From the Straits Times, Life section, 11 January 2009, I’m copy pasting a page!
Seriously, are they actually giving us support now? That’s actually quite nice. ANYWAY, here we go:
Wanted: Award-winning S’pore novel
The push is on for local writers to win an international award and the key is to allow more of them to write full-time.
By Stephanie Yap
Just as the sports community here dreams of Singaporean athletes bagging Olympic gold medals, the literary community here has its own quieter, but just as seemingly distant, dream: that a Singaporean author might win an international literary award. After all, local writers are eligible to enter some of the most prestigious – not to mention lucrative – literary prizes in the world, including the Man Booker Prize.
To date, no Singaporean has bagged a major book award, though some have taken the first step by having their works shortlisted or longlisted.
A longlist is the initial list of books being considered for a prize, while finalists make up the shortlist.
The late surgeon and writer Gopal Baratham and lawyer and writer Simon Tay were both shortlisted in the South-east Asia and South Pacific division of the 1992 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize, though neither won.
In 2001, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew’s memoirs From Third World To First and writer Alfian Sa’at’s poetry collection A Brief History Of Amnesia made the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize’s list of notable non-fiction and fiction books, although they did not make the shortlist.
The prize, which focuses on writing from countries of the Pacific Rim and South Asia, is currently being restructured and is not accepting any entries until further notice.
And just last year, lawyer and author Wena Poon was longlisted for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award for her short story collection Lions In Winter.
Numerous Singaporean writers have also received the Southeast Asia Write Award, most recently playwright Stella Kon. However, it is not a prize for a particular book but an award in recognition for a body of work and is given annually to one author from each Asean country.
And come next year, there will be even more carrots to keep writers writing. The National Book Development Council of Singapore will launch not one, but two new prizes next year: a children’s book prize for Singapore-based writers and a regional prize for books by Asian authors.
The details of the former will be finalised and announced next March, says book council executive director R. Ramachandran.
‘We plan to name the award after a local person associated with books. We are in contact with her friends and well-wishers to raise the money to fund the award on a continuing basis. We are thinking of a biennial award worth $10,000 to be shared by the author and the illustrator,’ he says.
The details of the proposed Asia Book Award are still being negotiated, though it is scheduled to be launched late next year. What sets it apart from existing regional prizes is that it will reward non-fiction works such as memoirs, travelogues or bio- graphies.
‘The Singapore Literature Prize, the Man Asian Literary Award and the Australia-Asia Literary Award are for fiction. The proposed award, the Asia Book Award, is for non-fiction. There is no single award at this point that is totally dedicated to non-fiction books published in Asia by Asians. This award hopes to fill this gap,’ says Mr Ramachandran.
Ultimately, he believes having a regional prize based here will boost Singapore’s stature as a writing hub.
‘No country in Asia is a centre for the creation and publication of Asian content at this point. Singapore can move into this vacuum that could be a lucrative business in view of the rising demand worldwide for books about Asia,’ he says.
That said, he stresses that writers should not set out to write with their eyes on a prize. ‘Instead of fretting over ‘international appeal’, writers should be free to write about what they are interested in and familiar with,’ he says.
What is more important, he believes, is for Singapore to create an environment which allows more writers to write full-time: ‘Sustained quality writing is possible only if writers turn professional and if more writers are given sabbaticals to focus full-time on their craft.
‘Writers from small countries such as New Zealand, Sri Lanka and Israel have won international prizes largely because there are far more opportunities for them to write full-time.’
Well, NO KIDDING EH? I wouldn’t have thought here as a writing hub though… Didn’t know it was. Ah there’s a picture of Alfian Sa’at, Wena Poon, Simon Tay and Gopal Baratham in the article too. I wonder if they had professional photographers to take their pics or something.
In any case, the upcoming children’s book award seem promising. Too bad, I DO have a story idea that I wanted to write after the current one I have. Too bad because it doesn’t have pictures.
Not sure what the criteria is but if we were to look at the children’s book initiative by the MDA, they seem to want pictures with their stories and alas, mine is the type that doesn’t. I mean, like you’ve read children’s books without pictures yes? Those kinds. But we’ll see. ANYWHO, copy pasting this bit from the paper too. Technically, the list has been up for whoever’s been researching BUT for convenience sake, here! Oh and the writer for the list apparently errored the html code for the pound sign so just imagine it.
IMPAC DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD
Pot: 100,000 euros (S$202,090). If the work is a translation, the author will receive 75,000 euros and the translator 25,000 euros.
What qualifies: A novel in English. There are no citizenship requirements for authors. English translations of novels previously published in another language are accepted.
Who nominates: Libraries in major cities throughout the world. Each can nominate up to three novels each year. Last year’s winner: De Niro’s Game by Canadian author Rawi Hage.
