New Delhi Feb 18 PTI Books by Naheed Phiroze Patel Ambai Sarah Joseph Selma Carvalho Tarana Husain Khan and Krupa Ge have made it to the shortlist of SheThePeoples inaugural Women Writers PrizeNovels and short story collections written by Indian women authors residing in India are eligible for the prize which carries prize money of Rs 50000 and will be announced in MarchIn case of translated work the award money will be shared equally between writer and translatorThe shortlisted works are A Mirror Made of Rain Patel A Red-necked Green Bird Ambai translated by GJV Prasad Budhini Joseph translator Sangeetha Sreenivasan Sisterhood of Swans Carvalho The Begum and the Dastan Khan and What We Know About Her GeThe six books were selected by a jury comprising Preeti Gill G Sampath and Lakshmi SubodhThe Women Writers Prize aims to recognise the works of women writers and their worldview The selection of works spans from debut novels to translated ones of experienced authors tracing stories from across the globe and deeply focusing on their tapestry of experience and imaginationSpeaking on the diverse shortlist Padma Shri author and prize mentor Shashi Deshpande said The value and reputation of any literary award depends on the books that seek the award Considering this the shortlist of the newly instituted Women Writers Prize is a great beginning It is an excitingly eclectic list with a melange of writers from different backgrounds belonging to different generations and books with very varied themes According to her this list seems to validate the need for an exclusive prize for the writing of womenToo often we have seen lists in which womens writing is pushed into the also-ran category It is now for the judges to tackle the hard job of selecting one out of these deserving six as the final winner she addedShaili Chopra is the prize founder and Shinie Antony the prize curator PTI ZMN RB RB

New Delhi Jan 24 PTI Educationist writer and astrologer Shubira Prasad is out with her second book in the trilogy of the battle between humans and demons and takes from where the previous work stopped - of total annihilation of school of warfareIn her first book The Demons of Jaitraya protagonists Aishani and Adheesh are overwhelmed by the power of the demons but now they are back to face their nemesis stronger than ever before and try to reclaim what is for the human raceThe Angels of Kailash Vitasta Publishing talks about The Gurukul which had trained Aishani and AdheeshWhat is interesting are the powers each of the characters possess and the significance of strength and power that female characters have in Prasads booksOn having strong female warriors in her book the author says that in Hindu mythology Ma Durga is the greatest warrior an embodiment of female empowermentAnd that is why trained women are better and stronger warriors Prasad saysAsked what are the challenges in writing trilogies she says My challenges have been more of a personal nature I am a product of the Christian education system with practically nil exposure to Indian mythology adding her interest in Indian mythology was very gradualIt was through simple rituals at home that exposed me to Indian mythology a couple of decades ago Since then it has been an unending exploration Prasad saysOn her favourite character in the book she says I have worked hard to make each of them have their distinct personality and yet a single purpose Still I find Aishanis character to be fascinating adding she is innocent seemingly unaware of her status and powers and is surrounded by warriors whose sole aim is to protect their leader while she is destroying the demonsThe Kumbh Conspiracy is the final book of the trilogy The trilogy is a saga of love adventure heartbreaks fierce battles despair power and happiness PTI ZMN SHD SHD