Cikada Prize: The Award Ceremony!

Last night, the Swedish Embassy in Singapore held a beautiful reception at the official residence of Ambassador Anders Sjöberg, where I was officially presented with the Cikada Prize for 2023.

I had the privilege of speaking with Alvin Pang and Ann Ang on a panel (‘Poetry as Dialogue: Voices past and present’), hosted by the Ambassador himself, and sharing some of my poems afterwards. The prize itself came with a gorgeous ceramic vase by Swedish artist Gunilla Sundström — thanks to the wonderful friends who turned up, I’ll now have some beautiful flowers to put in it!

Here are the brief remarks I shared on accepting the prize, along with some lovely photographs below from the evening.

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“It is a wonderful honour to be standing here, and to share the joy of receiving this prize with all of you.

Many writers, even the most outgoing ones, subscribe to the myth that writing is solitary work. We are too used to the idea of the genius at his desk, ‘lonely as a cloud’ as Wordsworth would say.

But the truth is that every word or image is a gift, shared and sharpened in conversation with others. To describe a writer as operating ‘alone’ is to imagine a fisherman with no crew to steer and captain the ship, no family waiting at the jetty, no port to return to.

To my parents, teachers, friends, publishers, readers, colleagues, and of course, my wife – you are the anchor and sail. The catch may be meagre, but it belongs to you all. Thank you.

My deepest appreciation to the Swedish Institute: it is always humbling to have someone see the best in your work, despite its many flaws. Thanks also to Alvin and Ann, for being part of this evening’s panel. And thanks, finally, to Ambassador Anders, as well as everyone at the Swedish Embassy, for welcoming us here tonight.”

(I also read three poems: ‘The View’, ‘Moving In’, and ‘Parable of Feet and Wings’!)