Mohamed Latiff
Mohamed
BIOGRAPHY
Mohamed Latiff Mohamed is one of Singapore's most established and respected Malay writers. Having written more than a dozen works of poetry and fiction in Malay, his works revolve around the life and struggles of the Malay community in post-independence Singapore. His controversial 1977 debut novel, Kota air mata, details the tragic tale of a young Malay woman driven to suicide in an otherwise uncaring society.
Two of Mohamed’s short story collections, Batas langit (1996) and Ziarah Cinta (1998), have been translated to English and published as Confrontation (2013) and The Widower (2015) by Epigram Books. His works have since been translated into Chinese, English, German and Korean.
Batas langit was originally awarded the consolation prize in the 1999 Malay Literary Award by the Malay Language Council of Singapore. Mohamed is also a three time Singapore Literature Prize winner, having received the award between 2004 to 2008. His other accolades include the Montblanc-NUS Centre for the Arts Literary Award (1998), the SEA Write award (2002), the Tun Seri Lanang Award from the Malay Language Council Singapore and the Ministry of Communication, Information and Arts (2003), the National Arts Council Special Recognition Award (2009) and the Cultural Medallion (2013).
Mohamed’s works have been featured by literary journals such as Cha and the Hong Kong Review of Books, as well as by local press including The Straits Times and Channel NewsAsia.
He has been a longtime member of the Malay literary organisation, Angkatan Sasterawan ’50, which advocates for the preservation of traditional literary forms while also developing Malay culture and literature. Mohamed currently resides in Melbourne, Australia, where he has lived since moving there in 2015.
Author Biography and Photo © Epigram Books. All rights reserved.
