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The 2019 JCB Prize for Literature Longlist announced.

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  • Post last modified:November 20, 2019
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The 2019 JCB Prize for Literature
Longlist announced

● Four women and six men on the list for richest award for Indian writing
● Longlist dominated by debuts, showing Indian writing full of new talent in 2019
● Two works on the list are translations (from Tamil and Bengali)
● The jury makes the unusual move of putting “twin” novels by one author on the list together
● Turbulence of the contemporary world prominent in all novels.

Spot any favourite read? Tell me in comments.



Mumbai, 4th September 2019: The longlist is announced today for the 2019 JCB Prize for Literature.
The list of ten novels was selected by a panel of five judges: Pradip Krishen, filmmaker and environmentalist (Chair);
Anjum Hasan, author and critic; K.R. Meera, author; Parvati Sharma, author; and Arvind Subramanian, economist
and former Chief Economic Adviser to the Government of India.
The longlist was chosen from a vast range of submissions by writers in fourteen states writing in six languages (Bengali,
English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu) published between 1 st August 2018 and 31 st July 2019.

The JCB Prize for Literature is awarded each year to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer. The winner receives Rs 25 lakh. The 2019 winner will be announced on 2nd November 2019.

The 2019 longlist is:

● Ib’s Endless Search for Satisfaction by Roshan Ali (Penguin Random House India, 2019)
● There’s Gunpowder in the Air by Manoranjan Byapari, translated from the Bengali by Arunava Sinha (Westland
Publications, 2018)
● The City and the Sea by Rajkamal Jha (Penguin Random House India, 2019)
● Milk Teeth by Amrita Mahale (Westland Publications, 2018)
● The Queen of Jasmine Country by Sharanya Manivannan (HarperCollins India, 2018)
● Trial by Silence and Lonely Harvest by Perumal Murugan, translated from the Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan
(Penguin Random House India, 2018)
● A Patchwork Family by Mukta Sathe (Speaking Tiger Publishing Private Limited, 2018)
● My Father’s Garden by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (Speaking Tiger Publishing Private Limited, 2018)
● The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay (HarperCollins India, 2019)
● A Secret History of Compassion by Paul Zacharia (Westland Publications, 2019)
The novels by Roshan Ali, Amrita Mahale, Mukta Sathe and Madhuri Vijay are all debuts.
Perumal Murugan ’s two novels, Trial by Silence and Lonely Harvest, are twin sequels to his One Part Woman (2015).
Each of them explores an alternative set of consequences to the profound sense of betrayal with which the earlier novel closes. Pradip Krishen says, “Perumal Murugan’s remarkable two novels, which begin from the same situation, succeed
in being both completely different and equally convincing as novels, and we on the jury felt they belonged together on
the longlist.”

This Post Has 33 Comments

  1. Roshan Radhakrishnan

    Perumal’s work sounds quite intriguing to me… would love to see how the jury votes when the time comes… havent read any, I fear

  2. Sonia Chatterjee

    Your blog is a delight for book lovers like me. Really happy to see so many debut authors make it to the long list.

  3. Kala Ravi

    A rather interesting and eclectic list! I rather think Perumal Murugan stands an excellent chance of winning this coveted prize. I haven’t read any of the books on this list, time to make up for this error!

  4. Shalini R

    I love this list better than the Booker prize longlist. Oops. I have read only one book from this though. And I am waiting for the shortlist to release soon so that I can empty my pocket by buying them all.

    1. DrAmrita Basu

      A very interesting list.Looking forward to seeing who wins and also read these books.

  5. Sushmita

    I think I just got my next reading list! I have been planning to read MIlk Teeth for a long time now. Thanks for sharing the post :)

    1. Urvashi

      Your blog is 101 news for book lovers. Loved the way your have put it together. I haven’t read any titles in the list. But I am loving the title my father’s garden. Would grab it whenever I get a chance. Which of these are your favourite?

      1. vidhya thakkar

        Thank Youuu

  6. Noor Anand Chawla

    Thanks for sharing the list Vidhya! Rushing to pick them all up now.

  7. Sitharaam Jayakumar

    To be honest, in spite of being a blogger and a writer of two novellas myself this is the first time I am hearing of this popular award. There are so many literary awards and I would really like to get to know about them. Great post!

  8. Ritu

    Milk Teeth is the only one I have read among the longlist. Looking forward to reading the others. I have already added a few to my TBR.

    I have been following your blog for a while and it is a great source of book-related news. I love reading your reviews.

  9. Dipika Singh

    I always thought literature is boring while growing up. But now that I also write, it comes as a very interesting thing to do. Great list of achievements by legendary writers.

  10. Srishti

    Wow! happy to know about the award. Awards & recognitions boost the writer’s spirit y highlighting their writing skills.

  11. Richa MIna

    I had no idea about the JCB prize. congratulations to the shortlisted authors. Best of luck

  12. Roma

    Thank you for this post Vidhya, I am so delighted to know about the books and the nominees buddy, will try to read as many as possible

  13. Swiddle Dcunha

    Informative article Vidya. Would love to read some of them. Thanks for the post.

  14. MeenalSonal

    Vidhya, thanks for sharing the list, now I know what to add in my TBR list. And it always good to see debut authors getting recognition.

  15. PRB

    That’s a super longlist for Indian writers. Especially happy for Arunava Sinha as he has been relentlessly translating great works. Thanks for writing. #ReadByPRB

  16. Vidhi Virani

    I have heard a lot about the book The Queen of Jasmine Country. I would love to read that book.

  17. Semmozhi Mangai

    I can’t wait to read these books.

  18. Ninu Nair

    Seriously I had no clue that the longlist got announced. I have just read My Father’s Garden and didn’t like it. I would back Perumal Murugan for the previous work any day. Glad you posted this.

  19. Surbhi Mahobia

    Bookmarking your blog for reference. All of these books will be my next read one by one. Thanks for sharing this list.
    Good luck,
    Surbhi #surreads
    https://prettymummasays.com

  20. Trapti

    Will give it a try to “The Queen of Jasmine Country”. I liked the list;)

  21. Pooja Priyamvada

    I am not reading much nowadays but that seemed like a perfect to read list

  22. Pragnya Mishra

    I can see the names of some notable works for the year. May the best one win.

  23. Aditya Sathe

    Thanks for sharing the lings list. All of them are going in my TBR. But i have one query. You mentioned, entries were from 6 languages, Bengali, English, Hindi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu, right? Then why only English books are being long listed? Are these all translated to English or they are original works of these languages?

  24. Charu

    That’s a great list! Thanks for sharing.

  25. Mrs. Sunshine

    That’s quite a list. It’s good to know that writers are being well recognized and awarded in India too. Thanks for sharing this. #MyFriendAlexa #CloudandSunshineReads

  26. Harjeet Kaur

    Thanks for sharing the list and for additional info about the books. It is really handy. #wordsmithkaurreads #BlogChatter #MyFriendAlexa

  27. Shubhra Rastogi

    The list looks great. I have to collect a lot of books now. Thanks for sharing! #MyFriendAlexa #ShubhraReads

  28. Swarnali Nath

    Your post is very useful for all book lovers as we are always in search of great new books!! Thank you.

    1. vidhya thakkar

      Thankk Youu

  29. Neha Gupta

    This is a great list Vidhya :-) I love reading books and wold definitely read these books as and when I get a chance. Thanks for sharing :-)

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