The leading international prize for South Asian literature announced its six shortlisted authors last month (November 20, 2012).
The shortlist includes Pakistani author, Jamil Ahmad’s debut, The Wandering Falcon and second novels by Tahmima Anam (The Good Muslim) and Mohammed Hanif (Our Lady of Alice Bhatti).
The full shortlisted entries include:
1. Jamil Ahmad: The Wandering Falcon (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin India)
2. Tahmima Anam: The Good Muslim (Penguin Books)
3. Amitav Ghosh: River of Smoke (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin India)
4. Mohammed Hanif: Our Lady of Alice Bhatti (Random House India)
5. Uday Prakash: The Walls of Delhi (Translated by Jason Grunebaum; UWA Publishing, W. Australia)
6. Jeet Thayil: Narcopolis (Faber and Faber, London)
The prize carries an award of INR 2,800,000/GBP £32,000/USD $50,000 given to one international author (or shared with their translator) who has written the best novel thematically linked to the South Asian region. The final prize will be announced during the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival in India in January 2013, and has grown to be a fixture in the international publishing calendar, due to the significance of South Asia’s rapidly expanding book market.
K Satchidanandan, Chair of the Jury commented: “The six shortlisted books from different countries represent the diversity of South Asian fiction in terms of theme as well as idiom. We were looking for works which are thematically fresh, stylistically innovative and are a definitive contribution to novel as a genre. The choice was not easy as we had sixteen outstanding works to choose from but we were unanimous in our final choice.”
There were 81 entries for the prize this year, from authors and translators across India, Australia, UK, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, reflecting the importance of South Asia’s rapidly expanding book market. India is currently the world’s third largest English-language book market currently (after the USA and UK), and is set to become the largest within the next ten years (according to a BBC Report, May 2012).
The winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2013 will be announced at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival, Diggi Palace Hotel, on 25th January 2013.
