The JCB Prize for Literature, one of India’s most coveted literature prizes, releases the Longlist for its sixth edition. A renowned Jury with members from a variety of backgrounds, led by novelist and translator Srinath Perur, presents a Longlist that is sure to enthrall readers all across the world.

The jury reviewed submissions from writers in 24 places around the nation who wrote in eight different languages, including English. Six works initially written in English are included on the Longlist, along with four translations from Bengali, Hindi, and Tamil. Authors Tanuj Solanki and Manoranjan Byapari join the list for the second time, respectively. Their works have already appeared on the longlist for the Prize twice.

This is Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s first time ever translating a book; he was previously longlisted for the Prize as an author. He now rejoins the list as a translator for Manoj Rupda’s Hindi book.

Anita Gopalan’s translation of Geet Chaturvedi’s first book, which is the translator’s first venture into fiction, makes the list this year. Along with Bikram Sharma’s first novel, Tejaswini Apte-Rahm’s English book debut is also on the Longlist.

Srinath Perur (Chair), an author and translator, Mahesh Dattani, a playwright and stage director, Somak Ghoshal, an author, critic, and learning designer, Kavery Nambisan, an author and surgeon, and Swati Thiyagarajan, a conservation journalist and filmmaker, made up the jury for the 2023 award.

The Longlist for 2023 includes-

The Secret of More by Tejaswini Apte-Rahm (Aleph Book Company, 2022)

The Nemesis by Manoranjan Byapari, translated from the Bengali by V. Ramaswamy (Westland Books, 2023)

The East Indian by Brinda Charry (Harper Collins Publishers India, 2023)

Simsim by Geet Chaturvedi, translated from Hindi by Anita Gopalan (Penguin Random House India, 2023)

Fire Bird by Perumal Murugan, translated from Tamil by Janani Kannan (Penguin Random House India, 2023)

Everything the Light Touches by Janice Pariat (HarperCollins Publishers India, 2022)

Mansur by Vikramajit Ram (Pan Macmillan India, 2022)

I Named My Sister Silenceby Manoj Rupda, translated from Hindi by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (Westland Books, 2023)

The Colony of Shadows by Bikram Sharma (Hachette Books, 2022)

Manjhi’s Mayhem by Tanuj Solanki (Penguin Random House India, 2022)

An extraordinary work of fiction written by an Indian author is honored each year with the JCB Prize for Literature. On October 20th, a five-title shortlist will be unveiled. On November 18th, the winner will be announced, and they will get a cash award of Rs 25 lakh. The translator of the winning piece will also earn an additional cash reward of Rs. 10 lakh. Additionally, the translator of any shortlisted work will receive a payment of Rs. 50,000 and each of the five shortlisted authors will earn Rs.1 Lakh.

For information about the Prize, please visit www.thejcbprize.org. 

Priyanka Dutta