The Singapore Prize is one of the world’s first global awards to recognise cities’ innovation efforts. It was mooted by Kishore Mahbubani, Distinguished Fellow at NUS Asia Research Institute and current Jury Chair of the Prize.
The Prize is administered by the NUS Department of History and was created in 2014 to support the SG50 programme. It seeks to stimulate engagement with Singapore’s history broadly understood, and to foster greater understanding of our unique place in the world.
NUS Professor of History and Singapore Prize Jury Chair Kishore Mahbubani praised the quality of this year’s shortlisted works. “As a former historian, I’m impressed by the range of approaches these authors take to the subject,” he said. “Most importantly, they’ve all demonstrated the ability to capture the complexities and nuances of Singapore’s history for a non-academic audience.”
Mahbubani congratulated this year’s winners, adding that the Singapore Prize is also about recognising those who have made a difference in their communities. “Our city is a great example of how communities can come together to solve difficult problems,” he said. “And it is this spirit that is embodied in the work of our finalists.”
English fiction winner Akshita Nanda’s debut novel Nimita’s Place tells the story of two sisters navigating different expectations in India and Singapore. Meanwhile, Epigram Books won in Chinese fiction for its SG50-centric novel Kian Kok, and short story collection Dakota, about the lost housing estate where Ng Yi-Sheng grew up.
In the poetry category, a panel of judges lauded Gaze Back by Singaporean poet Cyril Wong, which they described as “a clarion call for gender and linguistic reclamation.” In Chinese creative non-fiction, the prize was won by Jiang Chunhui’s memoir A Lifelong Love Song for Our Country.
A total of USD $1.1 million will be shared among the winners and their publishers. In addition to a cash prize, each will receive an award trophy and a 12-month subscription to Storytel, a platform for audiobooks from local and international authors. The winners will be honoured at a ceremony at the National Museum of Singapore on 12 October.
The inaugural Readers’ Favourite award saw four titles win a combined 7,000 votes from the public. These were:
The winners will participate in a series of events over the course of Earthshot Week, from 6–10 November. These will give the public an opportunity to engage with TEP winners and finalists to learn about their innovative and impactful solutions to address climate change. More details will be released in due course. For updates, follow the hashtag #SGP2018 on Facebook and Twitter or join the SGP 2018 Telegram channel here. More than 3,000 people have already joined this group. Those who don’t wish to subscribe can also stay informed via our newsletter. The full list of winners and runners-up can be found here.