City writer bags Rajiv Gandhi Award

The State has again a reason to rejoice as local talents are making a mark at the national level by dint of their achievements. City talent Amit Kumar has won the Rajiv Gandhi Award for his book Globalisation and India.

Kumar was given this prestigious award at the Vigyan Bhawan by the President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil on Wednesday. A resident of Ratu Road, Kumar wrote his book last year and it was published by Satyam Publishing House. In the book, the impact of globalisation on the country has been discussed from different angles. The advanced effects of globalisation can be better learnt by reading this book.

Amit was interested in writing since childhood. He studied in Shradhanand Bal Mandir. Amit is now posted in a Uttar Pradesh college as lecturer.

Full report here Pioneer

Revisiting history

Chat Author of Chanakya's Chant, Ashwin Sanghi talks about his love for history, intrigue and writing

Indian fiction in English is going through its own coming-of-age moment where new authors are experimenting with different genres and are not scared of promoting their books with the distinct Indianness instead of aping their western counterparts. Moving beyond college romance or chick lit stories, readers are also welcoming the historical and mythological thrillers that authors are dishing out. . Ashwin Sanghi is one such author.

Businessman to author
With a management degree from Yale University and a stable family business Ashwin Sanghi penned his first novel The Rozabel Line, under the pseudonym of Shawn Haigins, which explored the idea that Jesus hadsurvived the crucifixion and eventually settled down and died in India. Explaining the choice behind his pen name, Ashwin Sanghi says, “I was a businessman for 16 years of my life, so when I started writing I wanted to keep my literary identity separate. But later it became a marketing hazard as I did not want my readers to be shocked to see a Marwari when they were expecting a Shawn Haigins.”

After a religious thriller, his second book Chanakya's Chant was a political thriller revolving around the life of the political strategist Chanakya during the rule of emperor Chandragupta Maurya, with a contemporary twist. The book also won the Vodafone Crossword Popular Choice Award 2010. The businessman-turned-author admits that he wanted to look beyond a mundane balance sheet and explore his creative side. After a prod from his wife, he began his literary journey. “Writing helps me create a different world that I can escape to,” he says. But commenting on a full time writing career he quips in, “My worry is, if I don't have a day job my writing will become a part of my mundane boring life. I like to wear the boring hat in the morning and the exciting one in the night when I am writing.”

Full report here Hindu

IIPM honours poets, journalists

The Indian Institute of Planning and Management (IIPM), a prominent B school, honoured different individuals from the the world of literature and journalism at its campus in Kolkata on Tuesday.

As part of the honouring, the Surama Chowdhury Memorial Award 2011 will be conferred to three Bangladeshi intellectuals - Akhtar Ur Jamal Ilyas, Emabdul haq Milan, Selina Hossain besides one Indian Prafulla Roy at the 3rd Bangladesh Book Fair at Dhaka, Moloy Chadhuri, Director, IIPM said.

Along with this seven more awards were given away in varied fields like healthcare, film making and sports.

Most of the awards carried a gold medal and Rs 1 lakh as cash.

"These awards convey the philosophy of the institute. We want to reach out to the students and the masses across the nation by appreciating the effort of people who have contributed extensively in their respectiver fields," he said.

The Hindu Best Fiction Award 2010 Shortlist

We are happy to announce the shortlist of 11 books for the The Hindu Best Fiction Award 2010. There was a tremendous response and we thank all the publishers who sent in books (published between June 2009 and June 2010) for consideration. We thank our judges for their efforts and whole-hearted support for this venture. The winner of The Hindu Best Fiction Award will be announced at a special literary evening on November 1 in Chennai.

The Shortlist

Eunuch Park, Palash Krishna Mehrotra, Penguin India, 2009, p.183, Rs. 250.

The Pleasure Seekers, Tishani Doshi, Bloomsbury, 2010, p.314, Rs. 499.

Venus Crossing, Kalpana Swaminathan, Penguin India, 2009, p.244, Rs.275.

Come, Before Evening Falls, Manjul Bajaj, Hachete, 2009, p.238, Rs. 295.

Saraswati Park, Anjali Joseph, HarperCollins, 2010, p.261, Rs.399.

Serious Men, Manu Joseph, Fourth Estate, 2010, p.326, Rs. 499.

If I Could Tell You, Soumya Bhattacharya, Tranquebar Press, 2009, p.200, Rs. 350.

The Thing About Thugs, Tabish Khair, Fourth Estate, 2010, p.244, Rs. 399.

The To-Let House, Daisy Hasan, Tara Books, 2010, p.227, Rs. 275.

Way to Go, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Hamish Hamilton, 2010, p.359, Rs.499.

