Indian novelists Manu Joseph and Prajwal Parajuly have made it to the longlist of the Emile Guimet Prize 2020. The prize is administered by the Emile Guimet Museum in Paris, and is awarded annually to a book by an Asian author translated into French.

Parajuly was nominated for Fuir et revenir, the translation of his widely-acclaimed novel Land Where I Flee. The book is about three siblings who return to Gangtok from various parts of the world to celebrate their formidable grandmother’s 84th birthday. Parajuly was himself born in Gangtok in Sikkim.

Delhi-based journalist and writer Joseph was nominated for Miss Laila armée jusqu’aux dents, published in English as Miss Laila Armed and Dangerous, a political satire and crime thriller framing the Indian context following the lives of several characters after a building collapse in Mumbai which coincides with the rise of a Hindu nationalist party.

The two books’ French translators are Benoîte Dauvergne and Bernard Turle, respectively, according to a press release.

The longlist also includes Pakistani author Fatima Bhutto for her book Comme Des Lions, originally written in English as The Runaways. The winner of the award will be announced at a ceremony in the Emile Guimet Museum in September.

Previously, Rana Dasgupta, Hwang Sok-Yong and Natsu Miyashita have won the award.