Indian dentist wins literary prize in Singapore

Singapore: Indian dentist living in Singapore, Vrushali Junnarkar, has won the 2023 Epigram Books Fiction Prize for her debut novel, The Campbell Gardens Ladies' Swimming Class. The novel is about a team of Indian women learning to swim in a condominium, IANS reported.

The Straits Times reported that Junnarkar's unpublished work beat 56 other submissions from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Junnarkar was selected from the final four by top Malaysian actress Michelle Yeoh. A group of readers condensed all submissions to the final four.

National University of Singapore Press director Peter Schoppert, one of the judges, said, "The verdict was not unanimous, but neither was it highly contentious. We all valued the achievements of the novels a great deal. We saw the strengths and weaknesses from different vantage points. That's the great thing about literature."

"The anxieties faced by these immigrant women, residents and their domestic workers (are) very much part of the story, balancing cultures and identities that are conveyed with humour and with a gently satirical stance."

Junnarkar was not in Singapore to receive the honour. The book will be published in the second half of 2023 by Epigram books.

Epigram Books Fiction Prize has sent more than 50 manuscripts to go to print after it was started in 2015. This year's was its eighth edition. Some of its winners, including Jeremy Tiang and Balli Kaur Jaswal, have gone on to be picked up by international publishers.

The award was created to promote contemporary creative writing and reward excellence in Singapore literature. The award has been open for writers from Southeast Asia since 2020.