CHENNAI: Writer Perumal Murugan's Tamil novel "Pyre" (original title, Pookuzhi) has been long-listed for International Booker Prize 2023.
It is among 13 books from across Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America to make it to the longlist of the International Booker Prize 2023, announced by the Booker Prize Foundation on Tuesday.
The Tamil version is dedicated to R. Ilavarasan, a Dalit youth who was discovered dead on a railway track after his inter-caste marriage with a dominant caste woman saw him being targetted and eventually, the woman forced to abandon him.
Reacting to the Booker long-listing of his book, Perumal Murugan told The New Indian Express, "I am happy that the novel has been selected for the long list. I wrote the novel in 2012 while its English translation came out in 2017 and the UK edition came in 2021".
When asked about the book and "honour" killing, the subject it dealt with, Perumal Murgan said, he believes that speaking about the subject will create more awareness about it.
"I don't believe a novel will bring a drastic change immediately, however, it is a way of spreading the views. When topics such as "honour" killing are discussed in literature, cinema and news, there is a chance of it changing the mind of the people. Such incidents will also get reported," Murugan added.
With this Murugan, 56, has become the first Tamil writer to make it to the prestigious list with his 2016 book "Pyre", which is translated from Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan. "Pyre" tells the tale of an inter-caste couple who elope, setting in motion a story of terrifying foreboding.
From this longlist, six books will be shortlisted for this year's prize at the London Book Fair on April 18.
The winner of the International Booker Prize 2023 will be announced at a ceremony at Sky Garden in London on May 23, with the prize money of GBP 50,000 also divided equally between the author and translator.
The Tamil Nadu-born author, scholar and poet have written 10 novels, five collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry. He won the Sahitya Akademi's Translation Prize for his novel 'Madhorubhagan', translated by Vasudevan as 'One Part Woman'.