CHENNAI: Perumal Murugan’s novel ‘Pyre’ is among the 13 books that have been longlisted for this year’s International Booker Prize. This makes him the first Tamil writer on the Booker Prize Foundation’s list, that was announced on Tuesday.
The novel, translated from Tamil by Aniruddhan Vasudevan, deals with honour killing. It narrates the tale of an inter-caste couple who elope, setting in motion a story of terrifying foreboding. The Tamil version ‘Pookkuzhi’ is dedicated to R Ilavarasan, a Dalit youth found dead on a railway track after his inter-caste marriage with a caste Hindu woman saw him targeted and the woman forcefully separated from him.
The 56-year-old writer told TNIE he believed talking about the subject will raise more awareness. “I don’t believe a novel will bring about drastic change immediately. However, it is a way of spreading views. When topics such as honour killing are discussed in literature, cinema and news, there is a chance of it changing the minds. Such incidents will also get reported,” said Murugan, who hails from Thiruchengode.
“I wrote the book in 2012. Its English translation came out in 2017 and the UK edition in 2021,” he said, expressing joy at his novel making it to the long list. Murugan’s novel ‘Madhurubhagan’ was translated to English as ‘One Part Woman’ by Vasudevan, who won the Sahitya Akademi’s Translation Prize for the work.
The winner of the International Booker Prize will be announced on May 23. The prize money of GBP 50,000 is divided equally between the author and translator. Geetanjali Shree and translator Daisy Rockwell won the prize in 2022.