Anuk Ardupragasam is keen on providing a helping hand to people living in conflict zones such as Kashmir
A Sri Lankan author, Anuk Ardupragasam has announced to contribute a part of the prize money for victims of Indian state terrorism in Indian Held Kashmir along with Sri Lanka, Rohingya Muslims.
Recently, Jury chair Ritu Menon described Anuk Arudpragasam’s work as a “remarkable novel”, saying it had “several exceptional qualities”.
The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature is an international literary prize awarded annually to writers of any ethnicity or nationality writing about South Asia themes such as culture, politics, history or people.
Colombo-born Arudpragasam’s novel is The Story of a Brief Marriage a touching tale of a young man trapped on the frontlines between the Sri Lankan Army and the Tamil Tigers.
Bangladesh Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith presented the award to Arudpragasam at the magnificent Bangla Academy here during the closing ceremony of the three-day long Dhaka Literature Festival including cash of $ 25,000 (Rs 16 lakh).
The jury met and discussed the shortlisted novels in detail. As all the shortlisted novels had considerable strengths and remarkable literary quality, deciding the winner was not an easy task. In the end, the jury agreed that Anuk Arudpragasam was the best possible choice for his outstanding novel.
According to media reports, the award-winning author planes his contribution for providing a helping hand to people living in conflict zones such as Kashmir.
Anuk Arudpragasam is from Colombo, Sri Lanka, and is currently completing a dissertation in philosophy at Columbia University. He writes in Tamil and English. The Story of a Brief Marriage is his first novel and was shortlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature.