Anita Anand is a British Indian journalist and author.
London:
British Indian journalist and author Anita Anand’s book which tells the story of a young man trapped in the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar has been shortlisted for a prestigious literary history award in the UK.
“ The Patient Assassin: A True Tale of Massacre, Revenge and the Raj ” will compete with six others for the 2020 PEN Hessell-Tiltman History Prize, awarded annually for a non-fiction book with specifically historical content.
Applications must be works of great literary value – that is, not written primarily for the academic market – and may cover all historical periods.
“Modern history is well represented with Anita Anand’s ‘The Patient Assassin’ showing us how the empire continues to haunt us,” said Rana Mitter, professor of modern Chinese history and politics at the University of Oxford, who is the president. jury of the year.
In the shortlisted book, Anand tells the dramatic story of orphan Udham Singh’s 21-year-long quest for revenge, taking him across the world in search of those he held responsible for the Amritsar massacre of the Raj era in April 1919, executed by British troops during a Baisakhi rally in Jallianwala Bagh gardens.
Other contenders for the 2,000 pound prize include Julia Blackburn for “Time Song: Searching for Doggerland”; Hazel Carby for “Imperial Intimacies: A Tale of Two Islands”; Toby Green for “A Fistful of Seashells: West Africa from the Rise of the Slave Trade to the Age of Revolution”; Caroline Moorhead for “A house in the mountains: the women who liberated Italy from fascism”; Thomas Penn for “The Brothers York: An English Tragedy”; and Roel Sterckx, “Chinese Thought: From Confucius to Cook Ding”.
“This is a shortlist of astonishing chronological and geographical variations, linked together by one factor: innovative and revolutionary historical research … This range and depth are a very positive sign of the strength of the writing. of history today, “said Professor Mitter.
He added: “Two works combine historical depth and memory, Hazel V Carby’s moving account of her research into her family history between Britain and Jamaica in ‘Imperial Intimacies’, and Julia Blackburn’s ‘Timesong’, which oscillates between prehistory and the present with enormous aplomb.
Caroline Moorehead’s “A House in the Mountains” recalls the struggle against fascism in the 75th year since the end of World War II.
Thomas Penn’s “The Brothers York” is a meticulous study of medieval monarchy, and Toby Green’s “A Fistful of Shells” opens a story of early modern West Africa known to few. westerners. Roel Sterckx’s “Chinese Thought” opens up an intellectual and emotional world thousands of years and so many kilometers from our own experience in the West, ”he said.
English PEN, which stands for Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists, Novelists, is one of the oldest human rights organizations in the world that advocates for the freedom to write and read. It is the founding center of PEN International, a global association of writers with 145 centers in over 100 countries.
Marjorie Hessell-Tiltman was a member of PEN in the 1960s and 1970s and upon her death in 1999 bequeathed 100,000 pounds to the PEN Literary Foundation to found an award in her name.
The winner of this year’s award in her memory will be announced on November 26.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)
