Myle Yan Tay wins Best Literary Work and Book Of The Year
Playwright and author Myle Yan Tay swept the Singapore Book Awards (SBA) 2024, winning Best Literary Work and Book of the Year for his debut novel Catskull (2023).
Organised by the Singapore Book Publishers Association (SBPA), the award was launched in 2012 for books published in Singapore, with the aim of highlighting the quality of the published works.
Accepting the award on behalf of her son, who is in Chicago, Illinois, Mrs Meena Tay said: “I am extremely proud of him. Notwithstanding the fact that I am his mother, I really enjoyed the book. It’s got so much to say about life in Singapore, being young in Singapore, the education system and how we treat our migrant workers. I’m just gobsmacked that it won both awards.”
Laughing, she added: “I’ve been messaging the family group chat with updates and everyone has responded except for him, so he may still be asleep.”
Tay told The Straits Times over email: “I wrote Catskull for my teenage self, lost, confused, often angry at a world he didn’t understand. So it’s surreal to see this immensely personal book be recognised, with all its idiosyncrasies and quirks. I’m grateful to be among such extraordinary peers and to have the fervent support of my friends and family. To be read at all is a privilege I don’t take lightly and I’d like to thank Ethos Books for doing the hard, hard work of championing local literature.”
Catskull follows a teenager named Ram who becomes a vigilante, fighting the injustices he sees in Singapore. It has also been shortlisted for the Singapore Literature Prize.
Best Non-Fiction Title went to Not Without Us: Perspectives On Disability And Inclusion, edited by Kuansong Victor Zhuang, Meng Ee Wong and Dan Goodley. The collection of essays challenges the ways in which people research, analyse and think about disability in daily life, as well as what it means to live with a disability in Singapore.
Non-fiction judge Kum Suning, editorial manager at the Apac branch of the Walt Disney Company publishing team, says of the book: “It puts forth perspectives that are highly relatable to everyday living. Everyone in Singapore will eventually have some form of disability, so I think that while these topics are not mainstream, they are important.”
Best Illustrated Non-Fiction Title went to Twenty Years Of Wild Rice, by the theatre company’s resident playwright Alfian Sa’at, which chronicles the company’s history through behind-the-scenes stories and archival photographs.
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