Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize 2019: Author Tony Joseph book ‘Early Indians’ wins
English author Tony Joseph has won 12th ‘Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize’ for his 2018 book, ‘Early Indians: The Story of Our Ancestors and Where We Came’. Tony Joseph, a journalist-author won against four other debut writers and the award was announced Shakti Bhatt Foundation.
About Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize
The award that was instituted in 2008 and carries a trophy and a cash prize of Rs.2 lakh. It seeks to celebrate ‘extraordinary new writing in all genres’ from South Asian countries. In 2018, the prize was awarded to Sujatha Gidla for her ‘Ants Among Elephants: An Untouchable Family And The Making Of Modern India’.
His Book ‘Early Indians’: Tony, a journalist-author, in his book tells the story of people of South Asia through research in 6 disciplines, including path-breaking new DNA evidence. The book remarkably explores the origins of first humans who occupied Indian subcontinent, brings together a wealth of research from history, biology, archaeology, population genetics, social linguistics as well as other fields that are proving deeply interconnected.
Other Short-Listed Books for 2019’s prize included: Bangladeshi writer Numair Atif Choudhury’s Babu Bangladeshi, Priyanka Dubey’s No Nation for Women, Roshan Ali’s Ib’s Endless Search for Satisfaction, as well as late Pakistani-American novelist Nadia Akbar’s Goodbye Freddie Mercury.
