THREE CHEERS

Since its launch in 2018, the JCB Prize for Literature has expanded the reach of regional Indian writing beyond the dominant English-language books. And among India’s varied and multifaceted literary voices, Malayalam writing is having its moment in the spotlight, finds Sana Goyal

- Sana Goyal

On the evening of November 13, readers, writers, trans-lators, and editors of Indian literature had their eyes glued to their screens in anticipation of the winner announcement of this year’s JCB Prize for Literature. The question on everyone’s lips? Will a work in translation from Malayalam take home the prestigious prize for the third time?

Now in its fourth year, the 25-lakh JCB Prize for Literature, also called the ‘Indian Booker Prize’, is awarded annually to a ‘distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer’. Among the constellation of literary prizes for Indian writers—such as the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, the Tata Literature Live! Awards, and the Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize, to name but a few—the relatively nascent JCB Prize has, in little to no time, made a name for itself on the literary landscape.

FOUND IN TRANSLATION

In awarding the inaugural 2018 prize to Benyamin’s Jasmine Days (Juggernaut Books), the JCB Prize remained true to its commitment to champion work in translation and books published by the independent press. And in a seemingly small move, it sought to expand the hitherto narrow conception of Indian writing beyond the dominant English-language-original books.