Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2021-22 announces shortlists across two categories

Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize headquartered in Copenhagen Denmark debuted in April 2018 in New Delhi, India has been founded as a platform to promote World Peace, Literature, Art, Education and Human Rights. It has two-fold purposes: as an honourable legacy to Rabindranath Tagore Literature Prize for the finest in Indian literature, and to recognize the positive and lasting impact on society and its change with Social Achievement Prize.

 

The Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2021 winner is entitled to USD 5000 and a Rabindranath Tagore statuette. The Social Achievement Prize winner will receive a Rabindranath Tagore statuette.

 

Last year Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020-21 in Literature was awarded to Raj Kamal Jha for his literary novel “The City and the Sea ’’. Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2020 for Social Achievement was awarded to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said, the late Sultan of Oman and The People of Oman, for his astounding lifelong efforts and legacy as a peacemaker, and to the world-renowned dancer choreographer Sandip Soparrkar for his worldwide initiative ‘Dance for a Cause’ where he uses dance, music and drama to highlight various world social issues,  Sandip Soparrkar is also the Chairperson of India Fine Art Council (IFAC) and extensively promotes artists from all fields.

 

Congratulating this year’s contenders, the chair of the Awarding Committee and Founder of Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize – Peter Bundalo enthusiastically conveyed’’ Many congratulations to all shortlisted authors, we shall all meet in New Delhi in person for the upcoming award ceremony to announce the winner”.

 

This year RTLP awarding committee has shortlisted eleven titles for the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2021-22 shortlist in contrast to ten last year.  The winner of the Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize 2021-22 will be announced at an awarding ceremony event in person. The event will be held on Monday, December 19, 2021-22 in Delhi, at India International Centre. The winners will also be revealed on the website www.tagoreprize.com and social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @tagoreprize and via a press release on December 19th, 2022.

 

The chair of the Awarding Committee and Founder of Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize – Peter Bundalo said,’’ It is an immense pleasure to announce Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize Shortlist for 2021-22. What elevates our sense of enthusiasm about this award is the fantastic piece of work done by each nominee that has definitely in every possible sense pushed the bar up a notch. The result is a range between internationally renowned and emerging authors, whose flair, virtuosity and imagination we found mesmerizing.’’

 

To spread the word across the world and take the prestigious award to the next level, he further added that ‘‘we have gifted our first winning book “One hundred Poems of Kabir” to many eminent influencers at the 1 Billion Followers Summit Event held at Atlantis, Dubai. It conducted some enthralling sessions with the biggest creators and industry experts from around the world, NuseirYassin of Nas Daily, and Agon Hare founder of Project Nightfall to name a few. I met some amazing people who created beautiful content while gifting a copy of #100PoemsofKabir translated from Hindi into English by Rabindranath Tagore.

 

 Poetry and politics are the words that describe Tagore Prize finalists best this year, from Jai Chakrabarti’s dazzling novel exploring the role of art in times of political upheaval to Jerry pinto’s collection of unforgettable poetry of all types and for every situation. Kavita A.Jindal’s Manual for a decent life takes you to a story of a principled and spirited woman who sets her sights on becoming a member of Parliament, Anirudh Kala’s Two and a half rivers is set against the grey desolation of Punjab of the 1980s,  Shobhana Kumar’s A Sky Full of Bucket Lists, a collection of poems by her, beautifully expressed feelings and emotions about deep-rooted problems in our society.

Arundhati Subramaniam is selected for her poetry writing which asks many questions about our morality and integrity to the key theme of complex transformation. Sudeep sen’s collection of poetry talks about climate change, Contagion, and Consolation. Anuradha Roy’s The Earthspinner is an intricate, wrenching novel.

 

Shobhana Kumar‘s haibun collection named A Sky Full of Bucket Lists brings forth the reality of being a human in its raw and underrepresented form. Jagari Mukherjee’s The Elegant Nobody wrote poetry brimming with sensuality and the vitality of desire. And, Nikita Parik’s My City is a Murder of Crows is an impressive poetry collection.

 

Rabindranath Tagore Literary Prize Shortlist for 2021-22

 

1. A Play for the End of the World, Jai Chakrabarti (Knopf, 2021)

2. Manual for a Decent Life, Kavita A. Jindal (Linen Press, 2020)

3. Two and a Half Rivers, Anirudh Kala (Niyogi, 2021)

4. A Sky Full of Bucket Lists, Shobhana Kumar (Red River, 2021)

5. Osmosis, Debarshi Mitra (Hawakal Publishers, 2020)

6. The Elegant Nobody, Jagari Mukherjee (Hawakal Publishers, 2020)

7. My City is a Murder of Crows, Nikita Parik (Hawakal Publishers, 2022)

8. I Want a Poem and Other Poem, Jerry Pinto (Speaking Tiger Books, 2021)

9. The Earthspinner, Anuradha Roy (Mountain Leopard Press, 2021)

10. Anthropocene: Climate Change, Contagion, Consolation, Sudeep Sen (Pippa Rann Books&Media,

2021)

11. Love Without a Story, Arundhati Subramaniam (Bloodaxe Books, 2021)