Poet Joshua Ip's Ownself Say Ownself Wins Book of the Year

Local poet Joshua Ip's Ownself Say Ownself is the first poetry collection to win Book of the Year at the Singapore Book Awards, in a ceremony held at The Pod at the National Library Building on July 24.

- Shawn Hoo

The collection of his poems, translations, and performance pieces was published in 2024 by Landmark Books.

Ip, 43, told The Straits Times after learning of his win: "Poetry doesn't make money. Translations don't sell. Spoken-word poems published in book form will never work."

"I'm glad to see that, despite the prevailing wisdom, 'foolish' publishers like Goh Eck Kheng of Landmark Books still persevere in making the literary a little bit less 'airy-fairy' and a bit more 'lit' – and are occasionally rewarded for it."

Ownself Say Ownself, which also won the Markono Best Literary Work Award, bested the winning books in 13 other categories to snag the top prize.