The JCB Prize for Literature announced its shortlist on October 21. All are works of translations from five languages —Urdu, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam and Nepali. These include ‘Imaan’ by Manoranjan Byapari, ‘Valli’ by Sheela Tomy, ‘Tomb of Sand’ by Geetanjali Shree, ‘The Paradise of Food’ by Khalid Jawed, and ‘Song of the Soil’ by Chuden Kabimo.
Mita Kapur, literary director, JCB, spoke about the coveted award’s journey: “In 2018, submissions came from 12 states and there has been an increase in the number of books coming from different states each year.” This year, the committee received books from about 20 states.
Literary translations have been infused with new energy in the past five years, she adds. In a first, this year’s longlist also had Hindi, Nepali and Urdu translations.
“The statistics are living proof that the wealth of our literature lies in our languages,” she explains the rise in translated works. She also appreciates the current crop of writers: “They are brave and experimental. These novels break the mould of what a novel is supposed to be.”
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