Indian language writers, Ashokamitran and Mahashweta Devi, may get on the Booker International Prize Shortlist

says, Amit Chaudhuri, who has been appointed as one of the judges for the Booker International Prize. This will provide a big boost for imprints like New Horizon Media's INDIAN WRITING and Katha, which aim to translate the best of Indian language writing into English and other major languages of the world as well.

According to a report in The Telegraph,

Chaudhuri told The Telegraph he was inclined to include candidates he personally admired, both from India - the Tamil writer Ashokamitran (Jagadisa Thyagarajan) and Mahasweta Devi, for example - and also from abroad, including Croatian writer Dubravka Ugrešic, J.M. Coetzee, Richard Ford and Philip Roth.

The Man Booker International Prize recognises one writer for their achievement in fiction and can be won by any living author of any nationality, providing that his or her work is available in the English language. It is awarded every second year. The timescale of the award allows the panel time to study in depth the work of those authors under consideration. The winner is chosen solely at the discretion of the judging panel; there are no submissions from publishers. In addition, there is a separate prize for translation and, if applicable, the winner can choose a translator of his or her work into English to receive a prize of £15,000.

It was awarded to Albanian poet and novelist Ismail Kadare in 2005 and Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe in 2007. The next prize will be announced in May 2009 and awarded in June 2009. The panel of judges for the International Prize 2009 will be chaired by writer Jane Smiley, and includes academic and musician Amit Chaudhuri, and writer, film scriptwriter, and essayist Andrey Kurkov.

The Booker International web site describes how the Prize works?

For a prize of such scope, it is of great importance to have a panel with a deep knowledge and love of fiction writing. The panel for the Man Booker International prize is made up of international experts in literature. The panel consists of three people, a chair and two judges, chosen by the advisory committee of the Man Booker Prize. In deciding on the winner, the judges meet on a number of occasions and in different parts of the world.

The judging panel will initially produce its own reading list of international writers. These will remain confidential. A list of around fifteen contenders will be announced in Spring 2009. The winner will be selected from this list. To put the decision of the panel into context, the chair of the judges will write an appreciation of the work of the winning author, to be delivered at the awards ceremony.