IN BRIEF Q&A Questions Tom Tivnan
TT Can you tell us why the JCB Literature Prize was set up,
and how you became involved?
RD It was Lord [Anthony] Bamford, chairman of JCB, who initially floated the idea of an Indian literary prize. JCB then reached out to me. As soon as I understood the company’s very serious, long-term intentions, I wanted to get involved. I’d wanted to see a great prize in India for a long time, but these kind of opportunities hardly ever present themselves. JCB wanted nothing other than to create a significant cultural legacy in a country where they had a 40-year history, and the conversation was always, from the beginning, about literature, writers and readers.
What are the long-term goals of the prize? Is its primary goal to boost Indian literary fiction domestically, abroad, or a combination of the two? The prize exists to enhance the prestige and the commercial success of contemporary Indian literature. Our primary efforts are directed within India, where literary fiction oſten goes completely unnoticed. Prizes such as the Booker, the Nobel and the Pulitzer are the only ones driving sales, and India’s literary celebri- ties are among those who have won such prizes. This prize will look harder at the great variet of writing in India today, and seek to bring to prominence literary figures whose extraordinary work has not received international acclaim. A major part of this is
16 12th October 2018
Q&A Rana Dasgupta
Rana Dasgupta
Novelist; literary director, JCB Prize for Literature
Te British Indian writer explains how a prize backed by a construction giant is enhancing the prestige and commercial success of contemporary Indian literature
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32