The Dhahan Prize For Punjabi Literature

To inspire the creation of Punjabi literature across borders, bridging Punjabi communities around the world and promoting Punjabi literature on a global scale.

Prize Structure and Eligibility Requirements

A. The Jury

  1. Each year three juries are appointed with each jury having three members.
    • The Dhahan Prize Management Team and the Chair of the Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee determine the membership of juries.
    • Two juries are established to determine semi-finalists in each script, Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi. These are referred to as the “Gurmukhi Jury” and the “Shahmukhi Jury.” These two juries determine potential winners in their respective scripts.
    • A Central Jury is established to recommend the shortlist, finalists and winner.
      • Central Jury members must be able to read books in both Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi scripts.
  2. The Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee provides suggestions for jury membership to the Dhahan Prize Management Team and the Chair of Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee, but does not know the final composition of juries.
  3. Jury membership is confidential until the announcement of the three finalists of the award. Only the jury members in each of the juries, the Dhahan Prize Management Team and the Chair of the Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee know the final constitution of the juries.
  4. The Dhahan Prize Management Team and the Chair of the Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee decide the jury membership.
  5. No person is entitled to remain a jury member for a consecutive year.

B. Book selections

  1. After eligibility is determined, the The Dhahan Prize Management Team forwards eligible submissions to the Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi Juries. 
  2. All jury members receive hard copies and/or electronic versions of all eligible book submissions. Jury members are responsible for reading books in their entirety (i.e. the full text of the novel or short story collection and any introduction, preface or other content), in the script associated with their jury.
  3. Every book received for the Dhahan Prize is evaluated according to the following five qualities by all three juries:
    • Newness: the subject matter of the book under consideration is fresh and not overrepresented in existing Punjabi literature.
    • Depth: the author has deeply engaged with the subject matter, understands its nuances and complexities and presents the same creatively.
    • Milestone: the book is a singular achievement in Punjabi literature and marks a turning point in some way, either in the approach to the subject matter or stylistically. The book has potential to be a ‘classic’ in Punjabi literature.
    • Aesthetics: the book is aesthetically compelling, providing an innovative, formal approach and/or aesthetic satisfaction, and an enjoyable reading experience.
    • Contemporary relevance: the book is meaningful and substantively explores contemporary social, political, economic and human relations in a local, regional, national and international context.
  4. The juries make their book selections without giving any consideration to the authors’ age, gender, sexual orientation, national background, ethnicity, religion, marital status, any immutable characteristic, name recognition or past literary achievements.
  5. The Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi juries recommend from the candidates a minimum of 3 books or, if more than 15 books are submitted, 20% of the total eligible Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi submissions each, to the Dhahan Prize Management Team.
  6. The Dhahan Prize Management Team and the Chair of the Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee review the recommended books from the Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi juries and then the Dhahan Prize Management Team forwards the same to the Central Jury for its deliberation.
  7. The Central Jury compiles a shortlist of not less than 6 and not more than 10 titles from the list of recommended books by the Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi juries.
  8. The Central Jury recommends the Prize shortlist, two finalists and a winner to the Dhahan Prize Management Team and the Chair of the Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee, ensuring that out of the winner and two finalists, each of the two scripts is represented.
  9. The Dhahan Prize Management Team and the Chair of the Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee, after consultation with the Central Jury, make the final decision of the shortlist, finalists and winner for the award.
  10. All submissions and deliberations are confidential.
  11. All jury members agree to confidentiality, so as to not discuss matters pertaining to the Prize with anyone outside of the jury they are members of. Particularly, they agree to not divulge or discuss any of the books submitted for the Prize with anyone outside of their respective jury.
  12. Each year, the Dhahan Prize announces a shortlist of 6 to 10 books with a press release in early September, in Vancouver, Canada. The announcement of the 3 finalists follows one to two weeks later. The names of the jurors will also be released at the time of announcing the three finalists.

C. Book Eligibility Requirements

  1. Book submissions must be first-edition novels or short story collections written in either the Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi script. Works of poetry and other genres are not eligible. Reprints of previously published works are not eligible (unless a reprint is published in the same year as the first edition).
  2. More than half of each submitted book’s content must be newly published (i.e. 51% should not have been published in book form previously, such as in other collections, or otherwise).
  3. A submitted book must be published in the calendar year prior to the year in which the prize will be awarded e.g., 2022 for the 2023 prize.
  4. Books must be published by recognized publishers; self-published books are not eligible.
  5. Books may be submitted by the author or any other person on their behalf, including the publisher. If not submitted by the author, explicit, written permission from the author must be obtained and submitted to the Prize.
  6. The submitted book must have an ISBN Number clearly printed on the book cover or inside of the book.
  7. The submitted book must be purchasable by the public at a reasonable number of retail outlets.
  8. Three hard copies of the book must be mailed to the Dhahan Prize office in Canada.
  9. An electronic version of the book in PDF format must be submitted via email. Incomplete, inaccurate, or poor-quality electronic versions will result in disqualification for the Prize.
  10. All electronic entries and hard copies must be received by February 28th, of the Prize year. Submissions received after this date will be deemed ineligible.
  11. After verification that the book meets all eligibility requirements, it will be submitted to jury members. The decision of the The Dhahan Prize Management Team as to whether a book is eligible shall be binding.
  12. No submission shall be ineligible because the author has won another literary prize previously.
  13. No book shall be awarded the Prize where the book’s author has died prior to the announcement of the Prize winner and finalists.
  14. No jury or Dhahan Prize Advisory Committee member may submit a book for consideration for the prize in a year they serve on a jury or on the Advisory Committee.
  15. A winning author of the Prize will be eligible to compete again after a period of 5 years, while finalists will be eligible to compete again starting the following year.

D. Conditions

  1. A shortlisted candidate will be required to submit to the Dhahan Prize Management Team:
    • A full resolution file of a professional portrait of the author, taken against a natural, full-colour background, using a DSLR camera. Additional specifications may be requested.
    • A high-resolution, print-quality, digital copy of the shortlisted book’s cover.
  2. Each year, the Dhahan Prize Awards Ceremony will be held in November in Vancouver, Canada, where the winner will be announced.
  3. All authors whose books are submitted are required to sign an agreement that: should their book be selected as ‘the winner’ or ‘a finalist’ they will attend the Dhahan Prize Awards Ceremony and any affiliated events highlighting the author and their works, in order to receive their award. If an author fails to attend, the author will not be eligible to receive the award.
  4. If the finalists are from out of town, The Dhahan Prize will bear the cost of economy return air travel to and from Vancouver for the finalists, as well as the cost of accommodations and meals in Vancouver, for up to five days.
  5. Authors and publishers of the winning and finalist books are required to sign an agreement granting the Dhahan Prize the right to reproduce an excerpt, chapter or short story in any Dhahan Prize promotional activity.
  6. The authors and publishers of winning and finalist books are required to sign an agreement to imprint or sticker all future editions with the Dhahan Prize logo, as per instructions from the Dhahan Prize Management Team. The logo or sticker design may not be altered in any way.