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Singapore's female novelists go places

It looks to be a bumper year for local female authors as they have books coming out with major publishers, with some bagging awards even before the novels were completed

Clockwise from top left: Rachel Heng, Clarissa Goenawan, Kirstin Chen, Sharlene Teo. PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI, NG SOR LUAN, BARNEY POOLE, SARAH DERAGON

Rachel Heng sets her debut novel in a near-future dystopia where society is obsessed with wellness and genetic perfection. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

Clarissa Goenawan’s debut novel, Rainbirds, is about a graduate student who travels to the Japanese town where his sister was murdered. ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN

Sharlene Teo sets Ponti in Singapore without simplifying its context for a global audience. PHOTO: BARNEY POOLE

Kirstin Chen's second novel is based on a friend's story about his family during the Cultural Revolution. PHOTO: SARAH DERAGON

Olivia Ho

Assistant Life Editor

Updated

Published

Apr 10, 2018, 05:00 AM

They are young, female and from Singapore - and this could be the year they take the literary world by storm.

The Straits Times speaks to four home-grown novelists who have books coming out this year with major international publishers and have, among them, won prizes and made numerous "people to watch in 2018" lists and book-club picks.

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