Anuradha Roy wins DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

Anuradha Roy was presented with the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016 for her novel “Sleeping on Jupiter” at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival in Galle, Sri Lanka on Saturday. File photo

India’s Anuradha Roy has won the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016 for her novel, Sleeping on Jupiter , which deals with the subject of violence against women.

At the Fairway Galle Literary Festival in Galle, about 130 km south of Colombo, Sri Lanka Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Saturday presented her the prize, which carried a cash award of $50,000 and a trophy, according to a release.

Mark Tully, chair of the jury, said: “We chose

Sleeping on Jupiter by Anuradha Roy because of its elegance, flair and readability. It raises many issues succinctly and with commendable economy of words.”

Other authors and novels in contention for this year’s prize were: Akhil Sharma (

Family Life ); K.R. Meera ( Hangwoman ) [translated by J. Devika]; Mirza Waheed ( The Book of Gold Leaves ), Neel Mukherjee ( The Lives of Others ) and Raj Kamal Jha ( She Will Build Him A City ).

Now in its sixth edition, the DSC Prize received 74 entries this time with participation from publishers from the South Asian region as well as from countries such as the U.K., U.S., Canada, Australia and South Africa.

For this year’s prize, the jury included Mr. Tully; Dennis Walder, emeritus professor of literature at the Open University, U.K.; Karen Allman, book seller; Neloufer de Mel, senior professor of English at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and Syed Manzoorul Islam, writer-critic from Bangladesh.

Mr. Wickremesinghe talked of the crucial role that the South Asian creative writing could play to improve the lives of the people living in the region. Surina Narula, co-founder of the DSC Prize, said the prize remained focused on recognising and showcasing the immense talent writing about the region.