Jalandhar-based author Jinder has received the $25,000 (CAD) eleventh annual Dhahan Prize for his brief story assortment, Security Package.
(From left) Jalandhar-based author Jinder has received the $25K (CAD) eleventh annual Dhahan Prize for his brief story assortment, Security Package, whereas Jammu’s Surinder Neer and Shahzad Aslam of Lahore have been awarded $10K (CAD) every as two finalists for his or her books, Taboo and Jungle Rakhey Jag De, respectively. (HT Photograph)
Alongside him, Shahzad Aslam of Lahore and Surinder Neer of Jammu have been awarded $10,000 CAD every as two finalists. Aslam was recognised for his brief story assortment, Jungle Rakhey Jag De, and Neer, for her brief story assortment, Taboo.
Security Package and Taboo have been written within the Gurmukhi script (generally utilized in India), whereas Jungle Rakhey Jag De was written within the Shahmukhi script (generally utilized in Pakistan).
A further $6,000 CAD was awarded for the transliteration of the three books into Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi.
The Dhahan Prize, primarily based in Richmond, BC, is the biggest worldwide literary award for fiction books within the Punjabi language.
“I cannot express in words the joy of winning this prestigious award,” stated Jinder. “I never dreamt that I would receive it in Canada. Now I feel a greater responsibility towards my writings,” he stated in a launch.
Shahzad Aslam stated, “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 famous, “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.”
The awardees have been offered a handmade trophy in the course of the ceremony held at Northview Golf and Nation Membership in Surrey, BC, on Thursday.
A part of the ceremony included MLA Raj Chouhan presenting the proclamation of Punjabi Literature Week by the Province of British Columbia. Carole Richardson, government assistant to Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke, additionally gave the town’s proclamation of the identical. The Metropolis of Vancouver gave its proclamation a day earlier.
Throughout a press convention on September 12, Zubair Ahmad, the Chair of the Dhahan Prize advisory board, stated: “The shortlisted books encompass current issues relating to Punjabis in several countries. Themes include the environment, women’s empowerment, caste, human relationships and Punjabi diaspora.
Prize founder Barj S Dhahan added: “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.”
The Dhahan Prize was established in Vancouver, the place Punjabi folks, language, and tradition have a wealthy historical past. Punjabi is now the third most spoken language in Canada, and is a powerful thread within the multicultural material of the nation.