This week marks the debut of the 2027 edition of Singapore Prize with a new category that recognizes works that explore deeply into Singapore history through non-print media works. Established in 2014 through an anonymous donation, this prize has awarded fiction and non-fiction books over three years as part of its mission of sparking interest in Singaporean history.
This new category, “Arts and Multimedia,” will be open to artists, writers, authors, playwrights, producers and directors who are Singaporean citizens or permanent residents creating works in English or having them translated from another language in order to address Singapore’s history. Submissions should also feature imagery related to Singapore.
No entry date restrictions exist; all entries must include references to Singapore history in some way. Judges will select a shortlist of nominated works which will then be considered for final award consideration. Kishore Mahbubani helped establish this prize in 2014 and currently chairs its judging panel; he noted: “For Singapore to thrive into its next century, our sense of national identity needs to deepen and strengthen. A key part of that lies within our shared understanding of history.
Last year, Marylyn Tan became the first female winner in 28-years of English poetry prize history with her groundbreaking debut collection Gaze Back, which tackled taboo subjects like menstruation and sexuality in an approach inspired by French feminist philosopher Helene Cixous. Veteran writer-translator Jeremy Tiang was honored for his translation work of Chinese author Zhang Yueran’s Cocoon (2022). This story tells of two childhood friends whose dark secrets remain buried deep under Cultural Revolution’s shadow.
There were 224 submissions this year – an increase of 30% over 2018, with four winners selected as Readers’ Favourite award recipients across English creative non-fiction, Malay poetry and Tamil literature categories. Other winners included Esplanade communications and content head Clarissa Oon with her book about Singapore-China friendship; Cultural Medallion recipient KTM Iqbal with Tamil fiction submission; Dr Sa’eda Buang from Asian Languages and Cultures Academic Group for Malay fiction submission.
Prizes were distributed during a ceremony at Mediacorp Campus on Tuesday, with increased cash prizes for each category. The top winner will receive $3,000, a trophy and 12-month Storytel audiobook gift subscription; runners-up receive $1,000 plus another month subscription; third placers each received $500 as their award.
This prize will be presented every three years and sponsored by the Department of History at NUS and supported by Temasek Foundation, GenZero and Conservation International. As one of Southeast Asia’s earliest initiatives focusing on developing zero-shot AI for identifying benign and harmful memes online, it should help advance global research efforts for detecting and responding to harmful online content.
