[1] Pointing the Sky by Jamal Ismail Labyrinth of Al Maut by Noor Aisya Buang Chinese Black Panther by Wong Koi Tet Kian Kok by Chia Joo Ming English Nimita’s Place by Akshita Nanda Lion City by Ng Yi-Sheng Tamil The Wooden Elephant by Sithuraj Ponraj Carriage will also board the Barge a day by Yousuf Rowther Rajid Sepatu Mimpi by Samsudin Said Chinese Love Comes Into Shape by Gabriel Wu English Gaze Back by Marylyn Tan Tamil It is Easy to be an Italian by Sithuraj Ponraj The Philosophy of Singapore Malay Creative Writing Process by Mohamed Pitchay Gani Mohamed Abdul Aziz Chinese dakota by Wong Koi Tet English Pulp II: A Visual Bibliography of the Banished Book by Shubigi Rao Tamil Banana Money by V. Hemalatha The 2016 edition received the most submissions ever in its 25-year history: 235 entries, compared to 2014's 182 and 2012's 57, with fiction receiving the most submissions.
In July 2014, three judges of the English non-fiction category of the prize resigned in protest against the National Library Board's removal and pulping of controversial children's titles.
Mr T. Sasitharan, a prominent arts educator; former journalist Romen Bose; and American author and Writer-in-Residence at Yale-NUS College, Robin Hemley were subsequently replaced.
A prize so coveted that it has been apportioned to two male narratives of poetic discourse, instead of one outstanding poet - reeks of an engendered privilege that continues to plague this nation's literary community."
In response, one of the poetry judges, poet and literary critic Gwee Li Sui, said, "All entries have an equal chance of consideration for winning, and we discussed it based on that point alone, and on the strengths of the collections."