Anjali Joseph shortlisted for Desmond Elliott prize
By Vivienne Egan and Radha Spratt
Bombay born Anjali Joseph has been shortlisted for the £10,000 Desmond Elliott prize for a first novel published in the UK, with Stephen Kelman and Ned Beauman also making the tightly-contested cut with their novels Pigeon English and Boxer, Beetle, respectively.
Edward Stourton, on behalf of the judges described Joseph’s novel SaraswatiPark as a “subtle… and finely woven” story about Bombay, family, self-discovery and the yearning to write.
Born in 1978 in Bombay, Joseph has deep links to the UK as well as India, having read English at Trinity College Cambridge and completed an MA in Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia in 2008. Her impressive CV includes stints writing for the Times of India and working as commissioning editor for ELLE Magazine in India.
Beauman is also a journalist and writes for Dazed & Confused magazine. Both he and Joseph were working as journalists when they wrote their first novels, while Kelman was a civil servant just made redundant when he was snapped up by Bloomsbury.
Joseph is backed by book-makers William Hill at 6/4 odds. Spokesman Graham Sharpe said, “All three would be worthy winners – an old racing saying advises ‘always back the outsider in a three horse race.’”
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