The Dhahan Prize for Punjabi fiction announced its 11th annual winner, Jinder (Jalandhar, Punjab, India), of a CAD25,000 award for his short story collection, Safety Kit this month. Alongside him, Shahzad Aslam (Lahore, Pakistan) and Surinder Neer (Jammu, Jammu & Kashmir, India) were awarded CAD10,000 each as two finalists. Aslam was recognised for his short story collection Jungle Rakhey Jag De and Neer for her short story collection, Taboo.

Safety Kit and Taboo were written in the Gurmukhi script (commonly used in India), while Jungle Rakhey Jag De was written in the Shahmukhi script (commonly used in Pakistan). An additional CAD6,000 was awarded for the transliteration of the three books into Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi.

Awardees were presented with their awards, along with a hand-crafted trophy, during the ceremonies held on November 14, 2024. The Dhahan Prize, based in Richmond, British Columbia, is the largest international literary award for fiction books in the Punjabi language.

“I cannot express in words the joy of winning this prestigious award,” said Jinder.

“I never dreamt that I would receive it in Canada. Now I feel a greater responsibility towards my writings.”

Shahzad Aslam shared, “To be acknowledged as a writer through a prestigious award is to know that the journey is worth travelling. My passion for writing has now turned into euphoria.”

Surinder Neer noted, “I was so thrilled to be a finalist of the Dhahan Prize that I got goosebumps. It’s a big honour for me. It also recognises the entire literature of Jammu and Kashmir at the global level.”

Zubair Ahmad, Chair of the Dhahan Prize Advisory Board, said: “The shortlisted books encompass current issues relating to Punjabis in several countries. Themes include the environment, women’s empowerment, caste, human relationships between males and females, Punjabi diaspora and more. The authors have demonstrated excellent command of storytelling. We also feel we have good candidates for English translation,” he continued.

Prize founder Barj S. Dhahan said: “Our goal is to make known the excelling works of Punjabi fiction that are released each year, to the wider public. As an organisation, we have always strived for the bridging of the two Punjabs with the Diaspora Punjab. Transliteration is one of the most effective ways to do that. We hope that through transliteration, more of these curated books will make it into the hands of Punjabis around the world.”

The Dhahan Prize was established in 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia, where Punjabi people, language, and culture have a rich history. Punjabi is now the third most spoken language in Canada, and is a strong thread in the multicultural fabric of the nation.

More information about the Dhahan Prize can be found at: https://dhahanprize.com/about/

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, November 24th, 2024