Singapore Prize 2019 Winners Announced
Organizers of the Singapore Prize, which awards writers and translators across four languages, have announced their winners. The inaugural prize was awarded in 2018 to archaeologist John Miksic for his book Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800. This year’s theme is resonance, which organizers say is meant to reflect the way writing can rekindle emotions and memories.
Those who win the prize are also expected to contribute to society in the long term, whether it’s through philanthropy or the sharing of their research findings with the public. The prize is a joint initiative of the National University of Singapore and the Lee Kuan Yew Foundation. It is funded by the government, but the Lee Foundation contributes the lion’s share of the prize money.
The prize winner receives a cash award of S$50,000. He or she also has the opportunity to attend a series of workshops to help them develop their craft as well as their career prospects. In addition, the winner will be paired with a mentor who will provide him or her with professional guidance and support.
Singapore has many laws regulating gambling, but prize promotions and contests are specifically excluded from these regulations. This means that participants can legally pay to participate in these promotions and competitions as long as the amount of payment is irrelevant, and the terms and conditions are clearly stated. The organisers must also ensure that participating in the promotion or contest does not generate in participants a psychological pressure to buy promoted products or services.
In a speech at the awards ceremony, Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan noted that the prize’s focus on social history has a resonance with the idea that nations are ‘imagined communities’ and that shared memories form the glue holding societies together. He added that the prize was “a tribute to the late Singaporean author Suratman Markasan” and urged more people to read and write.
The winner of the English-language category was writer Sharlene Wen-Ning Teo for her novel Ponti, which was described by Ian McEwan as a remarkable first novel in the making. Her win made her the first Asian author to win this prize, which supports authors as they work on their first books.
A total of 17 writers, translators and comic artists have won this year’s prize. In the Tamil section, Yaamakkodangi (poetry) by Mathikumar Thayumanavan, Cheenalakshumi (fiction) by Kanagalatha K and Appan (creative non-fiction) by Azhagunila won prizes. 91-year-old National University of Singapore professor emeritus Peter Ellinger won the best debut in the English section for Down Memory Lane: Peter Ellinger’s Memoirs (2023).