The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017 shortlist was announced last month.
Authors in contention for the $25,000 prize include Man Booker Prize winner, Aravind Adiga, debut novelist, Anuk Arudpragasam and Desmond Elliot Prize winner, Anjali Joseph along with American writers Stephen Alter and Karan Mahajan.
Ritu Menon, Chair of the jury commented, “After deliberating on the many exceptional qualities of the novels selected, and considering the disparities in our backgrounds, the jury was unanimous in its decision on the five shortlisted titles. All five display a remarkable skill in animating current universal preoccupations in unconventional idioms, and from a distinctively South Asian perspective.” The judging panel included Senath Walter Perera, Steven Bernstein, Valentine Cunningham and Yasmin Alibhai-Brown.
Surina Narula, co-founder of the DSC Prize said, “The depth, creativity and unique narrative of each novel is indeed both impressive and inspirational in turn..”
The announcement was preceded by a special panel discussion on “Literature & Film” which was moderated by Steven Bernstein who was in conversation with Gurinder Chadha, Michael Wood and Kunal Basu.
The five shortlisted entries contending for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017 are:
• Anjali Joseph: The Living (Fourth Estate, HarperCollins, UK)
• Anuk Arudpragasam: The Story of a Brief Marriage (Granta Books, UK)
• Aravind Adiga: Selection Day (Fourth Estate, HarperCollins, India)
• Karan Mahajan: The Association of Small Bombs (Chatto & Windus, UK & Viking, USA & Fourth Estate, HarperCollins India)
• Stephen Alter: In the Jungles of the Night (Aleph Book Company, India)
The winner of The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017 will be announced at a special Award Ceremony at the Dhaka Literary Festival in Bangladesh on November 18th, 2017.
Past winners of the DSC Prize include H M Naqvi of Pakistan, Shehan Karunatilaka of Sri Lanka, Jeet Thayil and Cyrus Mistry from India, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Anuradha Roy from India who won the prize last year. The prize money was $50,0000 in previous years.
