JCB Prize for Literature 2020: Annie Zaidi, debut novelist Megha Majumdar among writers longlisted for the literary award

The longlist for the 2020 JCB Prize for Literature was announced on 1 September, with a mix of debut novels and translations among the ten books contending for the prestigious literary award.

Making the cut in a longlist dominated by women authors is Manjul Bajaj, for her work In Search of Heer, a love story of the musically gifted Deedho Ranjha and the spirited Heer Syal set along the riverbanks of West Punjab. Another novel on the list, a poignant narrative of a household set against the simmering backdrop of the turmoil of 1980s Assam is Janhavi Barua’s Undertow.

While debut novelists such as Dharini Bhaskar and Megha Majumdar are among the writers longlised for the prize, translated works such as S Hareesh’s Moustache and Ashoke Mukhopadhay’s A Ballad of a Remittent Fever will also be among the works of fiction competing for the award.

Four debut novels, two translations, and a longlist dominated by women— discover the ten greatest novels of the year as the jury unveil #TheJCBPrizeLonglist2020 https://t.co/QKtrNbViW6

— The JCB Prize for Literature (@TheJCBPrize) September 1, 2020

Deepa Anappara’s Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line and Annie Zaidi’s Prelude to a Riot have also made it into the 2020 longlist. The jury, chaired by author and professor Tejaswini Niranjana said of Zaidi’s work,“With its many sharp insights into how people turn against those they have known for a very long time, Prelude to a Riot is filled with a sense of foreboding. Annie Zaidi takes the risk of adopting a very unusual narrative style and succeeds.”

Of the longlist, chosen from a vast number of entries spanning nine languages, the jury observed, “The 2020 longlist provides us with fresh insights into the contemporary world we live in even if some of them are set in historical times. At the end the issue that remained with us during our final discussion was that of memorability. Whether it was the memorability of the plot itself, the memorability of the writing or that of the characters, which of these books do we remember?”

In 2019, it was Madhuri Vijay who was awarded this prize for her work, The Far Field, the story of a young woman, Shalini, from the city of Bengaluru whose quest to solve the mystery behind her mother’s death takes her to the faraway mountains in the troubled northern region of Kashmir.

The JCB Literature Prize is awarded every year to a distinguished Indian author for a work of fiction with the winner taking home the handsome purse of Rs 25 lakh and the translator an amount of Rs 50, 000. The shortlist for the 2020 prize will be announced on 25 September.

Longlist for the JCB Prize for Literature 2020:

Deepa Anappara — Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line

Manjul Bajaj — In Search of Heer

Annie Zaidi — Prelude to a Riot

Tanuj Solanki — The Machine is Learning 

Ashoke Mukhopadhay — A Ballad of Remittent Fever 

Samit Basu — Chosen Spirits 

Dharini Bhaskar — These, Our Bodies, Possessed by Light 

S Hareesh — Moustache 

Megha Majumdar — A Burning