Deadline June 15 | 2013 Call for Entries: DSC Prize for South Asian Literature (South Asia/ worldwide)

Deadline: 15 June 2012

The DSC Prize invites entries from publishers for the 2013 edition of this unique award which is open to authors across the globe writing on or about South Asia – its people, culture and diaspora. The Call for Entries will remain open till June 15, 2012, for works of literary fiction based on South Asia, published between 1st Jan 2011 and 30th April 2012 in English, including translations into English. The Winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2013 will be announced in January 2013 at the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival

ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR ENTRIES TO THE DSC PRIZE

• An entry must be a full-length work of fiction of at least 25,000 words. Novels and novellas are eligible for the prize. While short story anthologies are not eligible, collections of short stories linked by theme may be considered under special circumstances at the discretion of the jury.
• All entries must have been published between January 1st 2011 and April 30th 2012. The entry must be published for the first time during this period, as certified by the publisher in the entry form.
• Entries can be submitted only through publishers, who may send in two entries per imprint. Only one additional entry per imprint may be considered if the publisher sends in a special waiver request.
• An entry may be submitted for consideration only once in any edition of the DSC Prize and cannot be resubmitted in a subsequent edition.
• In case of multiple entries made for the same book by more than one publisher, the first received entry would be considered
• The submitted book can be written by an author of any ethnicity from any country, which predominantly features themes based on South Asian culture, politics, history, or people. South Asia is defined as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives and Afghanistan.
• The author, and where applicable, the translator must be living at the time of the book’s submission.
• The book must be an original work in English, or translated into English.
• The book must not be self-published.
• Books published only in e-book form are not entitled to be entered.
• Seven hard copies of the entry would be required to be sent to the DSC Prize Secretariat by courier.
• All entries in the form of hard copies need to be received by the Secretariat between 1st May and 15th June 2012.
• The Advisory Committee would ratify selection of entries and their decision would be final. All submissions would be treated on a confidential basis.

Selection Process

• The DSC Prize Secretariat in Gurgaon, India must receive all entries for the DSC Prize, accompanied by the prescribed Entry Form, by 5 pm on 15th June, 2012.
• These would be scrutinized by the Secretariat and all the books that fulfill the eligibility criteria will be forwarded to each member of the Judging Panel. This Judging Panel comprises 5 eminent members including a Chair. The members of the Judging Panel are nominated with great care by the Advisory Committee and it is ensured that they together represent the interests and creative principles of the South Asia region.
• On receiving the package of books, each jury member will read and assess all the entries during a period of three and a half months and exchange evaluation reports with other members of the panel. The Judging Panel will announce a Longlist for the DSC Prize by mid October 2012.
• Over the next month, the Panel would further deliberate and hold a meeting to debate, discuss and announce a Shortlist of 5 (or 6) books by mid November 2012.
• The Judging Panel would remain in contact during the following months to finally evaluate the Shortlisted entries and announce the winner of the DSC Prize in the last week of January 2013.
• All the shortlisted authors along with the Jury members would be invited for this event. The winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature would be felicitated at a special ceremony and receive an award of US $50,000. If the winning novel is a translated work then the prize money will be equally shared between the author and the translator.

Please print out, fill in and return the form, along with seven hard copies of the book to us, latest by 15th June 2012.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

For inquiries: admin@dscprize.com

For submissions: DSC Prize Secretariat, 602-A, Udyog Vihar, Phase V, Gurgaon, India - 122016

Website: http://dscprize.com/