Mohsin Hamid, Cyrus Mistry shortlisted for literature prize

Cyrus Mistry's 'Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer', Mohsin Hamid's 'How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia' and Nayomi Munaweera's 'Island of a Thousand Mirrors' have been shortlisted for the DSC South Asian Literature Prize 2014.

Apart from these, Nadeem Aslam's 'The Blind Man's Garden' and two translations 'Book of Destruction' by Anand and Benyamin's 'Goat Days' will also be vying for the prize money of $50,000.

The list was announced Wednesday in London at a ceremony.

The jury consisting of editor-writer Antara Dev Sen, translator-writer Ameena Saiyid, British journalist Rosie Boycott and Paul Yamazaki, a veteran bookseller in the US, shortlisted the six books from a long list of 15.

"It is not easy to judge literature. Gut response is justified by fixing criteria, focusing on style, idiom, theme, plot, structure, characterisation, originality and other factors," Antara Dev Sen said.

"The longlisted books were enchantingly diverse in subject, treatment and style. We were forced to abandon some superbly crafted, smart and stylish novels as we chose six beautiful books," she added.

The winner will be announced at the Jaipur Literature Festival in January.

Sen also mentioned the shortlisted books will be opening onto the complexity of the South Asian experience.

"There are stories of poverty, conflict, terrorism, migration, caste prejudice and gender discrimination," she added.

The prize is now in its fourth edition, and H.M. Naqvi from Pakistan, Shehan Karunatilaka from Sri Lanka and Jeet Thayil from India have been its previous winners.

The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature celebrates the rich and varied world of literature of the South Asian region. Authors could belong to this region through birth or be of any ethnicity but the writing should pertain to the South Asian region in terms of content and theme.

This prize was instituted in 2010 by its founder, Surina Narula.