Journalist and author Raghu Karnad wins $165,000 Windham-Campbell Prize
Friday, March 15, 2019 IST
Karnad won the prize in the non-fiction category for his book, ‘Farthest Field’, about India’s role in World War II.
Delhi-based journalist and author Raghu Karnad was announced as one of eight recipients of
Yale University’s Windham-Campbell Prize this year, in London. One of the world’s most lucrative literary awards, the prize is open to English language writers from across the world, with each winner receiving $165,000 to support their writing.
Karnad was named as a winner in the non-fiction category of the prize for his debut book,
Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the Second World War, published in 2015. Panning across Singapore, Eritrea, Libya, El Alamein, Basra, Arakan and Imphal, Farthest Field tells the story of three men from the same family serving in the Indian Army during World War II. Calling it an “epic of un-forgetting”, the prize lauded Karnad’s writing for combining forensic archival research with “imaginative fire and unsettling national and colonial histories”.
Karnad said, “I am still a bit stunned. But it is a thrill that this obscure and untold chapter of history, which deserves so much more attention, caught the attention of this awesome institution and jury.”
Established in 2013 after writer Donald Windham left his estate to Yale University, the Windham-Campbell Prize does not have a submission process and is judged anonymously, with winners only finding out through a phone call from director of the prize. The literary award aims to “call attention to literary achievements” and allow writers to “focus on their work independent of financial concerns”.
American writer Rebecca Solnit was named as the other winner in this year’s non-fiction category. The winners for fiction are Irish short story write Danielle McLaughlin and Canadian novelist David Chariandy. Ghanian poet Kwame Dawes and Ishion Hutchinson from Jamaica won for poetry and Australian playwright Patricia Cornelius and Korean-American director and playwright Young Jean Lee won in the Drama category.
Past winners of the prize include Jerry Pinto, Maya Jasanoff, Teju Cole and Geoff Dyer.
Related Topics
Related News & Articles
New Delhi: In a stunning occurrence, Indian para-athlete Kanchanmala Pande was compelled to ask in Berlin subsequent to coming up short on cash as the money endorse...
Recently posted . 597 views . 28 min read
A senior Punjab journalist KJ Singh and his mother were found dead in their house in Mohali on Saturday in what police believe to be a case of murder.
Mo...
Recently posted . 1K views . 9 min read
The woman alleged she caught the man red-handed after which she beat him with her slippers, restrained him inside the bus and dialled the police control room.
Recently posted . 633 views . 1 min read
Gauri Lankesh, a senior South Dravidian journalist celebrated for her criticism of Hindu ideology, was shot dead at her home on weekday evening.
Accordin...
Recently posted . 733 views . 24 min read
ALLAHABAD: The Kumbh Mela authority on Saturday set one more Guinness World Record by undertaking massive sanitation works. Two earlier records w...
Recently posted . 546 views . 2 min read
Trending News & Articles
While the Uttarakhand High Court has asked to block 857 websites, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) found 30 portals without any pornographic content.
...
Recently posted . 61K views . 1 min read
The four boys as well as five school officials, including the director and principal, were arrested after the incident. The minors were presented before the Juvenil...
Recently posted . 8K views . 1 min read
Rahul was having an Italian passport and was carrying suitcase full of dollars. Some say it was about was it $2 million.
Rahul and his girl friend was th...
Recently posted . 7K views . 7 min read
True – Tr...
Recently posted . 6K views . 83 min read
More in National
In an offered to make India ‘economically independent’, Yoga guru Ramdev and his associate Acharya Balkrishna of the home-developed FMCG company, Patanj...
Recently posted. 840 views . 19 min read
Cites historical deprivation, calls on Supreme Court to revisit 2006 Nagaraj ruling
Recently posted. 559 views . 0 min read
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday addressed the inauguration of Golden Jubilee Year of the Institute of Company Secretaries (ICSI) in New Delhi, emphasisi...
Recently posted. 685 views . 2 min read
Recently posted . 847 views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views
Recently posted . 1K views . 31 min read
Recently posted . 1K views . 19 min read
MP home minister Bhupendra Singh believes pornography is the “main cause” for rapes in the state and has written to the Centre on Monday to ban access t...
Recently posted. 573 views . 1 min read
Images of a wax statue museum in Ludhiana, Punjab triggered a wave of jokes and mocking comments.
Recently posted. 731 views . 0 min read