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The longlist for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2014 features some exceptional titles, especially translations

A file photo of Jeet Thayil (centre), winner of DSC South Asian Literature 2013 with the trophy at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Photo: M Zhazo/Hindustan TimesPremium
A file photo of Jeet Thayil (centre), winner of DSC South Asian Literature 2013 with the trophy at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Photo: M Zhazo/Hindustan Times

Three translations from Indian languages and four debut novels—that’s about half of the longlist for the $50,000 (around 31 lakh) DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2014, which was announced on Monday at the library of Goethe-Institut/Max Mueller Bhavan in New Delhi. The shortlist will be revealed next month in London, followed by the winner, at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival next year.

Perhaps the most prestigious award given to a full-length work of fiction in English (or in translation into English) featuring a South Asian theme, the prize is not limited by geography or ethnicity—though short-story collections are not eligible. A book by any author focusing on the culture, politics, history, and the people of South Asia—defined as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, Myanmar and Afghanistan—may be entered for the prize. However, since it was established in 2011, the winners have all been English-language writers. Beginning with H.M. Naqvi (Home Boy, 2011), the list includes Shehan Karunatilaka (Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew, 2012) and Jeet Thayil (Narcopolis, 2013).

The panel of juries this year—writer, translator and academic Arshia Sattar; Ameena Saiyid, managing director of Oxford University Press, Pakistan; British journalist Rosie Boycott; American bookseller Paul Yamazaki; and critic and editor Antara Dev Sen, the chair—has chosen three exceptional works in translation for the longlist.

The Book of Destruction by Anand, translated from Malayalam by Chetana Sachidanandan, is a dense and difficult philosophical novel about violence. Goat Days by Benyamin, another slim novel translated from Malayalam, by Joseph Koyippally, chronicles the trials of migrant workers in Dubai (it was also longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize 2012). And Sachin Kundalkar’s Cobalt Blue, translated from Marathi by Jerry Pinto, is a haunting story about the destructive potentials of love.

These titles appear alongside some highly acclaimed debuts such Nilanjana Roy’s The Wildings, a gripping fantasy set in the world of cats, and Nayomi Munaweera’s Island of a Thousand Mirrors, a wrenching story of a Sri Lankan family forced to migrate to the US. Ru Freeman’s relatively less-known On Sal Mal Lane, a story leading up to the Sri Lankan civil war, and Shyam Selvadurai’s The Hungry Ghosts, a richly evocative account of the immigrant experience in Canada, are the other two Sri Lankan names on the list.

Though a number of the books, as Sattar points out, are set in conflict zones, there are striking departures as well. Manu Joseph’s The Illicit Happiness of Other People, for instance, is a darkly comic story set in Madras (now Chennai) in the 1990s. Cyrus Mistry’s oddly disturbing Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer surveys the barely noticed community of Parsi corpse-bearers in Bombay (now Mumbai) through an engaging story. Philip Hensher’s Scenes from Early Life revisits the creation of Bangladesh through the biography of one family. The full list, which includes Nadeem Aslam’s The Blind Man’s Garden and Mohsin Hamid’s How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia, reflects a wide spectrum of concerns. “The 15 novels we chose from the 65 that were submitted share certain values, memories and sensibilities," says Dev Sen, “But in the end, we, as readers, make our own definition of South Asia."

All three winners of the DSC prize have gone on to enjoy robust reputations beyond their home turf. Naqvi’s novel was published by Hamish Hamilton in the UK, while Chinaman was acquired by Graywolf Press in the US. Thayil, last year’s winner, is currently in Germany promoting the German translation of Narcopolis.

Click here for the complete longlist.

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Published: 21 Oct 2013, 06:57 PM IST
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