Neti, Neti, Anjum Hasan, India Ink, 2009, p.287, Rs.295.

Himachal writer awarded Hindi Sewa Samaan

S.R.Harnot has been honored with Hindi Sewa Samman for his contribution in the field of Hindi literature by Malwa Rangmanch Smiti Ujjain and Kritika Communication Mumbai jointly on the occasion of Vishwa Hindi Sewa Samaan Alankaran Samaroh & International Symposium organized in Kali Das Academy Complex Ujjain.

Harnot received this award in the presence of famous Hindi Cinema playback singer Kavita Seth, famous Indian lyricist & playback singer Swanand Kirkire & Dr.Vishwanath Sachdeva, Editor Navneet. In this occasion renowned writers, critics, journalists and other signatories from all over India and abroad were present. Harnot has authored about dozen Hindi books and also received numbers of International and National awards for his creative work.

Full report here My Himachal

14 authors on South Asian literature prize long-list

Acknowledging the diversity of literature emanating from the region, the DSC Limited Tuesday announced a long-list of 14 works of fiction as also the five-member jury of the first DSC prize for South Asian literature.

The prize carries a purse of $50,000. The DSC Ltd organises the Jaipur Literature Festival in the pink city every year.

The long-list includes Way to Go by Upamanyu Chatterjee, The Middleman by Mani Sankar Mukherjee, The Immortals by Amit Chaudhuri, Arzee the Dwarf by Chandrahas Choudhury, The Story of a Widow by M.A. Farooqui, and The Immigrant by Manju Kapur, among others.

The names of the six short-list books will be announced by October-end at the DSC South Asian Literature Festival in London and the winner at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January 2010.

The titles are either set in South Asia or centre around south Asian protagonists and bring forth typical concerns upholding the socio-political and economic milieu of the region.

Full report here Sify

Shiksha Ratan Award to Prof TB Chakraboty

Lt. Governor of Union Territory Pondichery Mr. Iqbal Singh bestowed upon Prof. (Dr.) T. B. Chakraborty former Chairman of Modern Indian Languages & Sr. Professor of Bangla Language and a well recognized teacher of Aligarh Muslim University ‘Shiksha Ratan Purashkar’ of India International Friendship Society, in a glittering function held in New Delhi.

Prof. (Dr.) T. B. Chakraborty is the senior teacher of Bangla in the department of Modern Indian Language of Aligarh Muslim University. He has authored 22 books and translated 23 books of Bangla. He has written first  book on Sir Syed biography in bangla. He is also editor of Aligarh Research Journal. His range of research is Indian folklore, their tradition and mass reorganization.

Full report here Northern Voices

Hanif Kureishi bags Pinter literary prize

Renowned novelist Hanif Qureshi has bagged a literary prize set up in honour of playwright Harold Pinter.

The Buddha of Suburbia author won the Pen/Pinter prize as he courageously speaks the truth about life in our multicultural world and will receive a cash reward of 1000 pounds during a felicitation ceremony at British Library.

"Hanif Kureishi courageously and irreverently speaks the truth about life in our multicultural world, beyond any platitudes of political correctness. Harold Pinter would have been proud that Hanif was chosen for the prize in his name and that of Pen," the BBC quoted Antonia Fraser, Harold Pinter’s widow as saying.

The Pen/Pinter prize is given to a British writer who, in the words of Pinter's Nobel Prize winning speech, casts an unflinching, unswerving gaze upon the world.

Full report here Hindustan Times

Book business

The chances of an Indian origin author winning the prestigious £30,000 Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Book of the Year Award 2010 has shortened to one in three.

This is because the shortlist of six, just announced, includes: The Art of Choosing by Sheena Iyengar (Little, Brown, Twelve/Hachette Group) and Fault Lines: How Hidden Fractures Still Threaten the World Economy by Raghuram Rajan (Princeton University Press).

The judges include Uganda-born Baroness Shriti Vadera, who made grown men weep, it is alleged, when she was Gordon Brown’s adviser at the Treasury.

Full report here Telegraph

Dr Surjit Patar awarded the Saraswati Samman

Renowned Punjabi poet Dr Surjit Patar was on Friday, Sep 17 awarded the prestigious Saraswati Samman for the year 2009 for his Punjabi poetry-collection Lafzan Di Dargah. Union Minister for Human Resources Development Kapil Sibal presented Patar with the 19th edition of the award, instituted by the K.K. Birla Foundation in recognition of literary eminence in any of the languages included in the schedule VIII of the Constitution of India.

