Two Indian women writers longlisted for Dylan Thomas Prize

Madhuri Vijay’s The Far Field and Meena Kandasamy’s Exquisite Cadavers are among the seven novels, three poetry books, and two short story collections long-listed for this year’s Dylan Thomas Prize worth 30,000 pounds.

While Vijay’s debut novel, which has already bagged several awards including the JCB Prize for Literature, Tata Literature Live First Book Award and Crossword Book Award, follows a young woman’s search for a lost figure from her childhood, taking her from southern India to Kashmir, Kandasamy’s book is about a young couple navigating through love in London.

The Dylan Thomas Prize, in partnership with Swansea University, celebrates the international world of fiction in all its forms including poetry, novels, short stories and drama.

One of UK’s most prestigious literary prizes, it is awarded for the best published literary work in the English language, written by an author aged 39 or under.

It is named after the Swansea-born writer Dylan Thomas.

“One of the most influential, internationally-renowned writers of the mid-twentieth century, the prize invokes his memory to support the writers of today and nurture the talents of tomorrow,” the prize committee said in a statement.

The other longlisted books include Surge by Jay Bernard, Fleche by Mary Jean Chan, Things We Say in the Dark by Kirsty Logan, Black Car Burning by Helen Mort, Virtuoso by Yelena Moskovich, Inland by Tea Obreht, Stubborn Archivist by Yara Rodrigues Fowler, If All the World and Love were Young by Stephen Sexton, On Earth Were Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong, and Lot by Bryan Washington.

The shortlist will be announced on April 7, and the winner will be declared on May 14 at Swansea Universitys Great Hall.