♦ An Indian-origin lecturer Prasanthi Ram has won the Singapore Literature Prize for English fiction for her short story – ‘Nine Yard Sarees’. This was her debut work which was published in 2023. She is a lecturer at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. The short story cycle is about generations of a Tamil Brahmin family dispersed across Singapore, Sydney, New York and Connecticut.
♦ The prize for best English creative non-fiction went to Indian-origin artist Shubigi Rao, whose ‘Pulp III: An Intimate Inventory Of The Banished Book’ (2022) was the third instalment of her decade-long project on banished books.
♦ The best English debut prize went to 91-year-old National University of Singapore Professor Emeritus Peter Ellinger, whose win for Down Memory Lane: Peter Ellinger’s Memoirs (2023) made him the oldest winner of the Singapore Literature Prize.
♦ A total of 17 writers, translators and comic artists were awarded the Singapore Literature Prize, given out by the Singapore Book Council across four languages.
♦ The Tamil section winners are Poetry: Yaamakkodangi (2023) by Mathikumar Thayumanavan, Fiction: Cheenalakshumi (2022) by Kanagalatha K, Creative Non-fiction: Appan (2023) by Azhagunila, and Best Debut: Kaatralalyll (2023) by Tamilselvi Rajarajan.
♦ The Singapore Literature Prize is a biennial award in Singapore recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organized by the Singapore Book Council (SBC) with the support of the National Art Council.
