Indian Origin Writer Avni Doshi’s Book ‘Burnt Sugar’ Gets Shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize
The shortlisted authors for the 2020 Booker Prize were announced on Tuesday and the good news is that Dubai based Indian origin author Avni Doshi has made it to the list.
The shortlisted authors for the 2020 Booker Prize were announced on Tuesday and the good news is that Dubai based Indian origin author Avni Doshi has made it to the list.
The name of Avni Doshi’s debut novel is ‘Burnt Sugar.’ According to the chair of the jury Margaret Busby, they have chosen books this year that “bring one’s attention, emotions, to understanding what the writer was trying to say.”
Another jury member Emily Wilson pointed out that it is “exciting to realize that there are so many interesting female authors out there, there are so many interesting non-white authors out there, giving us different glimpses of what the world is all about, telling interesting and vibrant stories.”
As the book cover reveals Avni Doshi’s ‘Burnt Sugar’ is an unsettling and complex story about a mother-daughter relationship. Being neglected by her mother during her growing years, Antara is highly resentful towards her mother who was once rebellious and free-spirited.
The tides however turn when Antara is now forced to look after her mother as she turns older and her memory is beginning to fail.
The 2020 shortlisted books include:
- The New Wilderness by Diane Cook (Oneworld Publications)
- This Mournable Body by Tsitsi Dangarembga (Faber & Faber)
- Burnt Sugar by Avni Doshi (Hamish Hamilton, Penguin Random House)
- The Shadow King by Maaza Mengiste (Canongate Books)
- Shuggie Bain by Douglas Stuart (Picador, Pan Macmillan)
- Real Life by Brandon Taylor (Originals, Daunt Books Publishing)
The wide range of interesting topics touched upon in these nominated books is climate change, dementia, the hardship of life in Zimbabwe, and the women soldiers of 1935 Ethiopia.
The booker prize formerly known as Man Booker Prize is a literary prize awarded every year for outstanding work of English fiction published in the United Kingdom or Ireland, written by authors across the world. The winner of this prestigious award will take home £50,000. The shortlisted authors will be awarded £2,500.
This award which is welcomed with a lot of fanfare is of great significance to writers as the winner of this award is assured of a guaranteed success in the literary world. It is highly honourable for an author’s name to be shortlisted or even be included in the ‘long list’ for this coveted award. The winner of UK’s most prestigious award will be announced on 17 November.