Details at: www.impacdublinaward.ie
AUSTRALIA-ASIA LITERARY AWARD
Pot: A$110,000 (S$115,320). If the work is a translation, the author will receive A$88,000 and the translator A$22,000.
What qualifies: Any work of prose fiction in English. The author must reside in Australia or Asia or the book must be primarily set in these places. English translations of works previously published in another language are accepted. The work can be published either electronically or in print, though self-published works are not eligible.
Who nominates: The publisher.
Last year’s winner: The Complete Stories, a short story collection by Australian author David Malouf.
Details at: www.dca.wa.gov.au/programs/arts_cultural_dev/australia-asia_literary_award
MAN BOOKER PRIZE
Pot: £50,000 (S$112,520).
What qualifies: A novel in English. The author must be a citizen of the Commonwealth, the Republic of Ireland or Zimbabwe. The book cannot be a translation and cannot be self-published.
The book must be published by a British publisher, though prior publication outside Britain does not disqualify it. Who nominates: Nominations must be made by British publishers.
Last year’s winner: The White Tiger by author Aravind Adiga, who holds both Australian and Indian citizenships.
Details at: www.themanbookerprize.com
FRANK O’CONNOR INTERNATIONAL SHORT STORY AWARD
Pot: 35,000 euros. If the work is a translation, the prize money is split evenly between author and translator.
What qualifies: The book must be a collection of short stories in English. There are no citizenship requirements. English translations of works previously published in another language are accepted. Self-published works may be considered.
Who nominates: The publisher, author or agent.
Last year’s winner: Unaccustomed Earth by American author Jhumpa Lahiri.
Details at: www.munsterlit.ie
COMMONWEALTH WRITERS’ PRIZE
Pot: £10,000 for the overall Best Book and £5,000 for the overall Best First Book. £1,000 each for Best Book and Best First Book in each of the four regions of the Commonwealth: 1. Africa, 2. Europe and South Asia, 3. The Caribbean and Canada, 4. South-east Asia and the South Pacific.
What qualifies: Any work of prose fiction in English. The author must be a citizen of a Commonwealth country. The same book may not be entered for both Best Book and Best First Book. It cannot be a translation. Self-published books are accepted from some countries in the Asian and African regions at the discretion of the regional committee of the Prize.
Who nominates: The publisher must submit the entry to the relevant regional committee.
Last year’s winners: The Book Of Negroes, a novel by Canadian author Lawrence Hill (Best Book), and A Golden Age, a novel by Bangladeshi author Tahmima Anam (Best First Book)
Details at: www.commonwealthfoundation.com/culturediversity/writersprize/
MAN ASIAN LITERARY PRIZE
Pot: US$10,000 (S$14,780). If the book is a translation, an additional US$3,000 is given to the translator.
What qualifies: A novel which has yet to be published in English. The unpublished novel can be an original work in English or the unpublished English translation of a novel previously published in another language. The author must be a citizen of an Asian country.
Who nominates: The author or the copyright holder of the English language version.
Last year’s winner: Ilustrado, a novel by Filipino author Miguel Syjuco.
Details at: www.manasianliteraryprize.org
SINGAPORE LITERATURE PRIZE (BIENNIAL)
Pot: $10,000.
What qualifies: Any work of prose fiction or poetry, written in one of the four official languages. The author must be a Singapore citizen or permanent resident. Self-published works are accepted.
Who nominates: The publisher or author.
Last year’s winner: Last Boy, a poetry collection by Singaporean writer Ng Yi-Sheng.
Details at: www.bookcouncil.sg
Writing hub?? Since when Singapore become a writing hub?
Was there even any support of local writers apart from Catherine Lim (who is a PR anyway). Doesn’t seem to be much from the literature we studied in school.
Ditto, I didn’t know we were a writing hub until this article! But meh, you know Singapore, it wants to be the hub of everything. Let’s just try to take advantage of the upcoming awards or anything though.
i think in Singapore it is always a case of “Let’s say we are & then everyone thinks we are” – it’s a very advertising type thingy to do.
Anyhow, i think it’s to our advantage if they start supporting us – yes?
I hope the article does not suggest to Singaporeans that they should write a novel so that they can win a prize. Write something then if it is published don’t forget to submit it for a prize (I must admit I do not follow my own advice). But don’t write just to win a prize…it’s not a swimming competition or a soccer match right? 🙂 And yes I did pay for professional photographers. But only after a photo I had taken of myself in the bathroom mirror threatened to be used by all newspapers and mags searching for a stock picture of me. Keep writing you guys! Don’t worry too much about prizes or publishers. First capture the passion and affix it on the page. If you can live up to your own expectations the rest will follow over time.