The JCB Prize for Literature announced its 2023 jury on April 11. The award is in its sixth year now.

The jury panel will be chaired by author and translator Srinath Perur, and includes playwright and stage director Mahesh Dattani, author, critic, and learning designer Somak Ghoshal, author and surgeon Kavery Nambisan, and conservation journalist and filmmaker Swati Thiyagarajan.

Mita Kapur, Literary Director of the JCB Prize for Literature, said, “India speaks and reads in so many languages, and the books that are submitted for the JCB Prize are a true representation of the many India’s that reside within one. The 2023 jury brings together immense experience from a diverse range of backgrounds, languages, art forms, and mediums of expression.”

The jury will announce the longlist of ten titles in September, followed by the shortlist of five titles in October. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony in November. The winning author will receive a cash prize of Rs 25,00,000. If the winning work is a translation, the translator will be awarded an additional Rs 10 lakh. Each of the five shortlisted authors will receive Rs 1,00,000 and if a shortlisted work is a translation, the translator will receive Rs 50,000.

“I particularly appreciate the Prize’s efforts at encouraging publishers to send in translations. It ensures that the field truly represents the range of Indian novels brought out in English over the past year,” said Srinath Perur, chair of the 2023 jury.