The winner of the ninth edition of the prestigious DSC Prize for South Asian Literature will be announced at the IME Nepal Literature Festival on December 16 at the picturesque holiday retreat of Pokhara.

The six novels contending for the DSC Prize 2019 are: Half the Night is Gone by Amitabha Bagchi, 99 Nights in Logar by Jamil Jan Kochai, The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay, There’s Gunpowder in the Air by Manoranjan Byapari (translated from Bengali by Arunava Sinha), The City and the Sea by Raj Kamal Jha, and The Empty Room by Sadia Abbas.

The shortlist includes three debut novelists, including two women writers, and a novel that has been translated from Bengali.

There are four authors of Indian origin and one author each of Pakistani and Afghan origin.

The DSC Prize, which was constituted by Surina Narula and Manhad Narula back in 2010, celebrates and showcases the writers engaged in capturing the life and time of South Asian region.

In line with the increasing globalisation of South Asian writing, the prize does not preclude author participation on the basis of nationality, and authors from any country and background are eligible as long as their writing is about South Asia or its people.

Apart from original English writing, the DSC Prize encourages regional writing as translations from any South Asian languages into English can be entered for the prize.

“We are delighted to announce the winner of the DSC Prize 2019 at the IME Nepal Literature Festival in Pokhara. There is a significant amount of writing emanating from and about the South Asian region that needs to be showcased and presented to a larger global readership.

Both the prize and the festival share a common vision to promote and highlight South Asian literature, and there is a rich literary landscape in Nepal which I hope will benefit from this partnership,” Surina Narula said.

The jury adjudicated on the 90 novels that were entered for the DSC Prize this year, and after announcing a long list of 16 in New Delhi and a shortlist of six in London, they will meet up in Nepal to announce the eventual winner.

Along with the jury members, the shortlisted authors and the prize founders will be present at the DSC Prize Award Ceremony that is taking place at the IME Nepal Literature Festival on December 16.

Now in its 9th year, the DSC Prize has been successful in bringing South Asian writing to a larger global audience by rewarding and showcasing the achievements of the authors writing about this region. Past winners of the prize have been H M Naqvi of Pakistan, Shehan Karunatilaka of Sri Lanka, Jeet Thayil and Cyrus Mistry from India, American author of Indian origin Jhumpa Lahiri, Anuradha Roy from India, Anuk Arudpragasam of Sri Lanka, and Jayant Kaikini along with translator Tejaswini Niranjana of India who won the prize last year.