Results of the Goh Sin Tub Creative Writing Competition 2015 – Drama

We are very pleased to announce the results of the Goh Sin Tub Creative Writing Competition 2015 – Drama. Congratulations to the prize winners!

2nd Prize ($6,000):  Isaac Lim Jue Hao for “Whither Are We Going?

Joint 3rd Prizes ($4,000):  Pooja Pandey for “Under The Mango Tree” and Barney Gopalakrishnen for “Cycle of Morality”

Special Commendation:  Eugene Koh Wen Jun for “Baofa”

The judges decided not to award a first prize this year, as most of the entries feel unfinished or at best, works-in-progress. None of this year’s entries stands out as a piece of work quite worthy of a first prize.

Many of the entries are strong in terms of their writing but the judges were a little disappointed by the limited range of issues the writers chose to engage. A majority of the entries deal with the personal and the domestic, which in themselves are worthy subjects, but many entries focus on these at the expense of the larger and wider implications for humanity and its politics.

Having said this, the second prize winner, Whither Are We Going, is strong. The judges were impressed by its use of language and its dramatic and theatrical flair. The entry is overly didactic in parts, but is worth further development and the judges strongly recommend that the writer continues to work on it. The first of the joint third prize winners, Under The Mango Tree, has good strong characterization and a sound plotline but is over-written, and notwithstanding that feels unfinished. The second joint third prize winner, Cycle of Morality, innovatively uses devices from allegory and symbolist drama but needs to go further than its appropriating of literary and theatrical forms. The judges also felt strongly about Baofa. Although this entry does not quite make the grade, they felt that its story-telling and its conviction are worthy of a special commendation.

The judges congratulate all four writers on their work and look forward to their future contributions to play-writing in Singapore.

The biennial Goh Sin Tub Creative Writing Prize was established by Dr Sylvia Goh with an endowed gift to the Department of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore in memory and recognition of her late husband, Goh Sin Tub, who was one of Singapore’s best-known local writers.

Goh Sin Tub and Dr Sylvia Goh are both alumni of the University of Malaya (UM), one of NUS’ predecessor institutions. The Prize commemorates Goh Sin Tub’s life, achievements and support for education.

The genre for this Competition is drama. Subsequent competitions will feature other literary genres. The competition is open to all members of the NUS community at the time of submission of entry.

The closing date for the competition was 30 August 2015. Twenty-three qualifying entries were received.

Judging Panels

The judges for the first round of adjudication were Assoc Prof Ismail Talib and Dr Robin Loon from the Department of English Language and Literature, NUS; and Mr Lu Zhengwen, currently a Masters by Research student in English Literature at NUS.

The judges for the second round of adjudication were Assoc Prof Ismail Talib and Dr Robin Loon from the Department of English Language and Literature, NUS.

NUS Literary Society Orientation Camp

untitled3Ice-breakers, an Amazing Race and some sort of finale performance have become part of the regular repertoire of activities during orientation season at NUS. This year, the NUS Literary Society borrowed these elements and added our own literary twist to create a truly one-of-a-kind introduction to NUS—A Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-themed food trail around campus.

The NUS Literary Society is a close-knit community that consists primarily of English Literature majors but is open to bibliophiles from any discipline of study. As a society we host programs such as readings and movie screenings (often with free pizza), and annual events like the Creative Writing Competition and the Evening of Poetry and Music. The latter is a star-studded showcase of musical and literary talents from around campus. One of the biggest events on our calendar is the annual Literary Society Orientation Camp to welcome potential English Literature majors to student life at NUS.

This year, we decided to marry the Singaporean penchant for food with the traditional “Amazing Race” game, which resulted in a food trail spanning eateries around both FASS and parts of UTown. Both the freshmen and orientation group leaders were kept gastronomically full and content as they ventured around NUS sampling some of the most-loved foods on campus from the salted-caramel ice cream at Book Haven to the Japanese bento sets at The Deck. Staying true to our inner geeky bookworms, the games that the campers played at each pit stop of the food trail made use of quirky, literary elements. Whacko played with book titles and Virginia-Woolf- inspired station games lent a unique flavor to old camp staples. After eating our fill, playing literary-inspired games and exploring the campus, we headed to Town Green for the finale event of the day. Each team was tasked to come up with poems using words from a random-word generator. This was certainly no easy task given the obscurity of some of the words on the list! Fortunately, the freshmen were up to the challenge and came up with some bold and light-hearted stuff. The final challenge was to perform the poetry in front of their peers and teacher-in-charge Dr. Gilbert Yeoh. That was how Town Green became the stage for an impromptu poetry slam, a memorable ending to a one-of-a-kind orientation camp. Before we parted though, there was one last order of business for the day: goodie bags. As our camp was themed after the childhood favorite Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, it was only fitting that each camper walked away with a personalized bag full of Mars Bars, Marshmallows, Snickers and Hershey’s kisses. I think Willy Wonka would have been proud.

To find out more about the NUS Literary Society and how you can join us, do like our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/pages/NUS-Literary-Society-Events/813085828704542?fref=ts or email nusliterarysociety@gmail.com (Contributed by undergraduate Alisa Maya Ravindran)