Jhumpa Lahiri, Shamsur Rahman Faruqi in DSC Prize shortlist

London, Nov 28: Indian writer critic Shamsur Rahman Faruqi and Indian-American author Jhumpa Lahiri are among five authors shortlisted for next year's USD 50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.

The shortlist for 2015 was announced here late last night. Lahiri's novel "The Lowland", an intimate portrayal of two brothers and political passion was earlier on the 2013 Man Booker Prize shortlist as well. Her debut short story collection, "Interpreter of Maladies" had won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

Poet, novelist and literary critic Faruqi has been shortlisted for his novel "The Mirror of Beauty" which he translated from Urdu and deals with the sunset of the Mughal Empire. Beginning with the story of an enigmatic and gifted painter in a village near Kishangarh, the book embarks on an epic journey that sweeps through the death-giving deserts of Rajputana, the verdant valley of Kashmir and the glorious cosmopolis of Delhi, the craft of miniature painting and the art of carpet designing, scintillating musical performances and recurring paintings of mysterious, alluring women.

Pakistani author Bilal Tanweer is on the shortlist for his debut book "The Scatter Here Is Too Great", which won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for this year. Kamila Shamsie, also from Pakistan has been nominated for "A God in Every Stone" while Sri Lankan-born London based writer Romesh Gunesekera's "Noontide Toll" is also nominated.

Gunesekera was a finalist at the Man Booker Prize for his novel "Reef" in 1994. Keki Daruwalla, chair of the international five member jury said," Most of the novels grappled with socio-political realities on the ground. All of them did so in ways that were moving, challenging, and thought-provoking." The final winner of the award is set to be announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival. Previous winners of the DSC Prize include H M Naqvi from Pakistan for "Homeboy", Shehan Karunatilaka from Sri Lanka for "Chinaman", Jeet Thayil for "Narcopolis" and Cyrus Mistry for "Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer".

PTI