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| Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka presents the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016 to Anuradha Roy. |
Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy emerges as the
winner from a shortlist of six to take the coveted US $50,000 DSC Prize
Anuradha Roy
has been announced as the winner of the
prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian
Literature 2016 for her novel, Sleeping
on Jupiter at the Fairway
Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka. In a glittering ceremony, the US $50,000 DSC Prize along
with a unique trophy was awarded by Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister
of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka to the winner.
The six shortlisted authors and novels in contention for the DSC Prize this year
were Akhil Sharma: Family Life (Faber
& Faber, UK), Anuradha Roy: Sleeping
on Jupiter (Hachette, India), K.R. Meera: Hangwoman (Translated by J Devika; Penguin, India), Mirza Waheed: The Book of Gold Leaves (Viking/Penguin
India), Neel Mukherjee: The Lives of
Others (Vintage/Penguin Random House, UK) and Raj Kamal Jha: She Will Build Him A City (Bloomsbury,
India).
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| Surina Narula, MBE & Co-founder of the DSC Prize, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, Anuradha Roy, Winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016, Karen Allman, Jury Member, and Syed Manzoorul Islam. |
Now in its sixth edition, the DSC Prize for South
Asian Literature is an established international literary prize that
awards the best work in South Asian fiction writing each year. This year the
DSC Prize had received 74 entries with participation from publishers from the
South Asian region as well as from countries like the UK, US, Canada, Australia
and South Africa amongst others. The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature which
is specifically focused on South Asian writing is unique in the sense that it
is not ethnicity driven in terms of the author’s origin and is open to any
author belonging to any part of the globe as long as the work is based on the
South Asian region and its people. The past winners have been from various
countries and their work has reflected the importance of South Asian
culture and literature.
The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016 was
judged by a diverse and distinguished five member jury panel comprising eminent
figures drawn from the international literary fraternity who have worked in or
around South Asian literature and issues.
The jury panel comprised of Mark Tully, Chair of the jury panel and
renowned journalist who has commentated on a wide range of issues affecting the
South Asian region for over four decades; Dennis Walder, Emeritus Professor of
Literature at the Open University, UK, who has authored several articles and
books on 19th and 20th century literature; Karen Allman, highly respected book
seller and literary coordinator based out of Seattle, USA; Neloufer de Mel,
Senior Professor of English at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka, who has
written extensively on society, culture and feminism; and Syed Manzoorul Islam,
celebrated Bangladeshi writer, translator, critic and academic.
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| Vijay Amitraj and Adrienne Loftus Parkins as masters of ceremony. |
Speaking on the
occasion, Mark Tully on behalf of
the jury said “We had a shortlist of six
outstanding books. Their excellence made our task particularly difficult. We
chose Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy because of its elegance, flair and
readability. It raises many issues succinctly and with commendable economy of
words. The South Asian setting is described faithfully and evocatively. Among
the issues raised are the power of memory and myth, religious hypocrisy,
sexuality, abuse and other forms of violence. The novel contains powerful
portraits of both major and minor characters. We believe this book will be a
source of inspiration to other writers.”
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| Mark Tully, Chair of the jury panel and renowned journalist. |
Congratulating the winner, Surina
Narula, MBE and
co-founder of the DSC Prize said “My
heartfelt congratulations to Anuradha Roy for winning the DSC Prize for South
Asian Literature 2016. The winning novel highlights the changing dynamics in
South Asian life and culture in a unique way. It must have been a tough task
for the jury members to choose from the six exceptional contenders and arriving
at the eventual winner as each one of the novels represents the very best in
South Asian fiction writing. Completing six successful years, the DSC Prize
remains focused on recognizing and showcasing the immense talent writing about
the South Asian region and bringing it to the larger global audience.”
Hon. Ranil Wickremesinghe, Prime Minister of Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka was the Chief Guest of the event. While
presenting the trophy to the winner he commented on the importance of South
Asian literature and the crucial role it can play to improve the lives of the
people living in this region.
The last five winners of the DSC Prize have been Jhumpa Lahiri (The Lowland: Vintage Books/Random House, India), Cyrus
Mistry (Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer: Aleph Book
Company, India), Jeet Thayil (Narcopolis:
Faber & Faber, London), Shehan Karunatilaka (Chinaman: Random House,
India) and HM Naqvi (Home Boy: Harper Collins, India). Each
of these winners has gone on to be published internationally and their work has
reached a larger global audience which has been one of the central visions of
the DSC Prize.
Over the years the DSC Prize
for South Asian Literature has been deeply involved in supporting the cause of
South Asian literature and is committed to widen the ambit of conversation on
South Asian writing by reaching out to diverse audiences through its various
events and initiatives.
About the DSC
Prize for South Asian Literature
The US $50,000
DSC Prize for South Asian Literature which was instituted by Surina Narula and
Manhad Narula in 2010, is one of the most prestigious international literary
awards specifically focused on South Asian writing. It is a unique and coveted
prize and is open to authors of any ethnicity or nationality as long as the
writing is about South Asia and its people. It also encourages writing in
regional languages and translations and the prize money is equally shared
between the author and the translator in case a translated entry wins.
In line with
its South Asian essence, the DSC Prize Award ceremony is held in various South
Asian countries by rotation. The winner of the DSC Prize 2015 was announced in
Jaipur, India in January 2015 whereas the winner of the DSC Prize 2016 has been
announced at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival, Sri Lanka on January 16th
2016.
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