JCB Prize for Literature long-list announced; Empire, Jasoda, Half the Night is Gone among selected works

The long-list of The JCB Prize for Literature was unveiled on 5 September and constitutes some of the most acclaimed works of the year. The JCB prize, awarded with Rs 25 lakh annually, was established in 2018 to honour distinguished works in fiction by Indian authors writing in English or translations by Indian writers.

Rana Dasgupta is the Literary Director for the JCB prize which will be announced on 27 October with the shortlist slated to come out on 3 October.

Ten books have been longlisted for the prize including Amitabha Bagchi’s Half The Night is Gone, Anuradha Roy’s All The Lives We Never Lived and Kiran Nagarkar’s Jasoda.

Juggernaut Books took to Twitter to congratulate three of their writers — Bagchi, Devi Yasodharan (Empire) and Benyamin (Jasmine Days) — who have been featured in the list.

Our excellent longlist all of which also happen to have beautiful covers! #TheJCBPrize pic.twitter.com/N1UBjEtcm7

— كاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكاكا (@kookykarthik) September 5, 2018

We are absolutely delighted to announce that three of our titles have made it to the JCB Prize longlist! Congratulations, Amitabha, @hype_atia and Benyamin! @TheJCBPrize pic.twitter.com/xpERaBsxbh

— juggernautbooks (@juggernautbooks) September 5, 2018

Other works on the list include Clouds by Chandrahas Choudhury, Nayantara Sahgal’s When the Moon Shines by Day, Poonachi by Perumal Murugan, Jeet Thayil’s The Book of Chocolate Saints and Latitudes of Longing by Shubhangi Swarup.

The jury was helmed by Deepa Mehta popular known for her directorial work on the Elements trilogy, Water, Fire and Earth.

.@IamDeepaMehta notes that the reason she agreed to head the jury is because #TheJCBPrize is more than the prize but about the longevity of these books. "These books will have a long life after the Prize," says @byranadasgupta pic.twitter.com/mRHSZyoBoS

— The JCB Prize for Literature (@TheJCBPrize) September 5, 2018