Shortlist for Gemcon Sahitya Puroshkar 2018, one of Bangladesh's biggest literary awards for creative works in Bengali, was announced at the Bengal Lights office in Dhaka on Tuesday.
A carefully selected board of juries has chosen the books after reading a large number of submissions in fiction published in 2017.
The nominees are Imdadul Haq Milon’s “Noy Mash,” Shahaduzzaman’s “Akjon Komlalebu,” Mohibul Aziz’s “Tapan Sheel O Tar Bibaho Prokolpo,” Proshanto Mridha’s “Dugdugir Ashor,” and Robiul Islam’s “Tothagoto Kothay Thaken.”
Poets Asad Chowdhury, Rubi Rahman, and Shamim Reza, fiction writers Parvez Hossain and Salma Bani, and researcher Biswajit Ghosh were present at the event.
The award, which was initially known as the Kagoj Sahitya Puroskar, is given to encourage and recognise creative writers working in the Bengali language. Last year’s recipient was poet and essayist Mohammad Rafique.
Highlighting the importance of literary awards, poet Asad Chowdhury said, “The award is worth Tk800,000. In terms of monetary value this is now the biggest award and among the non-government awards it is the oldest. Writers do not write to win awards but awards do inspire creative writers.”
Awards Committee Secretary Shamim Reza said, “Gemcon Award first selects the judges who then read and select the books, and prepare a shortlist to promote them.”
This year's winner will be announced at the Dhaka Lit Fest 2018 in November. Two other awards will also be given to encourage young writers for their maiden works in fiction and poetry. They are Gemcon Tarun Katashahitya Puroshkar (Gemcon Young Literature Award) and Gemcon Kobita Puroshkar (Gemcon Poetry Award).
This year for the first time manuscripts were also invited from West Bengal of India.
“We advertised in the Desh and Boier Desh magazines. West Bengal writers have also sent submissions this year,” Shamim Reza said.
Reflecting on people's reading habits, Asad Chowdhury also said, “Because our reading habits are on the decline, a vacuum is being created in the spheres of arts and culture. Young generations tilt toward extremism when such a vacuum is created. We must improve our reading habits if we really want to fight extremism."
