About The Prize
The US $25,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is an international literary award specifically focused on South Asian fiction writing. It was instituted in 2010 by Surina Narula and Manhad Narula and over the last decade has emerged as one of the most definitive and prestigious literary prizes that highlights, rewards and helps shape the literature of this region. Its definition of South Asia includes India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives, and Afghanistan and it encourages writing about this region, its people and its cultures. It also supports the writing in the local languages of these South Asian countries as translations from these languages into English are eligible for the prize.
THE VISION BEHIND THE DSC PRIZE
The DSC Prize celebrates the rich and varied world of South Asian literature by highlighting the achievements of writers writing about this region, and thereby raises the awareness of South Asian literature and culture around the world. Its key vision is to showcase and reward the immense talent writing about the South Asian region and present it to a global audience. It does so by being a truly global prize without any boundaries - in the sense that it is open to authors of any nationality or ethnicity and publishers from all countries can participate as long as the writing is about South Asia and its people. It is also committed to encouraging writing in regional languages and translations, and the prize money is shared equally between the author and the translator when a translated entry wins.
THE SOUTH ASIAN ESSENCE
In line with its South Asian essence, the DSC Prize is peripatetic in nature and travels to different South Asian countries to understand and support their literary initiatives. It does so by hosting its award ceremony in various South Asian countries by rotation. The winners of the last four editions of the DSC Prize have been announced at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka in 2016, at the Dhaka Lit Fest in Bangladesh in 2017, at the Kolkata Literary Meet in India in 2018 and at the Nepal Literature Festival in Nepal in 2019.
The Prize has been successful in bringing South Asian writing to a larger world-wide forum as its winners have gone on to be published internationally to reach a wider global audience. 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, Jayant Kaikini along with translator Tejaswini Niranjana of India, and Indian author Amitabha Bagchi who won the Prize last year.
ADMINISTRATION OF THE PRIZE
DSC Limited instituted the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature in 2010 to extend its patronage of literature and the arts, a cause it has been supporting for more than a decade. The prize is now administered by the South Asian Literature Prize & Events Trust.
The South Asian Literature Prize & Events Trust, which administers the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, is focused on improving the quality of life in South Asian society. It believes that literature and education are crucial for the wellbeing of the people, and help create the opportunities that are required for life improvement. It highlights these issues by reaching out to different audiences through its various partnerships and initiatives. These include events revolving around charity work for the underprivileged, and literary forums to widen the conversation on South Asian writing.
The DSC Prize celebrates the rich and varied world of literature in this region and promotes the achievements of South Asian writers as well as writers of any ethnicity writing about South Asia and its many diasporas.
The DSC Prize carries an award of US $25,000 and over the last nine years, the prize has generated tremendous response in international literary forums.