H.M Naqvi wins the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature
H.M Naqvi - winner of the DSC prize for South Asian Literature
By Sona Hathi
The ever-slick and charismatic H.M Naqvi has been awarded the $50,000 DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, for his novel Home Boy.
Following a dramatic reading from his story about three young Pakistani men and their move to America, Naqvi received his award from Mr H.S Narula, Chairman of DSC Limited, at the Jaipur Literature Festival, Diggi Palace.
“Anyone of the short-listed authors could have and should have been the winner”, said a very pleased Naqvi. He explained that the novel has been the result of seven years of working till 6am. Avoiding the temptation to deliver a long acceptance speech, he exclaimed: “It’s about time we South Asians got our own literary prize!”
The judging panel included Moni Mohsin, Lord Matthew Evans, Ian Jack, Amitava Kumar and Nilanjana Roy. Offering some insight into the experience of judging for literary prizes, Ian Jack said “The judges who decide the literary world’s most loved prizes may not always get it right, and they may not pick the most popular, but they have integrity and respect for the writers.” He went on to remind the audience: “Writing even a bad book is hard work.”
Naqvi beat five other shortlisted authors, who were announced at the Globe Theatre, London as part of the DSC South Asian Literature Festival (UK) in October 2010. They were: Neel Mukherjee for A Life Apart, Tania James for Atlas of Unknowns, Manju Kapur for The Immigrant, Musharraf Ali Farooqi for The Story of a Widow and Amit Chaudhuri for The Immortals.
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