In a move that reflects the increasing importance of Asia as a global player in the publishing industry, the Singapore Prize program has added three new categories this year. The prize program now includes awards for English creative nonfiction, Chinese poetry and an overall achievement award for writers shortlisted in two or more of the seven categories.
Singaporean author Shubigi Rao’s Pulp III: An Intimate Inventory of the Banished Book was awarded the 2024 prize for English creative nonfiction. She becomes the first writer in the history of the prize to have been shortlisted in multiple categories and in two languages — Chinese and English. She was also shortlisted in the poetry category of the Malaysian-Singaporean Literary Festival 2024 for her work Poetry From A Broken Land.
Britain’s Prince William walked the “green carpet” in Singapore for the third annual Earthshot Awards ceremony on Tuesday. During his visit, he will meet with Singaporeans to see how the country is working to address climate change challenges. The award was established to honor the spirit of President John F. Kennedy’s 1962 “moonshot” speech and inspire a similar approach to finding solutions for the planet’s biggest problems.
The awards ceremony, the first to be held in Asia, featured celebrities like Oscar winner Cate Blanchett, actors Donnie Yen and Lana Condor, wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin, and singer-songwriter Lana del Rey. It was attended by some 2,000 guests from around the world and honoured 15 solutions in five categories, including nature protection, clean air, ocean revival, waste elimination, and climate change. Each solution received a prize of $1 million, which will be used to fund future research and development.
During his visit, the Prince will also attend the United for Wildlife global summit to hear from representatives of law enforcement agencies and organizations from around the world who are collaborating to combat illegal wildlife products. William is a supporter of the initiative and has spoken out against the need for stronger efforts to stop the trade in species that are threatened with extinction.
Other events on the calendar include the 2024 NUS Singapore History Prize, which is awarded by a jury panel. This year’s winning book, by archaeologist Prof John Miksic, is called Singapore and the Silk Road of the Sea, 1300-1800. The prize’s founder, NUS history professor Kian Seng Mahbubani, said the idea for the prize stemmed from an opinion column he wrote in 2014 asking for philanthropists to support a Singapore prize for a book on local history.
During his stay, the Prince will call on Singapore President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at The Istana Palace. He will also try his hand at dragon boating, a popular sport in Singapore, and meet with young people to learn more about how they are working to protect the planet. He will also take part in a conversation about the role of technology and artificial intelligence in fighting wildlife trafficking, and the impact of climate change on cities.