An Indian-origin lecturer at Nanyang Technological University has won the Singapore Literature Prize for English fiction for her short story – ‘Nine Yard Sarees’.

Prasanthi Ram, 32, debut work was published in late 2023.

The short story cycle is about generations of a Tamil Brahmin family dispersed across Singapore, Sydney, New York and Connecticut.

Prasanthi said of her book, “I am completely in shock. I’m so humbled that the judges saw merit in ‘Nine Yard Sarees’, especially since I wrote this manuscript while caregiving for my late father.

“I hope that more writers experiment with the short story cycle form because it was such a joy being able to dive into so many perspectives and contexts in a single work,” The Straits Times quoted Prasanthi as saying.

At a ceremony at the Victoria Theatre on Tuesday, a three-member panel led by poet Cyril Wong said her writing was “skilful, assured, comedic at times, and profoundly moving”.

It also described Prasanthi as “a clear-sighted and ruthlessly principled observer”, her collection showing “with remorseless precision the damage women inflict on each other and on the men in their families”.

The prize for best English creative non-fiction went to Indian-origin artist Shubigi Rao, whose ‘Pulp III: An Intimate Inventory Of The Banished Book’ (2022) was the third instalment of her decade-long project on banished books.

Rao dedicated her win to brilliant women, declaring: “With every act of censorship, banning, burning, defunding and library closure, we are impoverished beyond measure.

“We are the sum of everyone else’s words, people we met or read. We are the book, and we must and will persist,” the Singapore daily quoted her as saying.

The best English debut prize went to 91-year-old National University of Singapore Professor Emeritus Peter Ellinger, whose win for Down Memory Lane: Peter Ellinger’s Memoirs (2023) made him the oldest winner of the Singapore Literature Prize.

His book recounts his life and intersects with many important historical events of the 20th century. Judges called it “a monumental undertaking”, adding: “The personal, political, historical and sociocultural are woven together with a beautiful coherence.” A total of 17 writers, translators and comic artists were awarded the Singapore Literature Prize, given out by the Singapore Book Council across four languages, on Tuesday.

The Tamil section winners are Poetry: Yaamakkodangi (2023) by Mathikumar Thayumanavan, Fiction: Cheenalakshumi (2022) by Kanagalatha K, Creative Non-fiction: Appan (2023) by Azhagunila, and Best Debut: Kaatralalyll (2023) by Tamilselvi Rajarajan.

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