Indian writer Tishani Doshi has been included in the 20-strong longlist for this year’s Orange Prize for Fiction. Chennai-based Do-shi has been nominated for her first novel, The Pleasure Seekers. The poet-dancer-writer has already published a collection of poetry, Countries of the Body.
The prize, exclusively for women writing in English, was set up in 1996 and last year American author Barbara Kingsolver won it for her critically acclaimed novel The Lacuna. British novelist Rose Tremain won the prize for her novel, The Road Home, in 2008. No Indian writer has won the prize as yet.
The winner of £30,000 prize will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on June 8. This year, the longlist has picked up nine first novels, giving new writers a chance to compete with experienced authors.
Explaining the selection of the books to the longlist, that includes apart from Doshi, seven British authors, six American, one Irish, one Sudanese, one Canadian, one British-Nigerian, one British-Sierra Leonean and one Serbian-American, historian Bettany Hughes, who is chairing the jury, said: “What proved a genuine delight this year was the power of observation and sympathy on the page.”