11th April 2023:As it enters its 6th year, one of India’s most coveted literary awards, the JCB Prize for Literature, announced its 2023 jury today. The jury panel will be chaired by SrinathPerur, author, and translator. The jury consists of Mahesh Dattani, playwright and stage director; SomakGhoshal, author, critic, and learning designer; KaveryNambisan, author and surgeon; and, Swati Thiyagarajan, conservation journalist and filmmaker.
Representing a range of backgrounds, languages, and mediums of expression between them, the jury brings a set of diverse points of view to the task of selecting the best fiction from India for the year. The JCB Prize for Literature is funded by India’s leading manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment, JCB India Ltd, and administered by the JCB Literature Foundation.
Commenting on this year’s jury, Mita Kapur, Literary Director of the JCB Prize for Literature, says, “Last year has truly been a milestone year for us. For the first time, our jury put forth a shortlist that was all translations. India speaks and reads in so many languages, and the books that are submitted for the JCB Prize are a true representation of many India that reside within one. The 2023 jury brings together immense experience from a diverse range of backgrounds, languages, art forms, and mediums of expression. With their precise gaze and nuanced understanding of storytelling, we are confident that the jury will read, evaluate and find gems from the submissions that are entered this year, that will be truly coveted by book lovers in India and beyond.”
The 2022 JCB Prize for Literature was awarded to The Paradise of Food by Khalid Jawed, translated from Urdu by Baran Farooqi, and published by Juggernaut. The Paradise of Food is a brutal and mesmerizing account of the contemporary body, home, and nation told through the food and kitchen. In a world consumed by hyper-consumerism, the book provides a bracing counter-narrative making it an important piece of work.
With an aim to increase inclusivity in readership, the book along with the other four shortlisted novels of 2022 was also made available by the JCB Literature Foundation in a digitally accessible format for anyone in the visually impaired spectrum.
The jury will announce the longlist of ten titles in September (subject to change), followed by the shortlist of five titles in October (subject to change) 2023. The winner of the Rs 25 lakh prize will be announced at the awards ceremony in November 2023. If the winning work is a translation, the translator will be awarded an additional Rs 10 lakh. Each of the five shortlisted authors will receive Rs 1 lakh; if a shortlisted work is a translation, the translator will receive Rs 50,000.
“I am happy to be part of the jury for the JCB Prize for Literature 2023. It represents an opportunity to celebrate books that speak to our times and bring to notice books that may have been unfairly overlooked. In this regard, I particularly appreciate the Prize’s efforts at encouraging publishers to send in translations. It ensures that the field truly represents the range of Indian novels brought out in English over the past year. As a reader, I’m looking forward to discovering books I may never have picked up outside of jury duty, and collectively expanding our horizons – one of those things that literature manages to do so well.” SrinathPerur, Chair of the 2023 jury.