Three debut\u00a0novelists are among the 11 writers who have made it to the first stage of the 2016 DSC Prize.<\/p>\n
The longlist for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016 was announced on\u00a0Friday at the Oxford Bookstore in New Delhi, India.<\/p>\n
The $50,000 annual prize is one of the most prestigious literary awards in the world. It is awarded\u00a0to an original or translated English novel and is open for writers of any nationality and ethnicity as long as their writing is about South Asia and its people<\/a>.<\/p>\n According to the DSC Prize website<\/a>, the 2016 longlist consists of 11 books\u00a0written by a mix of established\u00a0and\u00a0first-time novelists:<\/p>\n 1 Aatish Taseer<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0The Way Things Were<\/em> Each year, the DSC Prize is awarded by an international jury of writers, journalists and academics. The 2016 jury\u00a0panel includes renowned journalist Mark Tully, Open University UK’s professor emeritus\u00a0Dennis Walder, literary coordinator Karen Allman, University of Colombo professor Neloufer de Mel, and Bangladeshi writer Syed Manzoorul Islam.<\/p>\n Pre-order a copy of Papercuts print magazine’s Vol 14<\/a>\u00a0Home Is Not A Place\u00a0to read an exclusive interview with Aatish Taseer<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Tully, who announced the longlist at the announcement ceremony, said, the longlisted novels vary widely in content and in style and represent all of South Asia.<\/p>\n “They cover all the countries of South Asia,” Tully said. “I am particularly happy that there are novels from the small states of North East India \u2013 states which do not get adequate attention from the rest of the country.”<\/p>\n Even though Aatish Taseer has ties with Pakistan, Pakistani English novelists, two of whom (Kamila Shamsie and Bilal Tanweer) made it to the 2015 shortlist, failed to reach the longlist this year.<\/p>\n Order a copy of Papercuts print magazine Vol 13<\/a>\u00a0Metropolis now to read a conversation with Amit Chaudhuri<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n He said the DSC Prize includes translated novels written in South Asian languages.<\/p>\n “This is most important for the fulfilment of the prize\u2019s ambition to show the best of South Asian writing to the world,” Tully said.<\/p>\n The DSC Prize was founded in 2010 by Surinder Narula and Manhad Narula. For its award ceremony, it was associated with the Jaipur Literature Festival for the first five years of its existence.<\/p>\n However, starting with the 2016 prize, the award ceremony “will be held in various South Asian countries by rotation,” according to the DSC Prize website. The winner of the DSC Prize 2016 will be announced at the Galle Literary Festival, Sri Lanka on January 16th, 2016.<\/p>\n Related reading on the DWL Blog<\/strong>: Fatima Shakeel’s review of The Girl in The Road<\/a> by Monica Byrne, longlisted for the 2016 DSC Prize<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Prior to the award ceremony, the jury will announce a shortlist on November 26 at the London of School of Economics & Political Science (LSE).<\/p>\n Previously the award has been won by H M Naqvi for\u00a0Home Boy<\/em>, Shehan Karunatilaka for Chinaman<\/em>, Jeet Thayil for Narcopolis<\/em>, Cyrus Mistry for Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer,\u00a0<\/em>and Jhumpa Lahiri for The Lowland.<\/em><\/p>\n
\n2 Akhil Sharma<\/strong> for Family Life<\/em>
\n3 Amit Chaudhuri<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0Odysseus Abroad<\/em>
\n4 Anuradha Roy<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>Sleeping on Jupiter<\/em>
\n5 K.R. Meera<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0Hang Woman<\/em>
\n6 Minoli Salgado <\/strong>for\u00a0<\/strong>A Little Dust on the Eyes<\/em>
\n7 Mirza Waheed<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0The Book of Gold Leaves<\/em>
\n8 Monica Byrne <\/strong>for\u00a0The Girl in the Road<\/em>
\n9 Neel Mukherjee<\/strong>\u00a0for\u00a0The Lives of Others<\/em>
\n10 Raj Kamal Jha <\/strong>for\u00a0She Will Build Him A City<\/em>
\n11 Sandip Roy<\/strong> for\u00a0Don\u2019t Let Him Know<\/em><\/p>\n
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