Janice Pariat has been awarded the 2023 Sushila Devi Award for the Best Book of Fiction for her novel Everything the Light Touches. The award will be presented to her at the Bhopal Literature Festival, which runs from January 12 to 14.
Everything the Light Touches weaves the experiences of four different travellers over time and history. Shai rediscovers her indigenous heritage in north-east India, Evelyn, a student in Cambridge, is inspired by Goethe’s botanical writings, Goethe’s own journey to Italy in the 1770s is recounted, and Linnaeus the botanist and taxonomist who led an expedition to Lapland is also a part of the narrative. Pariat presents an innovative picture of the evolution of knowledge and the self through the sciences, literature, and history.
This year’s jury was chaired by author Malashri Lal, and included poet and editor Sukrita Paul Kumar, and GJV academic and translator Prasad.
Previous winners have been Namita Gokhale (Things To Leave Behind), Shubhangi Swarup (Latitudes of Longing), Avni Doshi (Girl in White Cotton), Anukrti Upadhyay (Kintsugi), and Anuradha Roy (The Earthspinner).
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