“Are you Singapore’s next literary star?” That’s the header for the press release I got this afternoon announcing the call for entries to the (competitor-so-cannot-mention)-National Arts Council’s Golden Point Award. Quite tickled by the hook. Er, since when were there any literary stars anywhere, particularly for the eligible genres for the GPA – poetry and short story. But nah, I’m just teasing. Heh. Anyways, yes, the national creative writing tilt in conjunction with the Singapore Writers Festival is now open. Poets and short story writers in English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil are invited to submit stuff. But you must make sure you’re Singaporean or a permanent resident ya? And budding writers only – anyone who’s already published a “full solo work” is out. Poets must submit a collection of five to eight poems and short fictionists max of 5,000 words. (Hmmm, funny these criteria innit? If you write a bunch of vignettes then how? Or three poems, each the length of Ashbery’s Self-Portrait In A Convex Mirror (as in the poem not the book)? But nah, I’m just teasing. Heh. Anyways, no specific theme and submission by June 30. Winners will be announced during the festival in October. Official entry forms can be downloaded here or if you’re a luddite, you can get hard copies at the NAC office at Goodman Arts Centre, the libraries and “various arts venues.” So what’s in it for you, you ask? Well apart from being “Singapore’s next literary star”, you’ll get cash. Suggest you really put your heart into it because if you bag first prize, you get $4k, a $6k “enrichment grant” (i.e. moolah to participate in writing seminars, workshops and lit fests overseas) and, er, a $500 Elephant $ Coral voucher (presumably so you can buy a nice pen to write some more  -- assuming you are a luddite who still writes his/her masterpieces in longhand). For more info, email nac_gpa [at] nac.gov.sg (nac_gpa[at]nac[dot]gov[dot]sg). PS, Actually I’m serious. This really is a good opportunity.