Applications are invited from Zoroastrian fiction writers aged 18 years and above for the Bapsi Sidhwa Literary Prize of $ 2,000 (Rs 1,48,347) instituted by the Zoroastrian Association of Houston (ZAH) and FEZANA (Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America) Information Research Education System (FIRES). Entries are sought from those who have authored a book in English, the first edition of which should have been published between January 2020 and January 2022.
"We seek to celebrate the accomplishments of Bapsi Sidhwa with this prize and honor literary expressions that represent the rich characters, setting, laughter and thoughtful topics found in her novels and essays,” notes the announcement from FIRES co-chair Aban Rustomji. An acclaimed Pakistani novelist with an international reputation, 85-year-old Sidhwa now resides in Houston. As celebrated Urdu author and poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz had remarked, "Sidhwa’s study of some archetypal characters of her community — the Parsis — deserves more than praise both as a sociological and as a literary document… (She) has opened for us all the doors and the windows of this world’s innermost recesses.”
To be eligible for the prize, the application form (available on the website fires-fezana.org) along with a digital copy of the book for perusal by the jury should be sent to the organizers at info@fires-fezana.org. It is also mandatory to send a hard copy of the book to FIRES/ZAH at 526 Woodbend Lane, Houston, Texas 77079. The deadline for submission is February 1, 2022. "As the deadline is tight, the application and a digital copy need to be in by February 1 so judges can start the evaluation. The delay in receiving a print copy will be something we can then adjust,” clarified Rustomji.
According to the rules laid down by the organizers, each submission must be the work of a single author. Self-published books will not be eligible for the prize and a trophy. In case of insufficient entries, the biennial prize may not be assigned for the given period. Issues arising from alleged plagiarism among the finalists will not be the responsibility of the organizers or the judges.
Established in 2010, and housed and managed by the ZAH Library, FIRES encompasses a centralized collection of books, manuscripts, literature, magazines and scholarly research material in print and electronic format, primarily pertaining to the Zarathushti faith, culture and history.