2024 JCB Prize for Literature shortlist includes two debut novels and three translations

The JCB Prize for Literature announced its five-novel shortlist for its 2024 edition. The shortlist features two debut novels and three translations from the Bengali, Marathi and Malayalam. Jayasree Kalathil, who translated the 2020 winner Moustache (by S Hareesh), has been nominated for the prize for the third time.

The shortlist was announced in Gurugram, and included readings from the shortlisted novels by Sunil Mehra, Sahunak Sen, Deepti Sashidharan and Tridip Suhrud.

The winner will be announced on November 23. The winning author will receive a cash prize of Rs 25 lakh. If the winning entry is a translation, the translator will receive an additional cash prize of Rs 10 lakh. In addition to this, each of the five authors on the shortlist will be awarded Rs 1 lakh and the translator, Rs 50,000.

The shortlisted novels are:

• The One Legged by Sakyajit Bhattacharya, translated from the Bengali by Rituparna Mukherjee (Antonym Collections)

• Chronicle of an Hour and a Half by Saharu Nusaiba Kannanari (Westland Books)

• Sanatan by Sharankumar Limbale, translated from the Marathi by Paromita Sengupta (Penguin Books)

• Lorenzo Searches for the Meaning of Life by Upmanyu Chatterjee (Speaking Tiger Books)

• Maria, Just Maria by Sandhya Mary, translated from the Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil (HarperCollins Publishers)

The jury said about the shortlist: “A deliberation on the meaning of life, a delineation of withdrawal and return,...

Read more