Out of Print authors at the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature was announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival last night. Prior to revealing that Shehan Karunatilaka’s Chinaman was the winner, the shortlisted authors read from their works, In the case of the novels in Kannada and Hindi, their translators followed the readings in the original text.

Two authors who’ve honoured Out of Print with their work, U R Anathamurthy with Apoorva and K R Usha with Sepia Tones were on that shortlist.  We are very proud.

‘Touch it, touch it, touch it,’ begins the passage that was read from Bharathipura, which addresses caste and untouchability. And in Kannada, read by Professor Ananthamurthy’s daughter, ‘Mutti, mutti, mutti.’

K R Usha read from her latest book, Monkey Man, paragraphs that set the tone of combined curiosity and anxiety that strike the fine citizens of Bangalore when a creature, squat and hairy and monstrous appears on their horizon.