The five-book-strong shortlist for the JCB Prize for Literature 2021 has been announced. The shortlist – and, arguably, the 10-strong longl...
The five-book-strong shortlist for the JCB Prize for Literature 2021 has been announced. The shortlist – and, arguably, the 10-strong longlist before it – picked by the jury, comprising Sara Rai (Chair), Annapurna Garimella, Shahnaz Habib, Prem Panicker, and Amit Varma – appears to be focused on works that are ambitious and experimental in scope, with large canvases.
Conflict lies at the core of all the five titles, whether it be political, ethnic, community, or existential. As Rai said in her statement, “The novels dive deep into these particular, ordinary lives and come up having discovered in them the extraordinary.” The shortlist, which includes three debuts and two translations from the Malayalam:
- Anti-Clock, VJ James, translated from the Malayalam by Ministhy S, Penguin Random House India, 2021.
- Name Place Animal Thing, Daribha Lyndem, Zubaan Publishers, 2021.
- The Plague Upon Us, Shabir Ahmad Mir, Hachette India, 2020.
- Delhi: A Soliloquy, M Mukundan, translated from the Malayalam by Fathima EV and Nandakumar K, Westland, 2020.
- Gods and Ends, Lindsay Pereira, Penguin Random House India, 2021.
The winner of the Rs 25 lakh prize – with an additional Rs 10 lakh for the translator if it is a translated title – will be revealed on November 13. Here are excerpts from the reviews or the text of the...
