10 novels of 'enormous diversity' vying for India's richest book prize
Mumbai, Sep 5 : Ten outstanding Indian novels in English along with translations from Indian languages by veterans as well as debut authors were longlisted on Wednesday for the Rs 25 lakh JCB Prize for Literature, with its literary director highlighting "enormous diversity" in the submissions.
The longlist features two novels in translation: "Poonachi or The Story of a Black Goat", originally written in Tamil by Perumal Murugan and Malayalam novel "Jasmine Days" by Benny Daniel; two novels by debut women writers: "Latitudes of Longing" by Shubhangi Swarup and "Empire" by Devi Yesodharan; and two novels by authors previously nominated for the Man Booker Prize: "All The Lives We Never Lived" by Anuradha Roy and "The Book of Chocolate Saints" by Jeet Thayil.
They are joined by veteran writers Nayantara Sahgal and Kiran Nagarkar, whose "When The Moon Shines by Day" and "Jasoda" released to prominence and reflected the burden of society in 2017.
While the entry of Amitabha Bagchi's "Half the Night is Gone" that explores the inner and outer lives of the men in two families, was almost expected, Chandrahas Choudhury's "Clouds" was the surprise novel in the longlist.
Entries for the inaugural edition of the prize, an initiative of the earthmoving and construction equipment company JCB India Ltd, came from writers in 19 states and 22 per cent of them were translations.
"The most striking thing about the entries we received is their enormous diversity. We had entries from 17 states and eight languages. The oldest author was nearly seven decades older than the youngest. There were books about ancient Indian history and mythology, books about ecological disasters, books about religious strife and the situation of women. All in all, it was a very exciting set of books, which represents the full set of possibilities of the novel," Rana Dasgupta, Literary Director of the prize told IANS.
The British Indian novelist and essayist further noted that many of the translations were from Malayalam and Kannada. He said that it is no longer possible to "generalise" as novels in Indian languages are "as cosmopolitan as any other".
"Writers in these languages set their novels in locations all across the world, and they have a great contemporaneity of form, character and language. In future years, translated fiction will make up a much greater share of entries to the Prize," Dasgupta maintained.
Scholar Rohan Murthy, writers Priyamvada Natarajan and Vivek Shanbhag, and author-translator Arshia Sattar comprise the jury with film director Deepa Mehta chairing the panel.
Of the 10 novels, the jury will shortlist five, which will be announced on October 3. The five shortlisted writers receive Rs 1 lakh each.
The final award will be presented to the writer of the winning novel on October 27. If the winning work is a translation, the translator will be awarded an additional Rs 5 lakh.
The winning novelist will be awarded Rs 25 lakh, the highest for a prize of its kind in India.
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TN polls: TVK pushes DMK behind with leads in 83 seats, AIADMK ahead in 54
Chennai (PTI): New entrant TVK, led by actor-politician Vijay, was leading in as many as 83 constituencies on Monday when counting of votes polled in the April 23 Assembly polls was on across Tamil Nadu. The AIADMK was leading in 58 seats while the ruling DMK was ahead in 34, EC data showed.
About two hours after the postal ballots were counted and EVMs opened for multi-round counting, Vijay's Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam surged ahead of its Dravidian rivals-- the DMK and the AIADMK, with the ruling party struggling to catch up.
If the trends maintain, Vijay could as well ensure the biggest electoral upset, something in lines with the "1967,1977" wins he had referred to in his campaign speeches.
While the Dravidian stalwart CN Annadurai brought the first non-Congress government in Tamil Nadu post-independence in 1967, the charismatic MG Ramachandran (MGR) installed the maiden AIADMK government 10 years later, unseating then DMK government under M Karunanidhi. TVK was leading in most Chennai segments, all considered DMK strongholds and currently represented by the party in the 234-member House.
A poor show by DMK could belie most exit polls giving an edge to it, riding on the number of populist measures Chief Minister M K Stalin had implemented in his five year "Dravidian model," inclusive governance.
According to EC and TV reports, 15 cabinet ministers, including Stalin were trailing. His son and deputy CM Udhayanidhi was also behind in his incumbent Chepauk-Tirvuvallikeni seat, according to a number of reports.
Stalin was trailing behind TVK's VS Babu by 1234 votes in Kolathur segment. Vijay was ahead in Tiruchirappalli East by over 3,000 votes at the end of two rounds of counting, according to EC data.
BJP is trailing in 26 constituencies and it is ahead in Thali segment alone. TVK is ahead in constituencies including Ponneri, Tiruvallur, Poonamalle, and Avadi.
AIADMK is leading in segments including Katpadi, and Guidyattam and party chief Edappadi K Palaniswami is ahead in Edappadi segment by 7003 votes.
DMK was leading in segments including Vellore, Anaikattu and Rishivandiyam.
