Tamil writer Perumal Murugan wins the coveted JCB Prize for Literature for his novel, Fire Bird, an English translation of his Tamil novel Aalanda Patchi. The award carries ₹25 lakh cash prize. The translator is Janani Kannan and the work published by Penguin.
“Aalanda Patchi is about the forced migration of an agrarian family that happened six decades ago. The tragedy of being alienated from one’s native place, land and family, new town, new landscapes, new people, new environment. They have to accept it and make it constant. I wrote the novel driven by a desire to write about the capability of a family to handle both challenges,” said Mr. Murugan.
