Prasanthi Ram Wins 2024 Singapore Literature Prize for English Fiction

Tags: Awards

Prasanthi Ram, an Indian-origin lecturer at Nanyang Technological University, won the Singapore Literature Prize for English Fiction in 2024.

An Overview of the News

• Prasanthi Ram winning work, "Nine Yard Sarees," is a short story cycle published at the end of 2023.

• The collection traces generations of a Tamil Brahmin family across Singapore, Sydney, New York, and Connecticut.

• Prasanthi expressed surprise and humility at receiving the award, noting she wrote the collection while caring for her late father.

• The Straits Times hailed her debut as "one of the best in Singapore fiction."

• A three-member panel described her writing as "skilful, assured, comedic at times, and profoundly moving."

• The panel praised Prasanthi as a "clear-sighted and ruthlessly principled observer" and highlighted how her collection reveals "the damage women inflict on each other and the men in their families" with "remorseless precision."

Singapore Literature Prize:

• Purpose: Recognizes excellent published works by Singaporean authors in the four official languages: Chinese, English, Malay, or Tamil.

• Organizer: Singapore Book Council (SBC).

• Support: National Arts Council.

Other Winners:

• Poetry: "Yaamakkodangi" (2023) by Mathikumar Thayumanavan

• Fiction: "Cheenalakshumi" (2022) by Kanagalatha K

• Creative Nonfiction: "Appan" (2023) by Azhagunila

• Best Debut: "Kaatralalyll" (2023) by Tamilselvi Rajarajan