The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature announced its longlist of 15 novels on September 26. The longlist was announced by the chair of the jury panel Harish Trivedi in New Delhi on Thursday. The list comprises three translated works — from Malayalam, Tamil and Bengali.
The longlist is an interesting mix – comprising seven women authors, seven debut novelists, and quite a few authors based outside the region, including an American writer without any South Asian ethnic roots, and writers of Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Afghan and Sri Lankan origin.
The DSC Prize, administered by the South Asian Literature Prize & Events Trust, received 90 eligible entries this year – its ninth year – from 42 publishers and 55 imprints from across the globe. The five-member international jury panel selected a longlist of 15 novels. The US $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is one of the most prestigious international literary awards specifically focused on South Asian writing.
The longlisted entries are:
Akil Kumarasamy: Half Gods
Amitabha Bagchi: Half the Night is Gone
Devi S. Laskar: The Atlas of Reds and Blues
Fatima Bhutto: The Runaways
Jamil Jan Kochai: 99 Nights in Logar
Madhuri Vijay: The Far Field
Manoranjan Byapari: There’s Gunpowder in the Air (translated by Arunava Sinha)
Mirza Waheed: Tell Her Everything
Nadeem Zaman: In the Time of the Others
Perumal Murugan: A Lonely Harvest (translated by Aniruddhan Vasudevan)
Rajkamal Jha: The City and the Sea
Sadia Abbas: The Empty Room
Shubhangi Swarup: Latitudes of Longing
D. Ramakrishnan: Sugandhi alias Andal Devanayaki (translated by Priya K. Nair)
Tova Reich: Mother India
Harish Trivedi, Chair of the jury said, “This longlist of 15 is diverse and inclusive both intrinsically and by design.”
The shortlist of five or six books will be announced on November 6, 2019 at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) in London. Thereafter, the jury would meet to arrive at the final winner that would be announced at a special Award Ceremony on December 16, 2019 at the IME Nepal Literature Festival in Pokhara in Nepal.
Surina Narula, co-founder of the DSC Prize said, “Each of the 15 longlisted books vividly brings out the changing nuances of South Asian life and the effect that globalization has had in this region.”
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