The Hindu Literary Prize goes to Jerry Pinto

Em and the Big Hoom is written in English as Indian vernacular

February 17, 2013 09:51 pm | Updated November 17, 2021 12:25 pm IST - Chennai

Actor Sharmila Tagore, giving away `The Hindu Literary Prieze’ to Jerry Pinto at the concluding day of the literature festival `The Hindu Lit For Life’ held at Sir Mutha Venkatasubbarao Hall in Chennai on Sunday. Photo: S.S.Kumar

Actor Sharmila Tagore, giving away `The Hindu Literary Prieze’ to Jerry Pinto at the concluding day of the literature festival `The Hindu Lit For Life’ held at Sir Mutha Venkatasubbarao Hall in Chennai on Sunday. Photo: S.S.Kumar

Journalist-author Jerry Pinto has bagged The Hindu Literary Prize 2012 for his novel Em and the Big Hoom . The book, published by Aleph Book Co, is Mr. Pinto’s first work of fiction and is set in Mahim, Mumbai. It revolves around how a four-member family copes with the mother’s manic depressive condition and her suicidal ideation.

The others in the final round of contention for the prestigious prize were the Man-Booker-Prize-shortlisted author Jeet Thayil for Narcopolis , Kiran Nagarkar for The Extras , Anjum Hasan for Difficult Pleasures and Easterine Kire for Bitter Wormwood . Representing the jury, activist-scholar Susie Tharu explained how difficult it was choosing just one (work) from a splendid array of riches.

Em and the Big Hoom , as a story about a young man and his mother, was as archetypal a story as one could get, and was an amazing exploration through life, an entry into the world of those who were always toppling over the edge, she said.

The novel, “written in English as Indian vernacular,” was also a rare example of someone who had worked through an experience going on to create a work of fiction to share that experience with the world.

The former chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification, Sharmila Tagore, presented the award to Mr. Pinto.

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Pinto said, “Things don’t get better than this,” referring to the award being conferred in a city that had produced a great newspaper and being presented the prize by Ms. Tagore.

Mr. Pinto also made an impassioned plea to uphold and protect freedom of speech and expression in the country with its magnificent history of thinking and writing.

Sponsors & Partners:

The Hindu Lit for Life is presented by VGN and powered by VIT University.

Associate Sponsors: Shriram Chits

Official Car Partner: Volvo

Bookstore Partner: Landmark

Hospitality Partner: The Leela Palace, Chennai

Event Partner: Aura

Radio Partner: Chennai Live

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.