On a rainy Wednesday, a jury of five announced the long list of 10 books for the 2019 JCB Prize for Literature.
With a cash prize of ₹25 lakh and an additional ₹10 lakh for translation, the award is the richest literary accolade in the country.
The selected books include four debut novels: Ib’s Endless Search for Satisfaction by Roshan Ali (Penguin Random House India, 2019); Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale (Westland Publications, 2018); A Patchwork Family by Mukta Sathe (Speaking Tiger Publishing Private Limited, 2018); and The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay (HarperCollins India, 2019).
Complex mix
The other six books are There’s Gunpowder in the Air by Manoranjan Byapari, translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha (Westland Publications, 2018); The City and the Sea by Rajkamal Jha (Penguin Random House India, 2019); The Queen of Jasmine Country by Sharanya Manivannan (HarperCollins India, 2018); Trial by Silence and Lonely Harvest by Perumal Murugan, translated from Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan (Penguin Random House India, 2018); My Father’s Garden by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (Speaking Tiger Publishing Private Limited, 2018); and Secret History of Compassion by Paul Zacharia (Westland Publications, 2019).
The books were selected by filmmaker and environmentalist Pradip Krishen; author and critic Anjum Hasan; author K.R. Meera; author Parvati Sharma; and economist Arvind Subramanian.
‘Distinctive voice’
Describing the long list as “varied, complex and risk-taking”, Mr. Krishen, who chaired the jury, said, “These are novels about working-class struggles and upper-class unease, historical evocations and contemporary conflicts, each written in an absolutely distinctive voice.”
The 2018 JCB Prize for Literature was awarded to Jasmine Days by Benyamin, translated from Malayalam by Shahnaz Habib and published by Juggernaut Books. Described as an “intense and brilliant novel”, the book was lauded for “raising profound questions about the relationship between crime, punishment and forgiveness”. The jury will announce the shortlist of five titles on October 4.
The winner will be announced on November 2.