Mastera Literary Award

Mastera Literary Award is a regional prize awarded since 1999 for the best prose and poetic works, as well as for literary criticism in Malay of the writers of the South-East Asian countries.

The founder of the award is the Southeast Asian Literature Council (Malay: Majlis Sastera Asia Tenggara), abbreviated as Mastera.

In 2012, it was joined by Singapore which previously had observer status, and in 2014 by Thailand.

Representatives of Viet Nam and Philippines where there are minorities who speak Malay languages periodically participate in the activity of the Council.

Winners receive diplomas and a bonus of 10,000 Malaysian ringgit.

Presentation of the Mastera Award to the Malaysian writer S.M. Zakir (standing on the left) October 17, 2012