Judges announced for Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2012

Literary agent David Godwin, dancer, author and poet Tishani Doshi and author Basharat Peer will be the judges of the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2012.

In its fifth year, the prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees, and a trophy. Entries in the following genres were submitted: poetry, fiction (including graphic novels), creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography and narrative journalism), and drama.

A two-member advisory board will be short-listing 6 books published between June 1, 2011 and June 30, 2012, which will then be sent to the judges. The winner will be announced in the second half of November and the prize will be presented in December.

This year has seen a record number of 94 entries as opposed to last year's 66; the winner in 2011 was 79-year-old Jamil Ahmad for The Wandering Falcon.

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