GANGTOK, 18 Nov: Chetan Raj Shreshtha of Sikkim has won the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award 2013 in the fiction category. Chetan’s debut book ‘The King’s Harvest’ published by Aleph Book Company was released in June earlier this year.
The Tata Literature Live! First Book Award is an annual award to encourage, recognise and celebrate first-time writers in English in the Indian literary space, across the fiction and non-fiction genres. Works were judged for excellence, originality and accessibility, as well as promise.
The winners were announced and presented the award at the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 2013 on Sunday. However, Chetan could not attend the function and sent a message saying, “I know how to write but I don’t know what to say. I would just like to thank everyone who has given me this prestigious award”.
The winner in the non-fiction category was Ananya Vajpeyi, a senior fellow with the American Institute of Indian Studies, for her book, ‘Righteous Republic’, published by Harvard University Press.
The Tata website describes Chetan’s book as “Magical, gritty, nerve-wracking and stylish in equal measure, this is an exceptional debut. His literary skills make the picturesque region of Sikkim come alive, and the thrill of human emotions are so well etched out in the story, that readers live vicariously as they read the story”.
Dr Mukund Rajan, brand custodian, Tata Sons, presented the award along with cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each. This year the jury comprised veteran author Sir Mark Tully, social commentator Santosh Desai, senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, Landmark COO Ashutosh Pandey, and festival director Anil Dharker.
Other authors shortlisted in the fiction category were Shovan Chowdhury, a Delhi-based amateur humorist, for ‘The Competent Authority'; and Srikumar Sen, ex-journalist from The Times for ‘The Skinning Tree’.
Last year, there was only one category, where the author of ‘Breakout Nations’, Ruchir Sharma, won the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award.
iN Conversation WITH CHETAN RAJ SHRESTHA
“…unreal and intimidating, but in a pleasant sort of way”
NOW: The award within six months of the book release. How does it feel?
CHETAN: It feels unreal and intimidating, but in a pleasant sort of way. The more people read the book the better it is for the writer in me, and this is one of the ways in which that will happen.
After years of literary marginalisation, Sikkim appears to have exploded in the publishing scene. Being one of the products of this coming of age of sorts, do you have any theories on how this has happened and why this is happening now?
I wouldn’t call it an explosion, but yes, there is a presence. It has a lot to do with the language we’re writing in i.e English, and also a fair debt is owed to the number of weeklies, dailies and monthlies there are in Sikkim, which gave and continue to give a lot of young writers opportunities and practice.
And what do you feel the future holds?
I wish I knew.
How have the months since the book release been like?
It’s been quiet really. My friends have stopped looking at me with strange expressions. The book continues to sell in steady dribbles but otherwise things are the same.
What should your readers prepare for next?
I’m working on a collection of stories. We’ve kept the tentative date of release as March 2015. So that gives me time.
Some words for the people at Tata Literature Live First Book Award:
I thank the jury for considering The King’s Harvest good enough to merit a prize. It is strange that something written alone should find such resonance, but it is a clamour for which I am grateful. It began in 2011, when Ravi Singh read and liked some stories that came his way. After I wrote the novellas, the book was midwifed with care by the folks at Aleph, who ensured that my debut was a stylish one. The book would not have been possible without the gentle people of Sikkim, none of whom have accused me of slander. And it owes everything to Sikkim’s landscape, for it is the fount from which all our stories spring.
The Tata Literature Live! First Book Award is an annual award to encourage, recognise and celebrate first-time writers in English in the Indian literary space, across the fiction and non-fiction genres. Works were judged for excellence, originality and accessibility, as well as promise.
The winners were announced and presented the award at the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest 2013 on Sunday. However, Chetan could not attend the function and sent a message saying, “I know how to write but I don’t know what to say. I would just like to thank everyone who has given me this prestigious award”.
The winner in the non-fiction category was Ananya Vajpeyi, a senior fellow with the American Institute of Indian Studies, for her book, ‘Righteous Republic’, published by Harvard University Press.
The Tata website describes Chetan’s book as “Magical, gritty, nerve-wracking and stylish in equal measure, this is an exceptional debut. His literary skills make the picturesque region of Sikkim come alive, and the thrill of human emotions are so well etched out in the story, that readers live vicariously as they read the story”.
Dr Mukund Rajan, brand custodian, Tata Sons, presented the award along with cash prize of Rs 1 lakh each. This year the jury comprised veteran author Sir Mark Tully, social commentator Santosh Desai, senior journalist Dileep Padgaonkar, Landmark COO Ashutosh Pandey, and festival director Anil Dharker.
Other authors shortlisted in the fiction category were Shovan Chowdhury, a Delhi-based amateur humorist, for ‘The Competent Authority'; and Srikumar Sen, ex-journalist from The Times for ‘The Skinning Tree’.
Last year, there was only one category, where the author of ‘Breakout Nations’, Ruchir Sharma, won the Tata Literature Live! First Book Award.
“…unreal and intimidating, but in a pleasant sort of way”
NOW: The award within six months of the book release. How does it feel?
CHETAN: It feels unreal and intimidating, but in a pleasant sort of way. The more people read the book the better it is for the writer in me, and this is one of the ways in which that will happen.
After years of literary marginalisation, Sikkim appears to have exploded in the publishing scene. Being one of the products of this coming of age of sorts, do you have any theories on how this has happened and why this is happening now?
I wouldn’t call it an explosion, but yes, there is a presence. It has a lot to do with the language we’re writing in i.e English, and also a fair debt is owed to the number of weeklies, dailies and monthlies there are in Sikkim, which gave and continue to give a lot of young writers opportunities and practice.
And what do you feel the future holds?
I wish I knew.
How have the months since the book release been like?
It’s been quiet really. My friends have stopped looking at me with strange expressions. The book continues to sell in steady dribbles but otherwise things are the same.
What should your readers prepare for next?
I’m working on a collection of stories. We’ve kept the tentative date of release as March 2015. So that gives me time.
Some words for the people at Tata Literature Live First Book Award:
I thank the jury for considering The King’s Harvest good enough to merit a prize. It is strange that something written alone should find such resonance, but it is a clamour for which I am grateful. It began in 2011, when Ravi Singh read and liked some stories that came his way. After I wrote the novellas, the book was midwifed with care by the folks at Aleph, who ensured that my debut was a stylish one. The book would not have been possible without the gentle people of Sikkim, none of whom have accused me of slander. And it owes everything to Sikkim’s landscape, for it is the fount from which all our stories spring.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Readers are invited to comment on, criticise, run down, even appreciate if they like something in this blog. Comments carrying abusive/ indecorous language and personal attacks, except when against the people working on this blog, will be deleted. It will be exciting for all to enjoy some earnest debates on this blog...