HarperCollins India is delighted to announce that Anukrti Upadhyay has won the Sushila Devi Award 2021 for the Best Book of Fiction for her critically acclaimed novel, Kintsugi, which was published under its prestigious Fourth Estate imprint.
The Ratanlal Foundation and the organizing Committee of the Bhopal Literature and Art Festival announced the winner, today, for this notable award for fiction written by a woman author and published in 2020. This prize has been instituted by the Shri Ratanlal Foundation.
The award jury comprising of writers and academics Malashri Lal, GJV Prasad and Sukrita Paul Kumar noted the high quality of the book submissions which ranged from novels by established, internationally known writers as well as debut novelists. The subjects were equally diverse from classical historical renderings to experimental speculative fiction.
Now in its fourth year, the Sushila Devi award has gained a prestigious position in the literary sphere. Previous winners have been Namita Gokhale (Things To Leave Behind), Shubhangi Swarup (Latitudes of Longing) and Avni Doshi (Girl in White Cotton). The latter two novels were also published by HarperCollins India.
The author will be flown to Bhopal to do a session on her book in the Bhopal Literature Festival on the 16th January. She will also receive the award from the Chief Minister of MP who is the Chief Guest for the valedictory function of the Bhopal Literature Festival.
Speaking about the award, Anukrti Upadhyay said, "It is gratifying and humbling that the jury composed of fine authors and academics have chosen Kintsugi for the prestigious Sushila Devi literature award. As much as Kintsugi is about breaking, healing and enhancing, it is also my tribute to the jewellery craft of Jaipur and the serene beauty of Japan. In these times of uncertainty and moral erosion, holding on to beauty is holding on to hope. Kintsugi embodies that."
Udayan Mitra, Executive Publisher - HarperCollins India, said, 'We have been living through times when things have fallen apart repeatedly; but art rises above such calamities, and human resilience knows no end. This spirit of putting together broken things in a way that they appear newer and more magical than they were to start with is at the heart of the Japanese art of kintsugi. Anukrti Upadhyay's wonderful novel applies the same principles to human lives and relationships, making for a fascinating fictional narrative that recognises, even celebrates, the cracks in our lives -- because it is through the cracks that the light comes in. Kintsugi is a book for our times; I'm delighted that Anukrti has been given the Sushila Devi award for best fiction written by a woman author for this exceptional novel, and I hope many more readers will want to turn to this wonderful book that is brief in length but terrific in its impact."
About Kintsugi, the novel -
Kintsugi - named after the ancient Japanese art of mending broken objects with gold - is a novel about young women breaching boundaries, overcoming trauma, and challenging the social order. And about men surprised by women who are unconventional, unafraid and independent. It is the story of Meena, rebellious and unexamined, and Yuri, as complex as Meena is naive. Of Hajime, outsider to two cultures, and Prakash, unable to see beyond his limited horizons. It is also the story of Haruko who has dedicated herself to her art, and of Leela who is determined to break gender roles and learn the traditional gold-craft of her community.Set between Japan and Jaipur, Kintsugi follows the lives of these characters as they intersect and diverge, collide and break and join again in unexpected ways. The result is a brilliantly original novel as profound as it is playful, as emotionally moving as it is gripping.
About the author -
Anukrti Upadhyay has post-graduate degrees in Management and Literature, and a graduate degree in Law. She writes in both English and Hindi. She stunned readers and critics alike with the twin novellas Daura and Bhaunri in 2019, and delighted Hindi readers with short story collection Japani Sarai.
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( With inputs from ANI )
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