The longlist for the coveted US$ 50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2014, chosen from over 65 entries, was announced at the Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan in New Delhi on the 21st of October, by noted Indian editor, writer and literary critic, Antara Dev Sen, who is chairing the jury panel for the prize. The final list of 15 titles which best represent the eclectic and vibrant voice of the South Asian region includes 3 works of writers of Sri Lankan origin: Ru Freeman, Shyam Selvadurai and Nayomi Munaweera (who was published locally by Perera-Hussein). The longlist reflects a rich and healthy diversity of publishers across geographies including representation from the UK, US and Canada. With several acclaimed novels on the longlist, choosing the final winner for the 2014 edition of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature would be an interesting and challenging task for the jury panel.
The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature has previously been won by HM Naqvi for Home Boy, by Shehan Karunatilaka for Chinaman: The Legend of Pradeep Mathew and by Jeet Thayil for Narcopolis. Of this year’s longlist, the locally published, Perera-Hussein edition of Island of A Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera was previously longlisted for the Man Asian Award, won the regional Prize – Asia of the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize and was hailed as the best Emerging Author at the Godage National Awards ceremony earlier this year. An Indian edition of this work is published by Hachette-India.
What good news! Congratulations all round, Yasmine Gooneratne
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