Rana Dasgupta wins Commonwealth Writers' Prize

Delhi-based British Indian novelist Rana Dasgupta, whose literary work Solo -- a story that encompasses a century of communist and post-communist regimes in Bulgaria -- has won the 2010 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the Best Book.

Australian author Glenda Guest won the Best First Book prize for Siddon Rock.

Dasgupta's book narrates the story of Ulrich -- a blind, reclusive 100-year-old man from Bulgaria -- embarks on an epic armchair journey through a century of violent politics, forbidden music, lost love and failed chemistry.

The prize, presented by the Commonwealth Foundation with support from the Macquarie Group Foundation, was announced in New Delhi on Monday.

The prize aims to reward the best of Commonwealth fiction written in English and in doing so, spots rising talent and creates new literary figures from the Commonwealth. This is the Prize to watch for tomorrow's best-sellers, says Mark Collins, director of the Commonwealth Foundation.

Dasgupta's first book, Tokyo Cancelled, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and John Llewellyn Rhys Prize.

The winner of the Best Book Prize is customarily invited to London for an audience with Queen Elizabeth II, the head of the Commonwealth.

Buy Rana Dasgupta's Solo from rediff Books