Terence Ang Wins 2026 NYC Big Book Award for Aphasia-AI Audiobook

Singapore author and stroke survivor Terence Ang won a 2026 NYC Big Book Award in Audiobook: Poetry/Memoir for Brokenness Becomes Beautiful: Inspiring Pieces Of Poetry. The AI-narrated audiobook turns his post-stroke aphasia journey into literary recognition and highlights how technology can support communication without replacing the person behind the voice.

Why it matters: - Terence Ang's win spotlights how an audiobook can extend access and expression for a writer living with aphasia. - The award gives visibility to stroke survivors who communicate differently after brain injury. - The project also puts a human example behind debates about AI voice-cloning in creative work.

What happened: - Singaporean author, stroke survivor and aphasia advocate Terence Ang won a 2026 NYC Big Book Award in the Audiobook: Poetry/Memoir category. - The winning title is Brokenness Becomes Beautiful: Inspiring Pieces Of Poetry. - The award was announced in New York City on Sept. 10, 2026. - Ang's audiobook was narrated with an AI-generated digital recreation of his own voice.

The details: - Ang suffered a haemorrhagic stroke in 2020 and has lived with aphasia since then. - Aphasia affects communication and language. - Writing became a way for Ang to express thoughts that were harder to say aloud. - The audiobook voice was created from recordings of Ang speaking after his stroke. - The result lets listeners hear the book in a voice recognisably tied to Ang despite aphasia. - Ang said the award recognizes the audiobook form that helped him find another way for his words to be heard. - Ang said AI did not replace his voice or cure his aphasia. - Ang said the technology helped him reclaim a personal way to speak his own words in a voice that still feels like his. - Debra Meyerson, PhD, and Steve Zuckerman, co-authors of Identity Theft: Rediscovering Ourselves After Stroke and co-founders and co-chairs of Stroke Onward, endorsed the project. - Meyerson and Zuckerman said Ang captures the experience of stroke survivors living with aphasia, including frustration, opportunity, hope and beauty. - Meyerson and Zuckerman said the AI voice-cloning approach creates a powerful impact by not letting aphasia silence Ang's voice. - Brokenness Becomes Beautiful explores identity, confidence, vulnerability and purpose after unexpected life change. - The book frames recovery as learning to live with change rather than returning to the person Ang was before the stroke. - Ang says the voice may be created with technology, but the story behind it is human. - The NYC Big Book Award honors excellence across a wide range of literary categories and draws submissions from authors and publishers worldwide.

Between the lines: - The award is also a validation of a creative strategy that blends lived experience, literature and artificial intelligence. - Ang's project suggests AI can serve as a communication tool for people with speech challenges when the person's own identity remains central. - The recognition reinforces a broader shift in how publishing and audio storytelling can accommodate accessibility and disability.

What's next: - Brokenness Becomes Beautiful: Inspiring Pieces Of Poetry is available as an audiobook on ElevenReader and Spotify. - The book is also available as an ebook, paperback and hardcover on Amazon. - The full list of 2026 NYC Big Book Award Winners and Distinguished Favorites is available on the NYC Big Book Award website. - Ang said the journey is not finished and that he is still living with aphasia and still learning to communicate differently. - Ang is using his books and advocacy to raise awareness of aphasia and promote inclusion and thoughtful use of technology for people with communication difficulties.

The bottom line: - Ang's award shows that a changed voice can still carry a writer's story, identity and reach.