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Anuk Arudpragasam wins DSC Prize for South Asian Literature

"The novel is impressive for its intensity and rich detail, and for exploring the tragic heart of war with such quiet eloquence."

New Delhi: Anuk Arudpragasam was announced winner of the DSC prize for South Asian literature 2017 at the Dhaka Lit Fest in Bangladesh for his debut novel The Story of a Brief Marriage on Saturday, November 18.

The Story of a Brief Marriage, is the story of a young man on the front lines between the Sri Lankan army and the Tamil Tigers. Author and jury chair Ritu Menon, calling it an outstanding novel, said, “The novel is impressive for its intensity and rich detail, and for exploring the tragic heart of war with such quiet eloquence. It is also a testament to the redemptive power of love, and to the human spirit’s capacity for hope.”

Arudpragasam, who is from Colombo and writes in English and Tamil, was awarded the $25,000 DSC prize by Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, finance minister of Bangladesh.


Also read: ‘The Story of A Brief Marriage’ Imagines the Life of Persecuted Tamils in Sri Lanka


The other shortlisted authors this year were Anjali Joseph’s The Living, Aravind Adiga’s Selection Day, Karan Mahajan’s The Association of Small Bombs and Stephen Alter’s In the Jungles of the Night.

This year marked the seventh year of the DSC prize, constituted in 2010 to focus specifically on writing about South Asia and its people.