Indra Sinha, Tahmima Anam From South Asia Win Commonwealth Prize

"Indian-origin writer Indra Sinha's book Animal's People, based on the
Bhopal gas tragedy, has been adjudged this year's best book in Europe
and South Asia by the Commonwealth. Canada's Lawrence Hill won the top
Commonwealth Writers' Prize for her The Book of Negroes, a novel about
forgotten story of 18th Century Africans. Hill has been named the
winner of the best book award. Bangladesh's Tahmima Anam bagged the
award for best first book for A Golden Age, a fictionalised account of
her country's war for independence in 1971," reports the Hindustan
Times, "The Commonwealth Writers' Prize, an increasingly valued and
sought after award for fiction, is presented annually by the
Commonwealth Foundation. The Prize aims to reward the best
Commonwealth fiction written in English, by both established and new
writers, and to take their works to a global audience, thereby
increasing appreciation of and building understanding between
cultures. It is sponsored and organised by the Commonwealth Foundation
with the support of the Macquarie Group Foundation."

Other winners from South Asia in past were, in 1994 - Vikram Seth, for
A Suitable Boy and in 1996 - Rohinton Mistry, for A Fine Balance.
First Book winners from South Asia were in 2005 - Chimamanda Ngozi
Adichie, for Purple Hibiscus and in 1996 - Vikram Chandra, for Red
Earth, Pouring Rain.

"The Commonwealth Writers' Prize covers the Commonwealth regions of
Africa, Europe and South Asia, The Caribbean and Canada, and South
East Asia and the South Pacific. Entries are first assessed by four
regional panels of judges and the selection of the overall winner is
made by a distinguished pan-Commonwealth panel. In each of the four
regions of the Commonwealth two prizes of £1,000 are awarded: one for
the Best Book and one for the Best First Book. The resulting eight
regional winners' books are then judged by the pan-Commonwealth panel.
Authors win £10,000 for the overall Best Book and £5,000 for the Best
First Book. Writers and judges come together in a final literary
programme in a different Commonwealth country each year," says
Wikipedia.

According to Wikipedia, "Each year the final programme of the Prize
takes place in a different country. It also rotates around the
different Commonwealth regions. The final programme comprises the
judging for the overall Prize by the pan-Commonwealth panel and a
series of readings and other public events by the regional
prize-winning writers, who are all invited to attend."

Read the Hindustan Times article at--
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=3c515b28-cc85-4368-bffd-aa9fc8ff31ca&&Headline=Indian+wins+Commonwealth+Writers+Prize

The Commonwealth Foundation website is at--
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/culturediversity/writersprize/