Five poets have been shortlisted for the inaugural Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry to be given away at the annual Khushwant Singh Literature Festival, set in the hills of Kasauli.
The five shortlisted books include "Escape Artist" by Sridala Swami, "Central Time" by Ranjit Hoskote, "When God is a Traveller" by Arundhathi Subramaniam, "Fire Altar" by Keki N Daruwalla ans "Selected Poems" by Joy Goswami translated by Sampurna Chattarji.
The award, worth Rs 2 lakh, was established earlier this year by Suhel Seth, the founder of the prize in memory of the late Sardar Khushwant Singh and is open to Indian poets writing in English or Indian language translation to English.
Seth announced the shortlist at the Kasauli Literature Festival following deliberations by an eminent jury, comprising Ashok Vajpeyi, Jeet Thayil, Namita Gokhale, Pavan K Varma and Soli Sorabjee.
"The Khushwant Singh Prize aims to promote poetry across all Indian languages in celebration of the genre that was very close to his heart," Seth said.
Namita Gokhale, author, Prize Judge and co-Director of the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival said, "The Khushwant Singh Memorial Prize for Poetry will promote the visibility, appreciation and understanding of the poetic sensibility. We at the ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival applaud this important new literary award."
The final winner of the prize is scheduled to be awarded at the ZEE Jaipur Literary Festival, which runs from January 21-25, 2015.
The selection was made from among the nominated books of poetry by a single author published between 15 September 2013 and 15 September 2014.
Translations from Indian languages into English published in this period were also eligible, and there is one translated work in the shortlist.
