Pakistani publishing house Maktaba-e-Daniyal, which published a translated Urdu version of Mohammed Hanif’s controversial novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes, has been shortlisted for the prestigious International Publishers Association’s (IPA) Prix Voltaire honour.
The publishing house had come under fire in January 2020 for publishing the Urdu translation of the novel, which presents a satirical take on the plane crash that killed former military dictator, General Ziaul Haq. The book won the Best First Book Award in the year 2009 in the Commonwealth Book Prize.
Hanif took to social media to share the news and express his excitement.
The prize honours those publishers who have presented courage and have exercised their right to freedom of expression. It also carries a cash prize of $9,000.
According to IPA, “Freedom of expression and freedom to publish are human rights under Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Yet the freedom to publish is under continuous, sustained daily attack, with writers and publishers vilified, jailed, tortured and killed merely for doing their jobs. In 2005, the IPA created the Freedom to Publish Prize to honour a person or organisation adjudged to have made a significant contribution to the defence and promotion of freedom to publish in the world. In 2016, the prize was renamed the IPA Prix Voltaire, in tribute to the French philosopher and writer François-Marie Arouet (pen name Voltaire), who propounded a doctrine of tolerance and free expression before the terms were in general use. Moreover, between 1755 and 1759 Voltaire lived in Geneva, Switzerland, where the IPA is based, before moving to the nearby French border town of Ferney, which was renamed Ferney-Voltaire in his honour after the French Revolution.”
Other publishing houses that have been short-listed include Turkish publishing house Avesta Yayinlari, which has faced several lawsuits, investigations and attacks; Gerakbudaya Publishing House in Malaysia which has published a number of books on controversial topics; and Liberal Publishing House in Vietnam which presented a “direct challenge” to the government which attempted to control the publishing industry in Vietnam.
The winner of this years’ award will be announced at the 33rd International Publishers Congress in Norway scheduled to take place in May.