The award money has been increased to R7.5 lakh this year from R5 lakh earlier. Sibal said that he believed that any civilization, which does not honour its poets and writers, can never be progressive. “In our everyday life, we ‘evade’ ourselves. We fear to express ourselves. Poetry is rare form of expression that is qualitatively different. But it is dying.”

 “(So) it is important for us to recognise those who penetrate our souls,” Sibal said adding, “Patar’s poetry is immersed in reality of Punjab, yet it is universal in appeal.”

Full report here Hindustan Times

Vice President Ansari to give awards for books written in Hindi

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will on Tuesday give away Rajeev Gandhi Gyan-Vigyan Maulik Pustak Lekhan Puraskar and Indira Gandhi Raj Bhasha Purskar 2008-09 for original book writing in Hindi on the occasion of Hindi Day.

He will also award Indira Gandhi Raj Bhasha Purskar 2008-09 for excellent work done in Hindi in the Offices of the Central Government and public sector undertakings and Grih Patrika Purskar for publications by Ministries/ Departments in 2009-10.

The Constitutional Assembly declared Hindi as official language unanimously on September 14, 1949.

Since then, every year September 14 is celebrated as Hindi Day in all Central Government Offices situated in India and abroad.

Full review here Oneindia

Ansari to give awards for books in Hindi

Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari will on Sep 14, Tuesday give away Rajeev Gandhi Gyan-Vigyan Maulik Pustak Lekhan Puraskar and Indira Gandhi Raj Bhasha Purskar 2008-09 for original book writing in Hindi on the occasion of Hindi Day.

He will also award Indira Gandhi Raj Bhasha Purskar 2008-09 for excellent work done in Hindi in the Offices of the Central Government and public sector undertakings and Grih Patrika Purskar for publications by Ministries/ Departments in 2009-10.

The Constitutional Assembly declared Hindi as official language unanimously on September 14, 1949.

Since then, every year September 14 is celebrated as Hindi Day in all Central Government Offices situated in India and abroad.

On this occasion Hindi Day and Raj Bhasha award distribution function is being organized at Vigyan Bhawan here.

Full report here Bombay News

Sahira Thangal Gets Emerging Writer's Award

Sahira Thangal, an upcoming writer in Malayalam, has been selected for the first-ever Emerging Writer's Award. This award is being given as part of the third Kovalam Literary festival, to start from October 1. The award includes a cash prize of Rs. 25,000 and other gifts.

Sahira was selected by a one-man jury of Paul Zacharia, and has been awarded for her two brilliant books in Malayalam.

“She is a promising writer, a poet and also a novelist of great promise. Her first novel 'Rabia' is a brilliant narration of a modern young Muslim woman's emotional conflicts,” Paul Zacharia said after announcing the winner.
The award aims to bring regional writer to the forefront of world literature, and honor them for their works.

Full report here Yentha

Dubai-based Malayalam writer wins award

Sahira Thangal, a Dubai-based advertising executive and writer, has been selected for the first Emerging Writers' Award. The award will be presented during the third Kovalam Literary Festival to be held in Kerala from Oct 1 to 3.

Thangal was selected by a one-man jury, noted writer Paul Zachariah, for her two books in Malayalam.

'She is an excellent poet, thoughtful and lyrical and brief, and also a novelist of great promise,' Zachariah said.

'Her first novel, 'Rabia' is a brilliant narration of a modern young Muslim woman's emotional conflict which she faces in traditional relationships,' he said.

Thangal shot into the limelight with her first collection of poems, 'Janeena Ottavara', published by the D.C. Books in 2007. She followed it up with 'Rabia', published by Current Books in 2008.

Full report here Sify

Crossing the threshold

Sarah Joseph's Othappu has just won this year's Crossword Award for translation. An appreciation of her work...

The in-betweenness of doors often defines the lives of women; like doors they hinge precariously between freedom and unfreedom. A writer like Sarah Joseph is also aware that there are open doors and closed doors. Margalitha in Othappu: The Scent of the Other Side, this year's Crossword Award winning novel for translation, chooses to walk out from the cloth-scheme of things into the wider world, managing to open the door of the convent and walk down the steps like the wind that never returns: At dawn, when the chapel bell rang in the convent, Margalitha took off her veil and under-veil. It did not bring on a storm, a pestilence or an earthquake. She stood looking at the clothes of holiness strewn on the floor, but felt nothing. After all, what did clothes add up to? Did a vocation lie in the cloth? Margalitha stepped out of the cloth-scheme of things. With a deep sigh, she managed to open the door and walk out into the wider world.

