The JCB Prize for Literature has announced the jury for their 2020 edition and the panel will be chaired by noted Bharatnatyam dancer and writer, Leela Samson. The other members of the panel are Aruni Kashyap, writer and translator; Tejaswini Niranjana, professor, cultural theorist, and author; Ramu Ramanathan, playwright and director; and Deepika Sorabjee, head of the Arts & Culture portfolio at Tata Trusts. Together they will be selecting the best offering of fiction from India in this year. 

Commenting on this year’s jury, Mita Kapur, Literary Director of The JCB Prize for Literature, said, "A book is a different being in every hand. To do justice to the brilliant entries we receive, we have a dynamic and vibrant jury for 2020. With their expertise and experiences in the creative and intellectual fields, each of them brings new perspectives and fresh thought to the JCB Prize. Together, I'm sure they will be able to find the talent and diversity of the unique Indias that populate the books."

The jury will announce the longlist of ten titles on September 1, followed by the shortlist of five titles on September 25. The winner of the Rs 25-lakh prize will be announced at the awards ceremony on November 7. If the winning work is a translation, the translator will be awarded an additional Rs 10 lakh. Each of the five shortlisted authors will receive Rs 1 lakh and if a shortlisted work is a translation, then the translator will receive Rs 50,000. 

“The JCB Literature Foundation and the jury, together hope the prize will encourage readers to look at India’s vast literary culture - in translation, in Indian languages, and in English with renewed excitement,” says Leela Samson, Jury Chairman. 

In its third year, the prize is funded by India’s leading manufacturer of earthmoving and construction equipment, JCB India Ltd, and administered by the JCB Literature Foundation.