New Delhi: The shortlist of the 2021 JCB Prize for literature, which was announced on Monday, October 4, is dominated by debut novels with three of the five nominated books being written by first time authors.The debut works on the list include Name Place Animal Thing by Daribha Lyndem, The Plague Upon Us by Shabir Ahmed Mir and Gods and Ends by Lindsay Pereira.The Rs 25 lakh prize is awarded each year to a distinguished work of fiction by an Indian writer. It is the most expensive Indian award for writing.The list also features two works of translation: Anti-Clock by V. J. James, and Delhi: A Soliloquy by M. Mukundan, both of which have been translated from Malayalam.These five were chosen from a longlist of 10 books, which was announced last month.The jury of five judges included author and literary translator Sara Rai (Chair), designer and art historian Annapurna Garimella, author and translator Shahnaz Habib, journalist and editor Prem Panicker and writer and podcaster Amit Varma.Also Read: JCB Prize: Six Debut Writers, 3 Malayalam Translations on Longlist“Presenting a cross section of the multiple diversities in India, the five novels on this year’s shortlist speak in layered voices often laced with irony. Inventive and insightful in the way only literature can be, they create disparate worlds, each a microcosm with larger resonances and significance,” Rai said. “The anguish of Kashmir, the turbulence of ethnic conflict in the north-east, the disharmony of lives spent in narrow social and psychological confines, each with their specific difficulties the novels dive deep into these particular, ordinary lives and come up having discovered in them the extraordinary.”Each of the five shortlisted authors will receive Rs 1 lakh and, in case of the translated works, the translator will also receive Rs 50,000.“Things are looking up slowly and there are a few things that have kept us going through these times: empathy, love, art. The publishing industry has powered on in bringing a treasure trove of literature from all regions of India to the forefront to reach out to readers here and throughout the world,” said the prize’s literary director, Mita Kapur. “Now more than ever, we need to listen to the other, lose ourselves in a new story. These books will spirit you away to worlds unknown, yet familiar in the emotions each human heart shares with the other.”The final winner of the Rs 25 lakh prize will be announced on November 13. In case the winning entry is a translation, the translator will be awarded Rs 10 lakh.