Jhumpa Lahiri wins Commonwealth Writer's Prize 2009 (Europe & South Asia)
(12 March 2009)

An international judging panel has awarded the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize Best Book Award, Europe and South Asia region, to 'Unaccustomed Earth' by Jhumpa Lahiri (UK) beating strong competition from former Commonwealth Writers' Prize regional winners (David Lodge and Salaman Rushdie) and Booker Prize contenders (Philip Hensher and Rushdie). The Best First Book Award was awarded to A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif, the first regional winner from Pakistan in the history of the Prize. Each author wins £1,000 and goes into the next stage of the competition to choose the overall Commonwealth Best Book and Best First Book winner, who receive £10,000 and £5,000 respectively.

The announcements of all eight regional winners took place on 11 March as part of Commonwealth Week - a series of special events taking place on and around Commonwealth Day. The Commonwealth Writers' Prize aims to reward the best Commonwealth fiction written in English, by both established and new writers, and to take their works to a global audience.

The judging panel for the Europe and South Asia region was chaired by Professor Makarand Paranjape (India). He was joined by judges Dr Durre Sameen Ahmed (Pakistan) and Dr Alex Tickell (UK).

Professor Makarand Paranjape, Chair of the Judges, commented: "Jhumpa Lahiri's Unaccustomed Earth emerged as the best book after some very tough competition from some extremely gifted, even extraordinary books, including Hensher's magisterial survey of English suburbia in Northern Clemency and Rushdie's fecund and fierce imagination in The Enchantress of Florence. But in the end Lahiri's lyrical, meticulously crafted prose, with the moving and memorable treatment of the diasporic experience coupled with her significant achievement in extending the form of the short story, won the day."

"In the first book category, Mohammed Hanif was a clear favourite, with his amazingly detailed and plausible portrayal of historical events, coupled with great political insight and stylistic virtuosity. Fact and fiction merge in this fast-paced page-turner in curious and unprecedented ways. This book is also the first Pakistani novel to be a regional winner."

Jhumpa Lahiri commented: "I am humbled and honored to be named the Europe and South Asia winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. This recognition is particularly meaningful, because it brings together writers from across the various continents, at once distant and intimately linked, that have shaped my life, shaped the life of my family, and inspired my writing from the beginning. I am also appreciative that a collection of short stories has been included in such illustrious company on the global literary stage."

Best First Book winner Mohammed Hanif commented: "I am really pleased to win this prize. I am especially pleased because some of the other nominees are such brilliant writers."

In a unique aspect of the Prize, the regional winners will be invited to take part in a week-long programme of community events and public readings during the final pan-Commonwealth judging in New Zealand in May 2009.

The Winners

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri Published in Hardback (2 Jun 2008) Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC 352 pages Language English ISBN-10: 0747590001 Guide Price: £14.99 Click here to buy this book today!

Jhumpa Lahiri Unaccustomed Earth (Bloomsbury) - Best Book Beginning in America, and spilling back over memories and generations to India, Unaccustomed Earth explores the heart of family life and the immigrant experience. Eight luminous stories take us from America to Europe, India and Thailand as they follow new lives forged in the wake of loss. Jhumpa Lahiri was born in London of Bengali parents, and grew up in Rhode Island, USA. Her stories have appeared in many American journals and in 2000 her first collection, Interpreter of Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, the New Yorker Prize for Best First Book and the PEN/Hemingway Award. Jhumpa Lahiri lives in New York with her husband and two children.

A Case of Exploding Mangoes by Mohammed Hanif Published in Hardback (5 Jun 2008) Published by: Jonathan Cape 304 pages ISBN-10: 0224082043 Guide Price: £12.99 Click here to buy this book today!

Mohammed Hanif A Case of Exploding Mangoes (Vintage) - Best First Book Why did a Hercules C130, the world's sturdiest plane, carrying Pakistan's military dictator General Zia ul Haq, go down on 17 August, 1988? Mohammed Hanif's debut novel takes one of the subcontinent's enduring mysteries and spins a tale as rich and colourful as a beggar's dream. Mohammed Hanif was born in Okara, Pakistan. He flew in the Pakistan Air Force before pursuing a career in journalism. Hanif now lives in London and is the head of the BBC's Urdu Service. A Case of Exploding Mangoes was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2008 and was longlisted for the Man Booker Award 2008.

Europe and South Asia Regional Shortlists

The winners were chosen from shortlists announced in February 2009.

Best Book Award

Chris Cleave - The Other Hand, Sceptre UK
Shashi Deshpande - The Country of Deceit, Penguin India
Philip Hensher - The Northern Clemency, Fourth Estate UK
Jhumpa Lahiri - Unaccustomed Earth, Bloomsbury Publishing UK
David Lodge - Deaf Sentence, Harvill Secker UK
Salman Rushdie - The Enchantress of Florence, Random House UK

Best First Book Award

Sulaiman Addonia - The Consequences of Love, Chatto & Windus UK
Daniel Clay - Broken, HarperPress UK
Joe Dunthorne - Submarine, Hamish Hamilton/Penguin UK
Mohammed Hanif - A Case of Exploding Mangoes, Jonathan Cape Pakistan
Murzaban F. Shroff - Breathless in Bombay, St. Martin's Griffin India
Rowan Somerville - The End of Sleep, Weidenfeld & Nicholson UK