Pakistan author Bilal Tanweer wins 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize

NEW DELHI: A Pakistan-based author has won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize, which is awarded to encourage authors from the subcontinent.

Lahore-based author Bilal Tanweer's novel ' The Scatter Here Is Too Great' was selected for the prize by a jury comprising the 2009 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize winner Mridula Koshy, Aatish Taseer and Amit Chaudhuri.

Tanweer picked up a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh along with the award.

"'Scatter Here Is Too Great' is the rarest of rare things: a novel whose form is a near perfect expression of its content ... And, in the end, the reader is left with all that he needs to know -- a deep and consolable sense of unease," Taseer said on behalf of the panel.

The other works shortlisted for this year's Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize were, A Bad Character by Deepti Kapoor, Prawin Adhikari's The Vanishing Act, Shovon Chowdhury's, The Competent Authority, and The Smoke Is Rising by Mahesh Rao.

All the books, including Tanweer's, were published by Indian publishing houses.

Tanweer, who was born and raised in the Pakistani port city of Karachi, has published fiction, poetry and translations in various international journals.

The award function is scheduled in New Delhi on December 2. The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize was instituted in 2008.