Singaporean literature

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The literature of Singapore comprises a collection of literary works by Singaporeans. It is written chiefly in the country's four official languages: English, Malay, Standard Mandarin and Tamil.

While Singaporean literary works may be considered as also belonging to the literature of their specific languages, the literature of Singapore is viewed as a distinct body of literature portraying various aspects of Singapore society and forms a significant part of the culture of Singapore. Literature in all four official languages has been translated and showcased in publications such as the literary journal Singa^{[citation needed]}, which was published in the 1980s and 1990s with editors including Edwin Thumboo and Koh Buck Song, as well as in multilingual anthologies such as Rhythms: A Singaporean Millennial Anthology Of Poetry (2000), in which the poems were all translated three times each into the three languages. A number of Singaporean writers such as Tan Swie Hian and Kuo Pao Kun have contributed work in more than one language. However, such cross-linguistic fertilisation is becoming increasingly rare and it is now increasingly thought that Singapore has four sub-literatures instead of one^{[citation needed]}.

Business Times (Singapore) has written that writers in Singapore can also be "highly experimental", and quoting the poet, Cyril Wong, literature in the country "doesn't necessarily mean writing that's on the page. It can be writing that is performed or even writing that is translated into video or images or photographs...including writings that are less tangible. Writings that are expressed through other mediums."^[1] Singaporean literature has even begun to make its mark on the international stage, with Sonny Liew's graphic novel The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye winning three Eisner Awards and the Pingprisen for Best International Comic in 2017.^[2]