SRINAGAR: Kashmir novelist, Mirza Waheed’s novel Tell Her Everything has won The Hindu Prize 2019. The nonfiction category prize has gone to Santanu Das’s India, Empire, and First World War Culture: Writings, Images and Songs.
The jury, according to a report published in the Hindu for fiction comprised diplomat and author Navtej Sarna, author and columnist Nilanjana Roy, author Pradeep Sebastian, researcher and translator J Devika and professor Rajeswari Sunder Rajan.
Mirza Waheed, a Kashmiri author who now lives in London, made his debut with his novel; The Collaborator in 2011 and it was a gripping story of author’s upbringing and the turmoil. He later wrote The Book of Gold Leaves in 2014. His Tell Her Everything was published in 2019.
Thank you very much, everyone. I’m grateful to the judges for the recognition.
I’ll receive the prize by post.Please stay home. pic.twitter.com/MOwU0QlHZO
— Mirza Waheed (@MirzaWaheed) March 26, 2020
“An extraordinary work of fiction whose complexity, depth and narrative mastery would be hard to match in contemporary world literature,” The Hindu quoted the citation for Waheed’s novel reading, describing it as “a compelling novel, both a narrative tour de force and an exploration of a profound existential and moral conundrum.”
Instituted in 2019, the Hindu Prize honours writers who have spent their lifetime mining the human spirit through their words and ideas. The prize is usually awarded at a ceremony during The Hindu’s annual literature festival Lit For Life. However, the 2020 edition had to be cancelled due to a challenging environment. An award ceremony to be held on March 28 was also cancelled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