Freedom and choice, the most basic factors of human condition have tormented writers and philosophers at all times. They understand that total freedom and absolute choice are ideal wishes. Structural and ideological circumstances limit the freedom of choice. This is more so in the case of women. Those women who are conscious of it forge resistance. And those who risk their lives in this cause are called feminists. Sarah Joseph is a feminist. She says, “I am proud that I am born a woman. I feel fortunate to be living in an age that hearkens to the promising voice of women. As I am not a ‘male writer', I have no compulsions to reproduce the values of the ruling class. The culture of the dominant class is against women, just as it is against those low of caste [….] My duty is to write fearlessly about the world of women — women, who are denied self-determining rights over their own bodies by the oppressive gender regime.”

Full report here Hindu

Staged whisper

Once India’s premier literary award, the Crossword prize looked as if it had lost the plot somewhat. Award ceremonies are bad enough because of authors competing like race horses, but to add to the humiliation, this time all the shortlisted contenders who had turned up for the translation prize were called up on the stage before the announcement. Imagine the discomfiture of those who didn’t win, up there, when the winners were announced: Malayalam Sahitya Akademi prizewinner Sarah Joseph’s novel about a nun, Othappu, translated by Valson Thampu, better known as principal of St Stephen’s College. Cruel!

Dropped In A Bazaar
Fortunately, by the time it came to the non-fiction prize announcement, the organisers seemed to have realised the limits of authorial performance. With two coffeetablers in the shortlist, one would have thought the prize choice would be easy. But no, it was a tie between two rather academic books: Looking East to Look West: Lee Kuan Yew’s Mission India by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray and Bazaars, Conversations and Freedom by Rajni Bakshi. Datta-Ray took the opportunity to flay his publisher publicly: for lack of enthusiasm and competence.

Full report here Outlook

Kannada litterateur Ku Go awarded

Ku Go of Udupi has been honoured with Dr Shivaram Karanth literary Award, recently.

KU GO is the renowned limerick writer in Kannada literature. He is also a well- known organizer of Kannada literary movement in this part of the district.

Further, he has carved a niche in the literary field by contributing several short stories and humorous articles.

He is also the founder of the organizations known as Suhaam and Nadumane that boosta literary activities.

Full report here Daijiworld

Lamichhane, Neupane bag Padmashree award

The Khemlal Harikala Lamichhane Samaj Kalyan Pratishtan on Sunday announced to give away this year’s Padmashree Sahitya Samman jointly to Dhruva Sapkota for his novel Akalpaneeya and Amar Neupane for his work Paani ko Gham.

In his novel, Sapkota has portrayed the problems of refugees in Sikkim, Tibet and Nepal, while Neupane carried out the study of literature in Nepalgunj region.

The award carries a purse of Rs.1,50,000.

Earlier, litterateurs Ganesh Rasik, Bhanubhakta Pokharel and Krishna Baral were honoured with the award.

Full report here Himalayan Times

Bessy Kadavil chosen for Pravasi literary award

Malayalam writer Bessy Kadavil has been chosen for the literary award of the city-based Pravsa Malayala Sahityavedi.

Bessy, working in the Faculty of Medicine at Kuwait University, was chosen for the award for her collection of pomes "Karutha Kanikonna", the Vedi said in a release today.

The award carries Rs 11,111, citation and memento. She was selected for the award by a judging committee comprising Prof G N Panikkar, V K Narayanan and Sugunan Njekkad. The award will be presented at a function here on September 1.

Full report here IBNLive

The day of the Grasshopper

As Siddhartha Sarma claimed the first Crossword Award for the Best Children’s Book in Mumbai this week, a bunch of writers at the Jumpstart festival were asking a key question: Should adults read books for children?

Technically, The Grasshopper’s Run is a children’s book — published by Scholastic last year in the emerging category of fiction for young adults. This is a growing segment of readers in India, and an important one: historically, despite the wide variety of literature for children, we haven’t had much literature for teenagers and young adults, across most Indian languages. But as writers from Paro Anand to Samit Basu know, writing for children or young adults effectively consigns the author to invisibility on the book-review pages. This means that kids, and teens, will read Sarma’s book — but adults will miss out.

And that would be a shame. Sarma’s real audience, as he says on his blog, is “all you closet Commando readers” — or anyone interested in the almost-forgotten Japanese siege of Kohima in 1944. “The (Second World) war touched India in many places, but the only region invaded on the mainland was the North-east,” Sarma writes. “It was a time of great misery, great courage and remarkable events. But if you expect much fiction about India and the war, forget it. Mostly it is because a couple of years after the war we began a bigger adventure: Independence and the rest of the jing-bang. People weren’t really into what their soldiers did fighting for another country in some far-off place.”

Full report here Business Standard