The Singapore Literature Prize (abbreviation: SLP) is a biennial award in Singapore to recognise outstanding published works by Singaporean authors in any of the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. The competition is organised by the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS) with the support of the National Arts Council and the National Library Board.
The Award was briefly discontinued in 1999 and 2002 due to economic problems.
2016
The 2016 edition received the most submissions ever in its 25-year history: 235 entries, compared to 2014's 182 and 2012's 57, with fiction receiving the most submissions.
Fiction
English
Winner: Sonny Liew - The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye
Jeremy Tiang - It Never Rains on National Day
Leonora Liow - Moth: Stories
Audrey Chin - Nine Cuts
Mohamed Latiff Mohamed, trans. Alfian Sa'at - The Widower
Chinese
Commendation: 谢裕民 (Chia Joo Ming) - Exile or Pursuit《放逐与追逐》
Commendation: 张挥 (Cheong Weng Yat aka Zhang Hui) - Shuang Kou Ding Yi Cun 《双口鼎一村－那些年那些事》
Merit: 英培安 (Yeng Pway Ngon) - Opera Costume 《戲服》
Malay
Winner: Peter Augustine Goh - Air Mata di Arafah
Peter Augustine Goh - Bayang-Bayang Yang Hilang
Suratman Markasan - Dari Perang Datang Sampai Kamoe San Masuk Melayu
Leyla Shuri - Terbelah Bintang Subaru
Tamil
Winner: Sithuraj Ponraj - Maariligal
Krishnamurthi Mathangi - Melbaculaso
Suriya Rethnna - Paramapadham
Poetry
English
Co-winner: Cyril Wong - The Lover’s Inventory
Co-winner: Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingde - I Didn’t Know Mani Was a Conceptualist
Eric Tinsay Valles - After the Fall: Dirges Among Ruins
Tse Hao Guang - Deeds of Light
Gwee Li Sui - One Thousand and One Nights
Cheryl Julia Lee - We Were Always Eating Expired Things
Chinese
Merit: 吳耀宗 (Gabriel Wu) - Live Where the Imagination Is 《逐想像而居》
Merit: 陈维彪 (Tang Jui Piow) - The Sea Diary 《航海纪事》
沈璧浩 (Sim Piak How) - A City's Story《都市录》
Malay
Winner: Hamed Ismail, Hartinah Ahmad, and Samsudin Said - Tafsiran Tiga Alam
Noor Aisya bte Buang - Kastil Aisya
Leo Suryadinatan - Kota Singa
Tamil
Merit: Varadharajan AK - 4 Flowered Garland for Singapore
Merit: Sithuraj Ponraj - Kaatraai Kadanthaai
Naa Aandeappan - Adolescent Love
Malarvizhi Elangovan - Alai Pidunkiya Sorkal
Saba Muthunatarajan - The Face of the Soul
Segar s/o Muniandy - Kaivilakku Kadavul
Non-fiction
English
Co-winner: Danielle Lim - The Sound of Sch: A Mental Breakdown, A Life Journey
Co-winner: Peh Shing Huei - When the Party Ends
You Jin, trans. Shelly Bryant - In Time, Out of Place
Commendation: SP Panneer Selvam - Singapore Tamil Munnodigal
2014
For the first time, the award offered 12 top prizes of up to $10,000 each for the best works of fiction, non-fiction and poetry in Chinese, English, Malay and Tamil. In previous years, fiction competed with poetry for one award in each language.
In July 2014, three judges of the English non-fiction category of the prize resigned in protest against the National Library Board's removal and pulping of controversial children's titles. Mr T. Sasitharan, a prominent arts educator; former journalist Romen Bose; and American author and Writer-in-Residence at Yale-NUS College, Robin Hemley were subsequently replaced. The Prize also received flak for perhaps spreading itself too thin, and for naming the non-fiction prizes after a sponsor, the publisher World Scientific.
A day after the winners were announced at an awards ceremony on 4 November 2014, poet-editor Grace Chia, whose poetry collection Cordelia was shortlisted but did not win in the English Poetry section, delivered a speech in absentia at the Singapore Writers Festival which accused the Prize of sexism. Chia wrote, "The fact that the prize has been given to two co-winners who are both male poets is deeply informing of choice, taste and affirmation. A prize so coveted that it has been apportioned to two male narratives of poetic discourse, instead of one outstanding poet - reeks of an engendered privilege that continues to plague this nation's literary community." Chia also posted her speech on Facebook before subsequently removing it. In response, one of the poetry judges, poet and literary critic Gwee Li Sui, said, "All entries have an equal chance of consideration for winning, and we discussed it based on that point alone, and on the strengths of the collections." The other poetry judges were prominent female poet Leong Liew Geok and poet Boey Kim Cheng.
