The 16th edition of the biennial Golden Point Award (GPA) ceremony took place today at The Arts House. Organised by Arts House Limited (AHL), supported by the National Arts Council (NAC) and in partnership with the Singapore Book Council (SBC), this year’s award honoured 44 outstanding writers for their literary excellence, celebrating winning short stories, poems, and for the first time, translation works of local short stories. This year’s winners were selected from a strong pool of over 900 entries across the nation’s four official languages: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil (CMT). 

For the first time as well, each GPA prize winner across the various categories will have an opportunity to participate in a mentorship programme, where they will be guided to further develop their winning work and put together a collection of poems, short stories or translated work that could have potential for publication. The programme kicks off post-GPA, bringing together GPA winners and published and established writers in Singapore as mentors.

Executive Director of Arts House Limited Sharon Tan said: “The GPA has served as an important national platform to develop and strengthen the literary arts community in Singapore. With every edition, we continue to be amazed by the new talents we discover, and the creativity and perceptiveness of local writing. In the years ahead, we hope to work closely with our partners to further strengthen the role of the GPA in fostering a community of writers and creating a conducive environment for literary expression in Singapore.”

With Singapore Book Council’s substantial portfolio in managing high profile literary awards and competitions, AHL has partnered SBC to organise a wide range of literary initiatives including the GPA. “There are new talents and fresh voices in our local literary scene discovered every year that add to the richness and diversity in our literary and cultural landscape. With the introduction of two new components to the competition, we hope to further support the growth of Singapore’s literary scene and encourage more writers across different generations and communities to tell their stories in different languages.” said William Phuan, Executive Director of the Singapore Book Council. 

Established by NAC in 1993 and helmed by AHL since 2021, the Golden Point Award (GPA) has continually attracted participants from all walks of life over the years, presenting works that touch on a wide variety of topics. This year saw the youngest entrant at 6 years old and the oldest at 79, once again proving that age is no limit when it comes to writing creatively. 

Entries this year received praise from the adjudicators who commended the high standards across all languages and categories. Adjudicator of the English Poetry category, award-winning poet Cathy Song shared that she was “delighted to see the level of community support and involvement regarding the fostering of the literary arts in Singapore and to read the number of high-quality submissions reflecting that support.” 

Judges also highlighted the prevalence of works that framed social topics in unique perspectives. Established Singaporean poet and writer Cyril Wong, also on the panel for the English Poetry category, shared insights on how “in relation to previous editions of the Golden Point Awards for English Poetry, poets who have submitted for this competition seem to be moving beyond the public and even the lyric voice to test the limits of language and graphic possibilities of the page.” 

Veteran writer Mohd Raman Daud, part of the panel for Malay Short Story, highlighted the diversity of topics that writers explored. He said: “We saw works that explored new issues that range from the human condition to science fiction. This shows that our writers are passionate about bringing to light social issues, especially from a philosophical and global perspective, which is even more valuable given our position as a city that receives influences from all over the world.”

On the winning entry for the Chinese Short Story category, adjudicator and author Lo Wei Yu said: “The author dealt with the topic of “existence” deftly, shedding light on an issue that many people are similarly dealing with. He made use of fresh materials to organise thoughts and reflections in a whole new way, bringing a common topic across through an elevated, unique perspective.”  

Adjudicator for the Tamil Short Story category Chitra Ramesh also shared: “The winning entry, ‘Kazuvetram’, was well written, with simple yet engaging twists and turns in the narrative. Depicting a convict’s life in prison, the narrative was authentically written with vivid descriptions. The author’s narrative voice was interesting and the literary techniques used were unique and attention-grabbing.”

This year’s translation category casts a spotlight on six translated works and translators, celebrating short stories that were originally written by Singaporean writers in Chinese, Malay and Tamil, and were translated to English. The newly introduced category hopes to allow local vernacular works to reach new audiences and increase their accessibility, in turn cultivating greater cross-cultural understanding. 

Poet, translator and teacher Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma, who was part of the panel for Translation: Short Story (English), said “It was a great pleasure and honour to get a glimpse of the diversity of translators working in Singapore. Each writer, by their very choice of what to translate, helped introduce me to writers and worlds I hadn’t known before, and to ways of seeing, feeling, and imagining that have now nourished my own.” 

More information on the Golden Point Awards 2023 here