DSC Prize winner to be announced at Kolkata literary meet
New Delhi: The winner of the USD 25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature will be announced at the Kolkata Literary Meet (Kalam) next month, its presenters Wednesday said.
Indian authors Neel Mukherjee, Sujit Saraf, Jayant Kaikini and Manu Joseph and writers of Pakistani origin Kamila Shamsie and Mohsin Hamid are in the race for the award, which is now in its eighth year.
The winner will be named at the iconic Victoria Memorial Hall on January 25 at a special ceremony during the literary festival that will take place from January 22-27.
The jury is headed by Rudrangshu Mukherjee and has Claire Armitstead, Nandana Sen, Firdous Azim and Tissa Jayatilaka as other members.
The partnership with the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet will provide a significant impetus to the literature of the region as both the prize and the festival are strongly focused to further the cause of South Asian writing, the presenters said.
Speaking about the partnership, Surina Narula, founder of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature said, "We see a lot of positive synergies in this partnership as we both share a common vision to promote and highlight South Asian writing to more people across geographies through the forum of literature and the arts."
Malavika Banerjee, director of the Tata Steel Kolkata Literary Meet, added, "At a time when this region is yielding a rich crop of young writers it's heartening to see a prize that showcases and rewards the best books from this region."
Since 2016, the winner is announced in different South Asian countries by rotation. In 2016, it was awarded to Anuradha Roy at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka and last year, the prize was given to Anuk Arudpragasam at the Dhaka Lit Fest in Bangladesh.
The DSC Prize, instituted by Surina and Manhad Narula in 2010, focuses on South Asian fiction writing.
From the 88 eligible entries received this year, the DSC Prize had first announced a longlist of 16 books in New Delhi in October and then a six-book shortlist in London in November.
