Three Indians in race for DSC prize for South Asian Literature 2014

Three Indians have been shortlisted for the $50,000 DSC prize for South Asian Literature 2014. Benyamin for Goat Days (translated from the Malayalam), Anand for The Book of Destruction (translated from the Malayalam) and Cyrus Mistry for Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer are the Indian entries competing with two Pakistani and a Sri Lankan entry on the shortlist. The list of six winning titles was announced on Thursday at The Shaw Library in the London School of Economics and was chosen from among 15 titles.

The award, established in 2011, is entitled to be given to a full-length work of fiction in English language with a South Asian theme. The Book Of Destruction by Anand deals with murder committed for the sake of killing and Banyamin’s Goat Days handles migration in search of a better life. Cyrus Mistry’s Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer is a tale of star-crossed love experienced by those who inhabit the unforgiving margins of history. Pakistan’s Mohsin Hamid’s How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, Blind Man’s Garden by Nadeem Aslam and  Sri Lankan Nayomi Munaweera ‘s  The Island Of A Thousand Mirrors are the three other winning titles.

In a release, jury chair Antara Dev Sen said that this shortlist including a first book by a woman writer (Munaweera) offered “the heart of South Asia in all its cultural, linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity.” The winner will be announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2014.

Caption: indiatoday.intoday.in

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