Come October, the literary awards season will commence. Topping the list is the most coveted prize—the Man Booker. This year, there are no Indians in contention for the award. But, closer home, there is still hope. The competition will be intense for the DSC Prize for South Asian literature, and the brand new JCB Prize.
The JCB Prize—which will be awarded for the first time this year—is open only to Indian writers living in India. The winner will get a whopping Rs 25 lakh (shortlisted authors get Rs 1 lakh). This is the biggest cash award so far, and hopes to give the writers a sum of money that will allow them to sustain themselves without a day job. Translators, too, are eligible for the cash prize. The longlist for the prize—ten books in all—has been announced. The prize was instituted last year, with Rana Dasgupta as its literary director. The shortlist will be announced on October 3. The winner will be announced later that month.
The longlist is a mixed affair. It includes debut novelists Shubhangi Swarup for Latitudes of Longing, and Devi Yeshodharan for Empire. Other books on the list are Jasoda by Kiran Nagarkar, When the Moon Shines By Day by Nayantara Sahgal, The Book of Chocolate Saints by Jeet Thayil, Half the Night is Gone by Amitabha Bagchi. There are translations as well—Jasmine Days by Benyamin and Poonachi by Perumal Murugan.
The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature—as the name suggests—is open to writers from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives and Afghanistan. DSC is a little less rigid on the description of a South Asian writer—someone living in Norway, with a book based on the sub-continent, is also eligible to enter. The boundaries of continents, or the colour of passports, don’t matter. Translated books can also win, and the prize money of 25,000 dollars has to be shared equally by the writer and the translator. The jury is busy reading books and putting together the longlist. Women have been given adequate representation in the DSC award.
In an industry that is spinning books out at a dizzying pace, do these awards matter? Money always helps writers. But, awards like the DSC Prize are created with a mission to provide a global audience. The DSC Prize—which has been around for seven years—aims to create a buzz akin to the Man Booker event. So, the shortlist is announced in November at the London School of Economics. The winner be announced at a ceremony held in a South Asian country, in February. The venue, like the winner, is kept under wraps.
Gear up, the battle has just begun. This will be a long season of awards.
