Behind the Judging Table: What Makes Good Writing

Step inside the world of literary judges and discover what separates good writing from the unforgettable.

In this roundtable, former Golden Point Award judges share their behind-the-scenes perspectives on what catches their attention; from a writer’s unique voice and original ideas to the way a story unfolds and grips the reader. The discussion will explore whether “good stories” share universal traits across languages, and where literary standards differ, and why.

Judges will also reveal how careful editing and revision can transform a draft, the subtle elements that make a story resonate, and common pitfalls that can hold a piece back. Packed with candid insights and practical advice, this session is a rare opportunity to see the art of writing through a judge’s eyes and understand what it truly takes to craft work that leaves a lasting impression.

Tue, 10 Mar 2026
7:30pm - 9:00pm

National Library Building

Drama Centre Function Room 1, Level 3 National Library Building, 100 Victoria Street. Singapore 188064

Course Fee: $11.35 (inclusive of booking fee)

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ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Xu Xi 許素細

XU XI 許素細 is an Indonesian-Chinese native of Hong Kong and author of sixteen books of fiction and nonfiction. She holds the Jenks Chair in Contemporary Letters at the College of the Holy Cross, Massachusetts and was also writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa, Arizona State’s Virginia Piper Center, the City University of Hong Kong, among others, and directed two international MFA’s. Now a U.S. citizen she lives between New York and the rest of the world. Find out more about her at www.xuxiwriter.com

Photo Credit: Paul Hilton

Isa Kamari

Isa Kamari is an acclaimed writer whose body of work spans 12 novels (including one in English), three poetry collections, a short story collection, a book of essays on Singapore Malay poetry, and theatre scripts. His Malay novels have been translated into multiple languages, including English, Arabic, Turkish, Hindi, Spanish, and Mandarin, while selected poetry and essays are also available in English. A recipient of major regional and national literary honours, Isa has served as chief judge for Malay Fiction for the Singapore Literature Prize, Malay short story for the Golden Point Award, and Anugerah Persuratan, bringing deep insight into literary evaluation and craft.

Neelakandan Sivanantham

Neelakandan Sivanantham is a Singapore-based Tamil essayist, translator, and editor known for his contributions to contemporary Singapore Tamil nonfiction. He has published three Tamil essay collections focusing on the history of the Singapore Tamil community and Singapore Tamil literature. Siva served for six years as a volunteer editor of The Serangoon Times, a Singapore-based Tamil monthly. He is currently the Chief Editor of the Encyclopedia of Singapore Tamils, a bilingual online resource hosted on the NLB platform. He has also served as a judge for Tamil creative nonfiction in the Singapore Literature Prize and for Tamil short stories in the Golden Point Award, bringing keen critical insight to literary evaluation.

Tan Yu Xin

Tan Yu Xin, who writes under the pen name Niu You Xiao Sheng, is a fiction writer and essayist born in Johor Bahru and now based in Singapore, where he works as a journalist. He has published six books in Malaysia and Taiwan. His short story collection Those Evolved and Those Not was shortlisted for the 2024 Singapore Literature Prize (Chinese Fiction), and his book 阿卡貝拉 (Acappella) was adapted into the choral story performance A.K.A. by Ren Sing Choir. Yu Xin has also served as a judge for Chinese short story for the Golden Point Award and several Malaysian literary competitions.

ABOUT THE MODERATOR

[Moderator] Ian Chung

Ian Chung graduated from the Warwick Writing Programme. His writing has appeared in Axon: Creative Explorations, Cha: An Asian Literary Journal, Ink, Sweat & Tears, Quarterly Literary Review Singapore, Sabotage Reviews, the SingPoWriMo anthologies, The Cadaverine (where he was also Prose Editor), Unthology No. 3, and the《一首诗的时间》anthologies.