Kashmir Wire
Srinagar
Anuk Arudpragasam, the Sri Lankan author, whose debut novel The Story of a Brief Marriage won the 2017 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, has donated one-third of his prize to the victims of the violence in the region. He dedicated his donation to Northern Sri Lanka, Rohingya Muslims and Kashmir, media reports from Dhaka said.
Colombo born Arudpragasam’s novel is about the marriages and deaths in chronic Sri Lankan Tamil and Sinhala belts.
The prize that was handed over to him by Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhithon Saturday includes a cash of $ 25,000 (Rs 16 lakh). It was announced at the Dhaka Literature Festival.
Within minutes after the award was announced, Arudpragasam thanked the jury and said one-third of the prize money will go to the organisations working for northern Sri Lankans, Rohingya Muslims and Kashmiris.
The Story of a Brief Marriage, reports said, was seen by the jury as “the arrival of an extraordinary new literary voice”. Granta Books has published the novel.
The Prize instituted by Surina Narula and Manhad Narula in 2010, is considered to be one of the most prestigious international literary awards specifically focused on South Asian writing.
