The Singapore Prize is a biennial award in Singapore that recognises outstanding published works of literature by Singaporean authors. It is open to writers in the four official languages of Singapore, namely English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. The Prize is administered by the National Book Development Council of Singapore. Previous winners have included novels, non-fiction and poetry. The winning author will receive a cash prize of up to $10,000, a lifetime membership of the Academy of Authors and various other perks.
The NUS Singapore History Prize is a literary prize that aims to stimulate engagement with the country’s history broadly understood and to cast a wide net for consideration of works dealing with history. The organizers say they chose “resonance” as the theme for this year’s competition to reflect the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and how literature can evoke emotions and memories.
A record number of authors have been shortlisted this year, with five writers making the list in two or more categories. Clara Chow, for example, is the first writer in the program’s history to be shortlisted in both English fiction and English creative nonfiction categories. Other titles on the list include Kamaladevi Aravindan’s novel Sembawang and Timothy P. Barnard’s Imperial Creatures, which explores the relationship between humans and animals in colonial Singapore.
This is the fifth year that the award has been given, and the winner will be announced in May. The prize is sponsored by a group of companies, including philanthropic organisation Temasek Trust, investment company Temasek, decarbonisation investment platform GenZero and Standard Chartered Bank. It is aimed at helping young people overcome climate anxiety, which can lead to despair and a lack of action, Ms Jones said.
Besides the cash prize, the winner will receive a lifetime membership of the Academy of Authors, which provides networking opportunities and professional development programmes. The shortlist was decided by a panel that included academic Khoo Gaik Cheng, film director Lucky Kuswandi and art critic Tuan Andrew Nguyen.
The NUS Singapore Prize is one of the largest awards in Asia. The 2023 competition is now open and will recognise international proposals that embrace cutting-edge design addressing major world issues, from tackling the climate emergency to building community resilience. It will also award the NUS Young Artist of the Year.
Singapore has a long tradition of celebrating success and achievement with a wide range of awards. The Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize is awarded every two years to cities that have made extraordinary contributions to create liveable, sustainable and vibrant urban communities. The 2020 prize was won by Vienna.
The Singapore Book Award is a national literary prize of Singapore, established in 1992. It is presented to an author for an outstanding work of fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry written in any language. The book must be published in Singapore and should have been published in the previous three years. The judges will select the winner from a shortlist of nominations, which will be publicly announced and published a year in advance of the awards ceremony.