Daryl Qilin Yam (b. 1991) is a writer of prose and poetry, born and based in Singapore. His writing has appeared in periodicals and publications such as the Berlin Quarterly, the Mekong Review, the Sewanee Review, The Straits Times, Transnational Literature and The Epigram Books Collection of Best New Singapore Short Stories anthology series, alongside literary engagements, teaching opportunities, commissions and residencies in Singapore, the wider Asia Pacific region, the United Kingdom and the United States. His latest title, the bestselling short story collection Be Your Own Bae (2024), brings together a decade’s worth of interlinked short fiction that explore millennial and hipster culture, queer kinship and the struggles of artmaking.

Kappa Quartet (2016), his debut novel, was longlisted for the inaugural Epigram Books Fiction Prize; published by Epigram Books in Singapore and the UK; selected by The Business Times as one of the best novels of 2016; and described by QLRS as “[breaking] new ground in Singaporean writing… a shimmering and poignant novel, an immensely sympathetic and humane exploration of our existential condition.” The manuscript of his second novel Lovelier, Lonelier (2021) received a National Arts Council Creation Grant in 2017 and became a finalist for the 2021 Epigram Books Fiction Prize; the published work was nominated by the National Library Board Singapore for the 2023 International Dublin Literary Award, and had a North American edition released by Gaudy Boy in 2024. Yam’s novella Shantih Shantih Shantih (2021), optioned for audiovisual adaptation by Fiction Shore, was shortlisted for the 2022 Singapore Literature Prize (Fiction in English) and subsequently awarded by popular vote the Readers’ Favourite English Book. In the judges’ citation, he was declared “a promising writer who will continue to do great things”.

Aside from writing, Yam is also an editor and arts organiser. He co-founded the literary charity Sing Lit Station in 2016 and presently serves as the managing editor (2023–present) of its publishing arm AFTERIMAGE, following previous positions as the non-profit’s first Station Control (2016–2019) and the treasurer / Executive Committee member on its Board of Directors (2016–2023). The organisation’s vision and mission is to serve the local literary community and be a platform where readers and writers can meet, and is an Institute of Public Character and NAC Major Company Recipient. His work with the non-profit led him to co-edit the SingPoWriMo anthology series (2015–2017) (with poets Jennifer Anne Champion, Joshua Ip, Ruth Tang and Stephanie Dogfoot) and serve as web editor of endeavours such as poetry.sg, prose.sg, the Backlogues podcast and the SingPoWriMo magazine.

Yam holds a BA (Hons) in English Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick. As an undergraduate (2012–2016), he was awarded the Second Year Prize from the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies, and spent an intercalated year (2014–2015) studying under the AIKOM (Abroad in Komaba) programme at the University of Tokyo. He also holds an MA in English (Specialisation in Creative Writing) from Nanyang Technological University, where he completed his thesis “Being your own Bae: writing within and against homonationalism in the short story cycle” (2022) under supervision of Boey Kim Cheng, comprising a quartet of intertextual stories and a critical exegesis on homonationalism, queer worldbuilding and the contemporary Singapore short story cycle. In 2024, the NTU School of Humanities bestowed upon him the SoH Patron of Heritage and the Arts Award for his activities and accomplishments in the literary arts.

✺ EDUCATION

Nanyang Technological University
2020–2022
MA, English (Creative Writing)
NTU Research Scholarship

University of Warwick
2012–2014, 2015–2016
BA(Hons), English Literature and Creative Writing, First
Second Year Prize recipient

University of Tokyo
2014–2015
AIKOM Programme Certificate
JASSO Student Exchange Support Programme scholar

✺ RECOGNITION

Epigram Books Fiction Prize
2021 finalist (Lovelier, Lonelier)
2015 longlistee (Kappa Quartet)

International Dublin Literary Award
2023 longlistee (Lovelier, Lonelier)

NTU SoH Patron of Heritage and the Arts Award
2024 recipient

Singapore Literature Prize
2022 Fiction in English shortlistee (Shantih Shantih Shantih)
2022 Readers’ Favourite English Book recipient (Shantih Shantih Shantih)

✺ GRANTS / RESIDENCIES / SELECT APPEARANCES

4th Asian Literature Forum (Asia Culture Center, South Korea, 2023): Presenter (Session 1: “Asian Writers Unveil the Soul of Asian Cities”, 16 Sep)

Asia Pacific Writers & Translators 10th Annual Gathering (APWT, Indonesia, 2017): Featured Speaker

AWP Annual Conference & Bookfair (Association of Writers & Writing Programs, United States, 2024): Author

BooksActually Writing Residency (BooksActually, Singapore, 2021): Writer-in-Residence (1 Apr–30 Jun)

Brisbane Writers Festival (Brisbane Writers Festival, Australia, 2024): Featured Speaker

National Arts Council Creation Grant (National Arts Council, Singapore, 2017): Recipient (for Lovelier, Lonelier)

National Centre for Writing and National Arts Council Virtual Writers’ & Translators’ Programme (National Centre for Writing, United Kingdom, supported by National Arts Council, Singapore, 2022): Writer-in-Residence (for Be Your Own Bae, with mentorship under Juliet Jacques, Jun–Dec)

Seoul Art Space_Yeonhui International Writer’s Residency (Seoul Foundation of Art and Culture, South Korea, 2019): Writer-in-Residence (for Lovelier, Lonelier, 4 Jan–1 Feb)

Singapore Writers Festival (National Arts Council / The Arts House, Singapore, 2016-2024): Featured Speaker and Moderator, programmes facilitator

Ubud Writers & Readers Festival (Mudra Swari Saraswati Foundation, Indonesia, 2023): Featured Speaker

Visit Events for a recent and wider list of public-facing appearances / engagements at festivals, performance venues, arts organisations and other venues.