As it enters its 6th year, one of India’s most coveted literary awards, the JCB Prize for Literature, announced its 2023 jury today. The jury panel will be chaired by Srinath Perur, author and translator. The jury consists of: Mahesh Dattani, playwright and stage director; Somak Ghoshal, author, critic and learning designer; Kavery Nambisan, author and surgeon; and, Swati Thiyagarajan, conservation journalist and filmmaker.

Representing a range of backgrounds, languages and mediums of expression between them, the jury brings a set of diverse points of view to the task of selecting the best of fiction from India for the year. The JCB Prize for Literature is funded by India’s leading manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment, JCB India Ltd, and administered by the JCB Literature Foundation.

Commenting on this year’s jury, Mita Kapur, Literary Director of the JCB Prize for Literature, says, “Last year has truly been a milestone year for us. For the first time our jury put forth a shortlist that were all translations. India speaks and reads in so many languages, and the books that are submitted for the JCB Prize are a true representation of the many India’s that reside within one. The 2023 jury brings together immense experience from a diverse range of backgrounds, languages, artforms and mediums of expression. With their precise gaze and nuanced understanding of storytelling, we are confident that the jury will read, evaluate and find gems from the submissions that are entered this year, that will be truly coveted by book lovers in India and beyond.”

The 2022 JCB Prize for Literature was awarded to The Paradise of Food by Khalid Jawed, translated from the Urdu by Baran Farooqi, and published by Juggernaut. The Paradise of Food is a brutal and mesmerizing account of the contemporary body, home and nation told through the food and kitchen. In a world consumed by hyper-consumerism, the book provides a bracing counter-narrative making it an important piece of work.