Crest Pair
The competition between rival litfests and litprizes is getting fiercer. When the Tibor Jones South Asia prize was set up last year, the idea was to announce the winner of the Rs 1 lakh prize for the most promising unpublished book at the Jaipur litfest. But the demand for a high payment in pounds for a 10-minute slot caused the Tibor Jones organisers to shift the venue for the prize announcement to a private home in Delhi. Prize organisers don’t like ties, but the judges prevailed and the first prize goes to two authors: Rohit Manchanda, award-winning author of In The Light Of The Black Sun, for his yet-to-be published A Place In Mind, and Srikumar Sen for The Skinning Tree.
Building An Award
The other reason the Jaipur litfest wasn’t keen on the Tibor Jones prize announcement was because they did not want to take away attention from the DSC prize. Not that there’s any comparison: While Tibor Jones offers a shot at the East Anglia creative writing programme and representation by the London literary agency as part of the prize package, dsc doesn’t bother with all that—half an hour of the limelight at the Jaipur litfest is better than any literary representation. Not to speak of the whopping prize amount of $50,000.
Unsuitable Call
All’s fair when it comes to poaching stars from rival litfests. Hearing that Vikram Seth had confirmed his attendance at the Kolkata Literary Meet, which follows directly after the Jaipur litfest, organisers tried to persuade The Suitable Boy to drop in at Jaipur as well. But Seth, experienced in the way litfests wield clout by the stars they can summon, turned down Jaipur litfest’s last-minute invitation.
