Maximum Shortlist
Some publishers have lost no time in trumpeting how many books from their stable are on the Commonwealth prize shortlist. Right now, nearly every major publishing house in India has at least one contender, with HarperCollins bagging two: Solo by Rana Dasgupta is in the fight for Best Book award, while Arzee the Dwarf is up for best first book. Random House has In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin (for first book), Picador has The Immortals by Amit Chaudhuri (Best Book), while Penguin has For Pepper and Christ by Keki Daruwalla (Best Book). Before we get excited, let’s keep in mind that this sho-rtlist is even longer than Man Asian’s notoriously overstretched longlist. A total of 28 books are up for each of the two prizes, and the “real” shortlist of four finalists for each of the awards we’ll only know on March 1.
Heavy Duty Again
Incidentally, one of the six judges for the Commonwealth prize finals on April 12 is jnu academic and poet Makarand Paranjape. The author of 20 books and many papers with intimidating titles like The End of Postcolonialism and The Absent Postcolonial in Postcolonial Discourse, Paranjape has already twice served as regional chair of the prize.
No Reply, No Exit
Talking of the Man Asian, whatever’s happened? Eager aspirants, their agents and publishers have been trying to send in entries for this year, but there’s no announcement about the opening and closing dates. Can it have shut down? A chilling thought—think of how many debut books won’t sport “longlisted for Man Asian” on the jacket anymore!
