Irfan Rashid
SRINAGAR: Shahnaz Bashir’s critically acclaimed debut novel The Half Mother has been shortlisted for the Muse India-Young Writer Award 2015.
The Half Mother is known for the buzz it created with its publication in 2014 by Hachette India. It poignantly tells the story of a mother searching for her disappeared son.
Shahnaz Bashir teaches narrative journalism and conflict reporting in the Central University of Kashmir. Besides books, his work has been published and anthologized in multiple international magazines and journals.
Over 50 novels were submitted by publishers across India for the prestigious award given in memory of poet Satish Verma.
Established in 2005 by a group of writers, Muse India is a leading literary organization with 7000 writers as base members from around 45 countries. It publishes the Muse India journal which is widely respected for its thematic coverage and distinguished panel of contributing editors from all over India.
The Young Writer Award will be given to a writer below 35 years of age for “an outstandingly original and exceptionally meritorious literary fiction in English or in English translation”.
Past winner in fiction is Meghna Pant for her novel One & a Half Wife.
The 2015 winner will be awarded during Hyderabad Literary Festival on Jan 7-10, 2016.