board the Barge a day by Yousuf Rowther Rajid |
Malay
Sepatu Mimpi by Samsudin Said Chinese Love Comes Into Shape by Gabriel Wu English Gaze Back by Marylyn Tan Tamil It is Easy to be an Italian by Sithuraj Ponraj |
Malay
The Philosophy of Singapore Malay Creative Writing Process by Mohamed Pitchay Gani Mohamed Abdul Aziz Chinese dakota by Wong Koi Tet English Pulp II: A Visual Bibliography of the Banished Book by Shubigi Rao Tamil Banana Money by V. Hemalatha |
The 2016 edition received the most submissions ever in its 25-year history: 235 entries, compared to 2014's 182 and 2012's 57, with fiction receiving the most submissions. [4]
For the first time, the award offered 12 top prizes of up to $10,000 each for the best works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry in Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. In previous years, fiction competed with poetry for one award in each language.
In July 2014, three judges of the English non-fiction category of the prize resigned in protest against the National Library Board's removal and pulping of controversial children's titles. Mr T. Sasitharan, a prominent arts educator; former journalist Romen Bose; and American author and Writer-in-Residence at Yale-NUS College, Robin Hemley were subsequently replaced. [6] The Prize also received flak for perhaps spreading itself too thin, and for naming the non-fiction prizes after a sponsor, the publisher World Scientific. [7]
A day after the winners were announced at an awards ceremony on 4 November 2014, poet-editor Grace Chia, whose poetry collection Cordelia was shortlisted but did not win in the English Poetry section, delivered a speech in absentia at the Singapore Writers Festival which accused the Prize of sexism. Chia wrote, "The fact that the prize has been given to two co-winners who are both male poets is deeply informing of choice, taste and affirmation. A prize so coveted that it has been apportioned to two male narratives of poetic discourse, instead of one outstanding poet - reeks of an engendered privilege that continues to plague this nation's literary community." Chia also posted her speech on Facebook before subsequently removing it. In response, one of the poetry judges, poet and literary critic Gwee Li Sui, said, "All entries have an equal chance of consideration for winning, and we discussed it based on that point alone, and on the strengths of the collections." The other poetry judges were prominent female poet Leong Liew Geok and poet Boey Kim Cheng. [8]
The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organised by the Singapore Book Council (SBC) with the support of the National Arts Council.
The Award was briefly discontinued in 1999 and 2002 due to economic problems. [1]
Year | Fiction | Poetry | Non-Fiction |
---|---|---|---|
2020 [2] | Malay
Pointing the Sky by Jamal Ismail Labyrinth of Al Maut by Noor Aisya Buang Chinese Black Panther by Wong Koi Tet Kian Kok by Chia Joo Ming English Nimita’s Place by Akshita Nanda Lion City by Ng Yi-Sheng Tamil The Wooden Elephant by Sithuraj Ponraj Carriage will also board the Barge a day by Yousuf Rowther Rajid |
Malay
Sepatu Mimpi by Samsudin Said Chinese Love Comes Into Shape by Gabriel Wu English Gaze Back by Marylyn Tan Tamil It is Easy to be an Italian by Sithuraj Ponraj |
Malay
The Philosophy of Singapore Malay Creative Writing Process by Mohamed Pitchay Gani Mohamed Abdul Aziz Chinese dakota by Wong Koi Tet English Pulp II: A Visual Bibliography of the Banished Book by Shubigi Rao Tamil Banana Money by V. Hemalatha |
The 2016 edition received the most submissions ever in its 25-year history: 235 entries, compared to 2014's 182 and 2012's 57, with fiction receiving the most submissions. [4]
For the first time, the award offered 12 top prizes of up to $10,000 each for the best works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry in Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. In previous years, fiction competed with poetry for one award in each language.
In July 2014, three judges of the English non-fiction category of the prize resigned in protest against the National Library Board's removal and pulping of controversial children's titles. Mr T. Sasitharan, a prominent arts educator; former journalist Romen Bose; and American author and Writer-in-Residence at Yale-NUS College, Robin Hemley were subsequently replaced. [6] The Prize also received flak for perhaps spreading itself too thin, and for naming the non-fiction prizes after a sponsor, the publisher World Scientific. [7]
A day after the winners were announced at an awards ceremony on 4 November 2014, poet-editor Grace Chia, whose poetry collection Cordelia was shortlisted but did not win in the English Poetry section, delivered a speech in absentia at the Singapore Writers Festival which accused the Prize of sexism. Chia wrote, "The fact that the prize has been given to two co-winners who are both male poets is deeply informing of choice, taste and affirmation. A prize so coveted that it has been apportioned to two male narratives of poetic discourse, instead of one outstanding poet - reeks of an engendered privilege that continues to plague this nation's literary community." Chia also posted her speech on Facebook before subsequently removing it. In response, one of the poetry judges, poet and literary critic Gwee Li Sui, said, "All entries have an equal chance of consideration for winning, and we discussed it based on that point alone, and on the strengths of the collections." The other poetry judges were prominent female poet Leong Liew Geok and poet Boey Kim Cheng. [8]