The Singapore Prize is a biennial award for non-fiction and fiction writing published in the past two years. The prize program was established in 1992 and now operates in four languages. This year, the prize’s organizers selected a theme of resonance for its shortlist selections. The idea, they say, was to explore how literature triggers memories and emotions. Clara Chow became the first writer in the program’s history to be shortlisted in three categories and in two languages. She’s the winner of the English and Chinese creative nonfiction prizes, and she’s also the first writer to win the award’s poetry category.
The prize honors authors whose work explores themes of significance to Singaporeans, especially the lives of ordinary people and their struggles to make sense of their world. The finalists were chosen by a panel of judges comprising members of the public, literary professionals, academics and journalists. The final prize winners will be announced at a ceremony on November 2023.
In a move to promote Singapore’s publishing industry, the government has launched a new national prize that rewards writers for their contributions. The S$100,000 ($77,500) award will be given to the most promising first-time novelists in an effort to help them develop their craft. The prize will be awarded to a Singaporean author in each of the three main languages—Chinese, English and Malay—from a pool of ten candidates. The prize will be given for a book that is original in nature, of exceptional quality and has the potential to be a landmark publication.
A maker of solar-powered dryers, a soil carbon marketplace and groups that work to restore Andean forests and deter illegal fishing have won this year’s Earthshot Prize. Britain’s Prince William, whose Royal Foundation charity launched the 10-year prize program in 2020, told attendees at the ceremony in Singapore that the winners—which also included a nonprofit that provides cash incentives to Olympic medal-winning athletes—proved that hope does remain as climate change threatens to overwhelm humankind.
Jeremy Tiang’s Singlish is a memoir of growing up in a multilingual, multicultural Singapore where he learned to speak Mandarin and Hokkien at home, and English at school. The book explores the “revolutionary” moment when the young Jeremy realised that he could choose to speak his own mother tongue, rather than the language of his father’s generation.
The Singapore prize was set up to recognise and reward individuals who have contributed to a healthy civil society by putting the community’s interests before their own. Its judging panel comprises leading arts experts and practitioners who are committed to championing excellence in research, communication and the promotion of Singapore’s cultural heritage. The prize is open to all full-time students based in Singapore. Students are adjudicated at the Semi-finals and Grand Finals, with emphasis on research, presentation skills and original thought. The prize is supported by the Harvard Alumni Club of Singapore and the Arts Education Institute of Singapore. More information on the prize can be found here.