S.E.A. Write Award

Since 1979, the S.E.A. Write Award, or the Southeast Asian Writers Award, has been presented annually to poets and writers in Southeast Asia.

The awards are given to a writer from a country that is part of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) though not all countries in ASEAN have been represented every year. The award is sometimes given for a specific work by an author and sometimes awarded for lifetime achievement. The types of honoured works vary and have included poetry, short stories, novels, plays, folklore, and scholarly and religious works.

The ten countries which comprise the ASEAN region are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, The Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Objectives:

  • To recognise the creativity of writers from countries of the ASEAN region,
  • To create a wider awareness and understanding of literary wealth amongst the ten ASEAN countries,
  • To honour and promote the literary talents of the ASEAN creative writers,
  • To bring together the many talents of ASEAN writers.

Professor Edwin Thumboo was Chairman of the award for Singapore from its inception to 2012. In 2013, Professor Wong Yoon Wah is the appointed Chairman for the award for Singapore. Singapore Book Council is the appointed Secretariat for the award.

S.E.A Write Award Winners List

  • 1979

    Edwin Thumboo

  • 1980

    Masuri bin Sulikun*

  • 1981

    黄孟文
    (Wong Meng Voon)

  • 1982

    Ma Ilangkannan
    (M Balakrishnan)

  • 1983

    Arthur Yap*

  • 1984

    王润华
    (Wong Yoon Wah)

  • 1985

    Noor S.I.
    (Ismail Bin Haji Omar)*

  • 1986

    Paranan
    (C. Veloo)*

  • 1987

    Anne Lee Tzu Pheng

  • 1988

    蔡文玄
    (Chua Boon Hean)
    (柳北岸 Pen name: Leou Pei Ann)

  • 1989

    Suratman Markasan

  • 1990

    Rama Kannabiran

  • 1991

    Gopal Baratham*

  • 1992

    张荣日
    (Cheong Weng Yat)
    (张挥 Pen name: Zhang Hui)

  • 1993

    Muhammad Ariff Ahmad

  • 1994

    Naa Govindasamy*

  • 1995

    刘宝珍
    (Lew Poo Chan)
    (淡莹 Pen name: Dan Ying)

  • 1996

    Minfong Ho

  • 1997

    Elangovan

  • 1998

    Abdul Ghani Hamid*

  • 1999

    Catherine Lim

  • 2000

    张曦娜
    (Teoh Hee La)

  • 2001

    K.T.M. Iqbal
    (Mohamed Iqbal)

  • 2002

    Mohamed Latiff bin Mohamed

  • 2003

    Philip Jeyaretnam

  • 2004

    孙爱玲
    (Soon Ai Ling)

  • 2005

    P. Krishnan

  • 2006

    Isa Kamari

  • 2007

    Rex Shelley*

  • 2008

    Stella Kon

  • 2009

    谢惠平
    (Chia Hwee Pheng)
    (希尼尔 Pen name: Xi Ni Er)

  • 2010

    Johar Buang

  • 2011

    Robert Yeo

  • 2012

    Suchen Christine Lim

  • 2013

    英培安
    (Yeng Pway Ngon)*

  • 2014

    Haresh Sharma

  • 2015

    JM Sali

  • 2016

    Ovidia Yu

  • 2017

    谢裕民
    (Chia Joo Ming)

  • 2018

    Goh Mey Teck
    (Pen name: Peter Augustine Goh)

  • 2019

    Simon Tay

  • 2020

    Nadiputra

* Deceased