Three Indian writers shortlisted for $50,000 DSC Lit Prize

Three Indians are among the six authors who have been shortlisted for the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2014.

The shortlisted works include "The Book of Destruction" by Anand and "Goat Days" by Benyamin both fiction translated from Malayalam by Chetana Sachidanandan and Joseph Koyippalli respectively. The third is "Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer" by Cyrus Mistry.

The winning titles were announced at a ceremony held at the London School of Economics in London.

Pakistani authors Mohsin Hamid and Nadeem Aslam have been shortlisted for “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia” and “The Blind Man’s Garden” respectively. Nayomi Munaweera from “Island of a Thousand Mirrors” is the sole writer from Sri Lanka who is in the running for the Prize. This is her first book.

“Of the excellent 15 longlisted books, we selected six which offer the heart of South Asia in all its cultural, linguistic, ethnic and religious diversity” jury chair, Antara Dev Sen said.

Currently in its 4th edition, the Prize, is open to any author belonging to any part of the world as long as the work is based on the South Asian region and its people.

Over the last three years, the Prize has gone to H M Naqvi from Pakistan for "Homeboy", Shehan Karunatilaka from Sri Lanka for “Chinaman” and Jeet Thayil from India for "Narcopolis".

"We were forced to abandon some superbly crafted, smart and stylish novels as we chose six beautiful books from India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, each a window opening onto the complexity of the South Asian experience.... We trust this shortlist offers a glimpse of the enormous power and variety of South Asian fiction,” said the jury chair.

The final winner of the Prize is scheduled to be announced at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2014.

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