The winner of the Sushila Devi Award 2023 for the Best Book of Fiction written by a Woman Author  is Janice Pariat for her novel  Everything the Light Touches, published by HarperCollins in 2022.  The award, instituted by Shri Ratanlal Foundation, will be presented at the Bhopal Literature Festival, January, 2024. 

Everything the Light Touches is an exquisitely composed  novel weaving the experiences of four very different travellers over time and history. Shai rediscovers her indigenous heritage in north-east India, Evelyn,  a student in Cambridge, is inspired by Goethe’s botanical writings, Goethe’s own journey to Italy in the 1770s is recounted, and Linnaeus the botanist and taxonomist who led an expedition to Lapland also enters the story. Holding these diversities in balance, and linking  India to the world through an intricate and sophisticated narrative, Janice Pariat presents an  innovative picture  of the evolution of knowledge. Science, botany, photosynthesis are the building blocks of existence yet human rapacity has sought to destroy nature in the hope of imminent gain. In her storytelling, the abstract and the concrete come together, gently revealing their interdependence. This is a novel about perspectives, of seeing and knowing in different ways. The compulsive energy that propels travel and discovery binds the disparate experiences into contemplating the mysterious force behind the creation of each little leaf and every new dawn. Elegantly written in a language that brilliantly integrates images from various contexts, Janice Pariat’s masterly control of the form of fiction, is both captivating as well as deeply impressive.

In recognition of her achievement, the Sushila Devi Award 2023 is conferred upon Janice Pariat.

The Jury was chaired by Prof. Malashri Lal and comprised of Prof. Sukrita Paul Kumar and Prof. GJV Prasad. Now in its fifth year, the Sushila Devi award has gained a prestigious position in the literary sphere. 

Previous winners have been  Namita Gokhale (Things To Leave Behind),  Shubhangi Swarup (Latitudes of Longing) and Avni Doshi (Girl in White Cotton), Anukrti Upadhyay (Kintsugi), Anuradha Roy (The Earthspinner)