The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is inviting entries for the 2015 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize. The prize, which is in its eighth year, comes with a cash award of Rs 2 lakh and a trophy.

Submissions in the following genres are invited: poetry, fiction, graphic novels, creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography and narrative journalism), and drama.

The deadline for publishers and individuals to send in first books is July 15, 2015. Books published between June 2014 and June 2015 are eligible. The winner will be announced in November and the prize presentation will take place in Delhi, December 2015. Authors from the subcontinent are eligible but books must be published in India. Publications must be in English or translated into English from an Indian language.


This year's shortlist will be put together by poet and author Jeet Thayil, and author Arshia Sattar, who runs the Sangam House international writers' residency program. Three judges (to be announced) will pick the winning entry.Books (one copy each) should be sent to the following addresses: The Shakti Bhatt Foundation, C-6/36, First Floor, SDA, New Delhi 110016; The Shakti Bhatt Foundation, 011, Maangalya Residences, 6/1, Benson Cross Road, Bangalore 560046. For further information, mail shaktibhattprize@gmail.com.


Lahore-based author Bilal Tanweer won the 2014 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize for his novel The Scatter Here Is Too Great. Read about the win here.