KUCHING: The 11th Sarawak State Literary Awards nominations will open on October 16, and close in January of the following year.
As such, Safiee Ahmad, a member Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka (DBP) Management Board, urged artists, organisations, and others to submit their nominations.
“On behalf of DBP Sarawak Branch, I call upon any art enthusiasts, organisations, and others who have eligible nominations to be put forward as candidates for the 11th Sarawak State Literary Award. We welcome nominations to recognise their achievements. This is the highest literary award in Sarawak,” he said in a press conference at DBP yesterday.
Meanwhile, Abang Haliman Abang Julai, director of DBP Sarawak Branch, revealed that there are five nomination categories for these awards.
“These categories include the Sarawak State Laureate Award (Main Award), Special Awards for Language and Literature, Sarawak Writers Award by Genre, Sarawak Writers Award by Language Category, and the Sarawak State Literary Hope Award.
He said that the Sarawak State Literary Hope Award is a new category designed to recognise writers under the age of 45.
This category was created because young writers have shown dedication and produced excellent works. It is important to acknowledge their talent, particularly in Sarawak, to encourage their continued contribution to the state’s development, especially towards Sarawak’s advancement by 2030.
For those interested, nomination forms and criteria can be found at the following Google Drive link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1Kbu8CcCC8qsA0OD3tq0kFsNM_Q8YKbKi
On another note, Safiee, who is also Daro assemblyman, announced the DBP’s annual event, the Anugerah Tinta Kenyalang 2023, which will be held on October 20 at the Sarawak DBP Cultural Hall.
Five categories of awards will be presented during the event, including the Sarawak State Secondary School Magazine Image Award 2023, the Sarawak Young Writers Literature Prize (HSTS) 2022/2023, the Sarawak Local Wisdom Short Story Writing Competition, the 60th Anniversary of Sarawak Independence Poetry Writing Competition, and the Sarawak Writers Literary Prize (HSPS) 2022/2023.
