Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2015 - Announcement of Shortlist
Epigram Books Fiction Prize 2015 - Announcement of Shortlist
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
We are pleased to announce the names of the four shortlisted authors of the inaugural Epigram Books Fiction Prize. In no particular order, these are the finalists:
Balli Kaur Jaswal (b. 1983) is the author of Inheritance for which she was named “Best Young Australian Novelist” in 2014 by the Sydney Morning Herald. She grew up in Singapore, Japan, Russia and the Philippines. Last year, she was the National Writer-in-Residence at Nanyang Technological University. She recently moved to Istanbul, Turkey to join the faculty at an international school.
O Thiam Chin (b. 1977) is the author of four collections of short stories and one collection of flash fiction. He was shortlisted for the 2014 Singapore Literature Prize for Fiction. He is currently working as a freelance writer and editor while working on his latest story collection “Signs of Life”. The shortlisted manuscript is his first novel and was started in 2010.
Sebastian Spore (pseudonym, b. 1966) has published three Chinese novels under the pen name of Yueguan Ming. He is currently working in a community club as an executive, and has also tried his hand as a backpacker, bartender, insurance salesman and prison officer. The shortlisted manuscript is his first English novel.
Wong Souk Yee (b. 1958) holds a PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of New South Wales in Sydney and is an Adjunct Lecturer at the Centre for English Language Communication, National University of Singapore. She was a founding member of the now- defunct theatre group, Third Stage, and is also a playwright. She stood unsuccessfully in the recent 2015 General Election under the Singapore Democratic Party.
For the sake of an unbiased assessment, the scripts will be judged blind and the titles will not be released to the public until our award ceremony.
These four authors were shortlisted by the Epigram Books’ staff with the help of two external assessors. The submissions were judged based on the use of language, storyline, plot structure, character development and effective dialogue. The shortlisted manuscripts demonstrate excellent and varied ways of fulfilling these criteria.
“We were impressed by the quality of the submitted manuscripts, especially by unknown writers,” comments a representative of Epigram Books. “This, plus the wide range of genres covered, proves that there is still much to be discovered about the Singapore literary scene.”
The judging panel will be reviewing the shortlisted manuscripts and will come to a decision on the final winner.
The winner of the prize will be announced at an award dinner on 5 November 2015 (Thursday), at the Pan Pacific Singapore. It will be attended by the shortlisted candidates, our judging panel, our sponsors, key representatives of the publishing industry and members of the media.
About the Prize
The Epigram Books Fiction Prize is the richest literary award in Singapore. With a prize of $20,000 and a publishing contract with Epigram Books, this award is to be given to a Singaporean, Singaporean permanent resident or Singapore-born author for the best manuscript of a full-length, original and unpublished novel written in the English language.
The judging panel will be chaired by Epigram Books’ CEO Edmund Wee. He is joined by NUS professor Philip Holden, leading actress Janice Koh and bestselling author Adrian Tan.
For more information about the the Epigram Books Fiction Prize, or for any queries, please visit epigrambooks.sg or contact Clara How at clara@epigrambooks.sg.