Kamila Shamsie, Bilal Tanweer shortlisted for South Asia fiction prize

Published November 28, 2014
Kamila Shamsie (L) and Bilal Tanweer are among the five frontrunners for 2015 DSC Prize.
Kamila Shamsie (L) and Bilal Tanweer are among the five frontrunners for 2015 DSC Prize.

NEW DELHI: Two Pakistani authors are among the five frontrunners for 2015 DSC Prize, one of South Asia's biggest literary awards, according to the shortlist announced in London on Thursday.

The Pakistani writers selected are first-time novelist Bilal Tanweer for The Scatter Here Is Too Great and Kamila Shamsie for A God in Every Stone.

Pakistani author Omar Shahid Hamid, who had also been longlisted for his novel The Prisoner, did not make the cut.

Read more: Three Pakistani authors longlisted for South Asian literature prize

Jhumpa Lahiri, who won a Pulitzer Prize in 2000, is also in the running for her entry The Lowland, a tale of Indian brothers bound by tragedy. The novel was also shortlisted for the Man Booker prize last year.

Other finalists include London-based Romesh Gunesekera, who was a finalist for the Booker prize two decades ago and India's Shamsur Rahman Faruqi, who is nominated for his novel which he translated from Urdu.

Other nominees who did not make it to the finalists, include: And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini, The Gypsy Goddess by Meena Kandasamy, Helium by Jaspreet Singh and Mad Girl’s Love Song by Rukmini Bhaya Nair.

The five writers on the 2015 shortlist are a step closer to winning the $50,000 awarded to the author of the best novel about South Asia published or translated into English.

Keki Daruwalla, the chair of judges, described the selections as "moving, challenging, and thought-provoking".

"There were moments of great beauty in the multiple narratives and the jury was impressed by the deep structure of each book and the way characters were developed," Daruwalla said in a statement.

The jury selected the finalists from 75 novels submitted for the award, now in its fifth year. The winner will be announced at the annual literature festival in the Indian city of Jaipur in January.

The finalists are:

  • Bilal Tanweer for The Scatter Here is Too Great (Vintage Books/Random House)

  • Jhumpa Lahiri for The Lowland (Vintage Books/Random House)

  • Kamila Shamsie for A God in Every Stone (Bloomsbury)

  • Romesh Gunesekera for Noontide Toll (Hamish Hamilton/Penguin)

  • Shamsur Rahman Faruqi for The Mirror of Beauty (Penguin Books)

Opinion

Editorial

Confused state
Updated 05 Jan, 2025

Confused state

WHEN it comes to combatting violent terrorism, the state’s efforts seem to be suffering from a lack of focus. The...
Born into hunger
05 Jan, 2025

Born into hunger

OVER 18.2 million children — 35 every minute — were born into hunger in 2024, with Pakistan accounting for 1.4m...
Tourism triumph
05 Jan, 2025

Tourism triumph

THE inclusion of Gilgit-Baltistan in CNN’s list of top 25 destinations to visit in 2025 is a proud moment for...
Falling temperatures
Updated 04 Jan, 2025

Falling temperatures

Vitally important for stakeholders to acknowledge, understand politicians can still challenge opposing parties’ narratives without also being in a constant state of war with each other.
Agriculture census
04 Jan, 2025

Agriculture census

ACCURATE information relating to agricultural activities is vital for data-driven future planning, policymaking, as...
Biometrics for kids
04 Jan, 2025

Biometrics for kids

ALTHOUGH the move has caused a panic among weary parents mortified at the thought of carting their children to Nadra...