The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2011 - Winner

First-time author, 78, wins Shakti Bhatt prize

Jamil Ahmad has won the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2011 for his book The Wandering Falcon, published by Hamish Hamilton, an imprint of Penguin Books.





The Wandering Falcon had very strong competition from the other five titles on the shortlist, especially Shehan Karunatilaka's Chinaman and Aman Sethi's A Free Man. But the judges, graphic novelist and illustrator Sarnath Banerjee, writer and blogger Jai Arjun Singh, and short story writer Palash Mehrotra, felt there was a quality in The Wandering Falcon that could not be denied.

“The shortlist was a very strong one to begin with,” Singh said, “and the final decision wasn't easy, especially because these six books covered a range of themes and writing styles — it felt like a pity that they had to be in competition against each other. But the jury members are all happy with the final choice: 78-year-old Jamil Ahmad is probably among the oldest writers ever to win a First Book prize, and it's a well-deserved one.

“The Wandering Falcon is extraordinary for its intimate chronicling of the lives and struggles of the tribespeople who have long inhabited the borders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran — people whose codes of honour and discipline have repeatedly been run over by a rapidly modernising world. Ahmad creates empathy without excessively romanticising an old way of life. His prose has a quiet, unshowy beauty and he shows a talent for pure storytelling that would be the envy of many far more experienced novelists.”

Born in Jalandhar, Ahmad was a member of the civil service in Pakistan. He lives in Islamabad with his wife Helga Ahmad, an environmentalist and social worker, who was awarded the Fatima Jinnah Gold Medal in 2007.

Ahmad wins one lakh in prize money along with a trophy. The award ceremony will be held at 7 pm, 21st December 2011 at the British Council Auditorium, New Delhi.

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Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2011 shortlist:
A Free Man — Aman Sethi — Random House India
The Truth About Me — Revathi — Penguin Books
The Collaborator — Mirza Waheed — Penguin Viking
The Wandering Falcon — Jamil Ahmad — Hamish Hamilton
R.D.Burman The Man, The Music — Anirudha Bhattacharjee & Balaji Vittal — HarperCollins
Chinaman — Shehan Karunatilaka — Random House India

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Last year's winner was Samanth Subramanian for Following Fish. In 2009, Mridula Koshy's If It is Sweet won, and in 2008, it was Mohammed Hanif's A Case of Exploding Mangoes.

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The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust. It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages.

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For further information, mail shaktibhattprize AT gmail DOT com

The 2011 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize - Call for submissions

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation announces the 2011 SHAKTI BHATT FIRST BOOK PRIZE

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees. We invite entries in the following genres: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography, and narrative journalism) and drama.

A 2-member advisory board will shortlist 6 books published between July 1, 2010 and June 30, 2011. This year, the board includes poet and novelist Jeet Thayil, and writer and arts consultant Sanjay Iyer. The shortlisted books will be sent to the 2011 panel of judges: graphic novelist and illustrator Sarnath Bannerjee, writer and blogger Jai Arjun Singh, and novelist Palash Mehrotra.

The deadline for publishers/authors to send their entries is July 15, 2011. The winner will be announced in the second half of November. Prize presentation will take place in December.

Authors of Indian origin whose books have been published in India are eligible for the prize. Publications must be in English or translated into English from an Indian language. Books that have been published elsewhere and have already won prizes are eligible, though less likely to win. Vanity press publications are ineligible.

Books (3 copies) may be sent to the following address:
The Shakti Bhatt Foundation
8B Main Road
166/A Rajmahal Vilas Ext
Bangalore 560 080

Queries: shaktibhattprize AT gmail DOT com

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust set up by her family to keep her memory alive. It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages.

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2010 - Winner

Following Fish wins Shakti Bhatt prize

Samanth Subramanian's debut book Following Fish has won the 2010 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize.

Currently Deputy Editor at Mint, the New Delhi-based business newspaper, Subramanian has an undergraduate degree in journalism from Penn State University and a Master's in international relations from Columbia.

The six books in this year's shortlist were Homeboy by HM Naqvi; House on Mall Road by Mohyna Srinivasan; Songs of Blood and Sword, A Daughter's Memoir by Fatima Bhutto; The Wish Maker by Ali Sethi, and Delhi Calm by Vishwajyoti Ghosh. But the judges (playwright Mahesh Dattani, writer and surgeon Kalpana Swaminathan and novelist Ruchir Joshi) unanimously agreed on Following Fish.


“A delightful read, adventurous and unabashedly fun,” they said. “As Samanth Subramanian chases fish curry round coastal India, his instinct for the apt word and the telling phrase keeps the narrative taut. The book is full of colourful personalities – Subramanian brings us in close contact with people who charm and sometimes dismay, and each encounter seduces us with a new anecdote or a new dish. Comic, and picaresque, with many surprise nettings of wisdom, Following Fish is a sparkling debut by a talented writer.”

In its third year, the prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees and a trophy.

The award function will be held at the British Council, New Delhi, December 10 at 7.30pm.

Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize - Shortlist

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation has released its shortlist for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2010.
The six books are:
Home Boy, by H M Naqvi
The House on Mall Road, by Mohyna Srinivasan
Songs of Blood and Sword, A Daughter's Memoir, by Fatima Bhutto
The Wish Maker, by Ali Sethi
Dehi Calm, by Vishwajyoti Ghosh
Following Fish, by Samanth Subramanian

In its third year, the prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees and a trophy. The genres covered are poetry, fiction (including graphic novels), creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography and narrative journalism) and drama. The 3-member advisory board this year included journalist Anil Nair, IFA programme executive Sanjay Iyer and poet Jeet Thayil.

The shortlisted books will be sent to the 2010 panel of judges; they are playwright Mahesh Dattani, writer and surgeon Kalpana Swaminathan and novelist Ruchir Joshi.
The winner will be announced in the second half of November and the prize will be presented in December.

Last year's winner was Mridula Koshy for If It Is Sweet.

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust. It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages. For further information, mail shaktibhattprize AT gmail DOT com

The 2010 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize - Call for submissions

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation announces
The 2010 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize

In its third year, the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees. Entries in the following genres may be submitted: poetry, fiction (including graphic novels), creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography and narrative journalism) and drama. A 3-member advisory board will shortlist 6 books published between June 1, 2009 and June 30, 2010. This year, the board includes journalist Anil Nair, IFA programme executive Sanjay Iyer and poet Jeet Thayil. The shortlisted books will be sent to the 2010 panel of judges; they are playwright Mahesh Dattani, writer and surgeon Kalpana Swaminathan and novelist Ruchir Joshi. The winner will be announced in the second half of November and the prize will be presented in December. Last year's winner was Mridula Koshy for If It Is Sweet.

Authors from the subcontinent are eligible but books must be published in India. Publications must be in English or translated into English from an Indian language. Books that have been published elsewhere and have already won prizes are eligible, though less likely to win. Vanity press publications are ineligible.

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust. It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages. For further information, mail shaktibhattprize AT gmail DOT com

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2009 - Award Ceremony

14th December, 2009, British Council, New Delhi

Photos by Kavi Bhansali

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2009 - Winner

Delhi-based Mridula Koshy’s remarkable collection of short stories If It is Sweet (Westland-Tranquebar) is the winner of the 2009 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. She receives Rs 1 lakh and a trophy which will be presented by author/television anchor Sagarika Ghosh in New Delhi on December 14, 2009 at the British Council.

The other shortlisted titles this year were:

Arzee the Dwarf, Chandrahas Choudhury (HarperCollins); Hotel at the End of the World, Parismita Singh (Penguin); Eunuch Park, Palash Krishna Mehrotra (Penguin); Baulsphere, Mimlu Sen (Random House), and Atlas of Impossible Longing, Anuradha Roy (Picador).

The 2009 panel of judges was novelist Rana Dasgupta, editor Mukund Padmanabhan and writer/film-maker Arshia Sattar. Last year's winner was Pakistani author Mohammed Hanif for A Case of Exploding Mangoes.

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust set up by the late writer/editor's family to keep her memory alive. It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages.

The 2009 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize - Call for Nominations

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation invites nominations for the 2009 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize.

Last year's winner was Pakistani novelist Mohammed Hanif’s A Case of Exploding Mangoes.

• Entries may be in any genre: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography, and narrative journalism), and drama.
• All authors from the subcontinent are eligible but their books must be published in India.
• The books must be in English or translated into English from an Indian language.
• Books that have been published elsewhere and have already won prizes are eligible, though less likely to win.
• Vanity press publications are ineligible.

A 3-member advisory board will shortlist 6 books published between July 1, 2008 and June 30, 2009. This year, the board includes writers Anjum Hasan, Zac O'Yeah and poet Jeet Thayil. The shortlisted books will be sent to the 2009 panel of judges: novelist Rana Dasgupta, editor Mukund Padmanabhan and Professor Meenakshi Mukherji.

The winner will be announced in the second half of November and the prize presentation will take place in December 2009. The winner will receive a cash award of Rs One Lakh and a trophy.

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust set up by the late writer/editor's family to keep her memory alive. It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages.

For further information, contact shaktibhattprize@gmail.com

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2008 - The Winner

Pakistani writer Mohammed Hanif's A Case of Exploding Mangoes (Random House) was the winner of the inaugural Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2008. (The call for entries; the short list.)

MJ Akbar announced the winner at the British Council, New Delhi, on December 2, 2008. The announcement was followed by a reception (pictures below).

Reports: The Indian Express, DNA, The New Yorker

Anita Roy & Urvashi Butalia

Meenakshi Reddy & Rajni George

M J Akbar

Mohammed Hanif

Mohammed Hanif & MJ Akbar

Samit Basu, Meenakshi Reddy, Rajni George

Sarnath Bannerjee, Lesley Estevez, Mridula Susan Koshy

Sheela Bhatt & Neelam Gupta