DSC Prize to be awarded at Dhaka Literary Festival

The US $25,000 (£19,322) DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, an international literary prize encouraging fiction about the South Asian region and its people, is awarding its next winner at the Dhaka Literary Festival (DLF) in Bangladesh after the two organisations have struck up a partnership. The winner is announced in different South Asian countries by rotation.

Entries for the DSC Prize 2017, accepted from publishers worldwide, were submitted between February and March 2017 and they will now be read and evaluated by a five-member international jury panel.

The longlist of 12 - 15 books will be revealed in New Delhi in August. A shortlist of five to six books will further be announced in London in September 2017, before the final winner is announced at a special event at the Dhaka Literary Festival on 18th November 2017.

Last year the winner of the DSC Prize 2016, which was awarded to Anuradha Roy, was announced at the Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka. Before that, the winner of the DSC Prize 2015, which was awarded to Jhumpa Lahiri, was announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival in India.

Surina Narula, founder of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, said the award was "delighted" to partner with the "prestigious" Dhaka Literary Festival this year. "Being one of the leading literary festivals in the region with its focus on South Asia we see a lot of positive synergy in this partnership," she said. 

Sadaf Saaz, director and producer, Dhaka Literary Festival added: “We are truly delighted to be hosting the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, at this year’s Dhaka Lit Fest; one of the most prestigious international literary prizes, specifically focused on South Asian writing. The aim of the DSC Prize to bring writing on South Asia to a global audience, as well as nurturing the best talent writing about South Asia, aligns with our vision at Dhaka Lit Fest, of enabling voices from this region to have a reach far beyond our borders. The DSC Prize also seeks to promote writing in regional languages by encouraging entries in translation, an area we strongly support at Dhaka Lit Fest. We are very excited about this partnership, and look forward to having some wonderful conversations with some of the most talented writers in South Asian literature, at Dhaka Lit Fest this year.”