The Shakti Bhatt Foundation has announced its shortlist for the Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2012. Longlist judges, poet/author Jeet Thayil and writer/arts consultant Sanjay Iyer, sifted through a record 96 books to come up with the final six. The shortlisted books will be sent to the 2012 panel of judges: literary agent David Godwin, poet and novelist Tishani Doshi, and author Basharat Peer. The winner will be announced in the second half of November and the prize will be presented in December. Last year’s winner was Jamil Ahmad’s The Wandering Falcon .
The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust. It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages. For further information, mail shaktibhattprize@gmail.com
Shortlist
1. Tamasha in Bandargaon by Navneet Jagannathan (Tranquebar)
2. The Purple Line by Priyamvada Purushottam (HarperCollins)
3. The King in Exile by Sudha Shah (HarperCollins)
4. The Inexplicable Unhappiness of Ramu Hajjam by Taj Hassan (Hachette)
5. Taj Mahal Foxtrot by Naresh Fernandes (Roli Books)
6. Calcutta Exile by Bunny Suraiya (HarperCollins)
