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Anuradha Roy's Book 'The Earthspinner' Wins 'Sushila Devi Book Award 2022'

Anuradha Roys Book The Earthspinner Wins Sushila Devi Book Award 2022
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The Ratanlal Foundation and the organising committee of the Bhopal Literature and Art Festival proudly announced the Sushila Devi Award for the 'Best Book of Fiction Written by a Woman' author published in 2021. This prize has been instituted by the Ratanlal Foundation. The jury for the 'Sushila Devi Book Award 2022' chose the award to be given to Anuradha Roy for her novel, 'The Earthspinner' (Hachette India, 2021).

The jury chose the novel with the following citation: "Impressive in its range, Anuradha Roy's sophisticated novel 'The Earthspinner' glides effortlessly over mythology, history, caste politics and everyday realism. A potter imagines shaping a terracotta horse that breathes the elements of fire and water, but he also has to contend with the travails of a forbidden relationship. Roy's lyricism rises above the mundane to ask larger questions about the meaning of human existence. Breaking past several genres of writing, the author's inspired language has malleability as well as firmness, aesthetic form as well as and endearing fragility. With superb imagination and impeccable craft, Anuradha Roy achieves a beautiful balance in a novel that explores the mystique of creation."

The jury was chaired by Professor Malashri Lal and comprised Professor Sukrita Paul Kumar and Professor GJV Prasad. Now in its fifth year, the Sushila Devi Award has gained a prestigious position in the literary sphere. Previous winners have been Namita Gokhale ('Things to Leave Behind'), Shubhangi Swarup and two more authors.

The books that were on the long list were: 'The Illuminated (Anindita Ghose), 'A Death in Shonagachhi' (Rijula Das), 'The Hottest Summer in Years' (Anuradha Kumar), 'The Earthspinner' (Anuradha Roy), 'The Blind Matriarch' (Namita Ghokale), 'The City of Good Death' (Priyanka Champanera), 'Kololo Hill' (Neema Shah), 'Machinehood' (S B Divya), 'Song of Draupadi' (Ira Mukhoty), 'Kunti' (Koral Dasgupta), 'The Last Queen' (Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni). Out of these two books made it to the shortlist: 'The Earthspinner' and 'A Death in Shonagachhi', out of which the first book won. The prize carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and will be presented at the Bhopal Literature Festival from January 13 to January 15, 2023.

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