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.
Muthu, the hero of the novel, has his world turned upside down when his father divides the family land, leaving him with practically nothing and causing irreparable damage to his family’s bonds,
Mr. Murugan said it was not merely the story of his ancestors or the life of his family. “I believe the novel will emotionally connect with every person displaced, small or big. The novel will also provide an experience of understanding agrarian life, the old times when there were not as many modern amenities, and the family relationships that characterise feudal life,” he added.
The JCB Literary Prize said Fire Bird is a masterfully crafted tale of one man’s search for the elusive concept of permanence. “The prize aims to celebrate Indian writing, and to help readers across the world discover the very best of contemporary Indian literature. It makes significant awards also to translators, without whose work no reader can appreciate the scale and diversity of a literature written in over 20 languages,” it added.
Mr. Murugan said he was grateful to “everyone including my ancestors who were the reason behind my writing this novel, my family which helped me in writing this, Kalachuvadu Kannan who published it in Tamil, Penguin which published it in English, translator Janani Kannan, the jury of the JCB Prize and JCB institute.”
