Dhahan Literary Award: Two city authors among finalists

Two authors from Jalandhar, Balbir Parwana and Bhagwant Rasulpuri, have been named finalists for the 2025 Dhahan Literary Award, worth 51,000 Canadian dollars. This marks the first time that two of the three finalists hail from the city.

Launched in 2013, the Dhahan Literary Award aims to promote and disseminate Punjabi literature. The announcement of the 2025 finalists was made during a press conference at the Newton branch of the Surrey Library. Barjinder Singh Dhahan, founder of the award, revealed the three finalists: Balbir Parwana (Jalandhar) for his novel Rauleyan Vele, Mudassar Bashir (Lahore) for his novel Goyal and Bhagwant Rasulpuri (Jalandhar) for his short story collection Delivery Man.

Founder Barjinder Singh Dhahan confirmed that the award ceremony will take place on November 13, 2025, at the Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey.

One of the books will receive a grand prize of 25,000 Canadian dollars, while the runners-up will each receive 10,000 Canadian dollars. An additional award of 6,000 Canadian dollars will be given for the transliteration of the winning books into Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi.

Interestingly, the late Des Raj Kali, a renowned author from Jalandhar, gained national recognition for his work highlighting the struggles of the Dalit community in the region. Both selected authors from Jalandhar are contemporaries of Kali and were his friends.

Rasulpuri is also known for his focus on the crises affecting the Dalit community, though his work takes a critical, internal perspective on the struggles. One of his short stories delves into the emotional turmoil of a father divided by a home torn apart due to his children’s allegiance to different deras.

Delivery Man, the title story of his collection, explores the loneliness of a woman who fills the void in her life with conversations with her digital friend, ‘Alexa’, and her growing friendship with a delivery man who sees beyond the digital facade. Parwana’s works reflect the pains of partition, and his novel Rauleyan Vele revisits the melancholia of that divisive era through the eyes of a diligent YouTuber.

Speaking to The Tribune, Bhagwant Rasulpuri shared, “Punjab has endured the pains of partition and the tragedy of 1984. While I value literature that focuses on these historical tragedies still felt by the people, my work aims to make sense of contemporary challenges and urban issues, including how the digital era has reshaped society. These themes are essential for understanding the cultural shifts our state has experienced in recent years.”

Balbir Singh Parwana said, “I firmly believe that partition was imposed on the people by vested interests and politicians; it wasn’t a choice made by the people. We, as a society, still haven’t learned this lesson. Politicians will exploit any religious or caste-based slogan for their own gain, only to abandon it once their agenda is served. While freedom fighters are rightly celebrated, the lives lost during partition are often overlooked. My novel aims to revisit that era through the contemporary perspective of a YouTuber and researcher, exploring the lessons society must learn from those times.”

The Dhahan Literary Award is one of the rare literary accolades with such significant prize money, aimed at promoting and disseminating Punjabi literature worldwide, especially within the diaspora.

The award encourages Punjabi readers to discover new and exceptional works of Punjabi fiction that cross borders and cultural barriers. The winners are among the leading novelists and story writers in Punjabi literature, and their works deliver important messages to the literary world.

Dhahan also revealed that this year the jury received 55 submissions from countries including Canada, India, Pakistan, Australia, the US, and the UK.

He emphasised that promoting Punjabi literature in both Gurmukhi and Shahmukhi scripts fosters unity between the two Punjabs. The award ceremony will feature renowned Canadian novelist Gurjinder Basran as the keynote speaker.

The Dhahan Literary Award is presented by the Canada India Education Society in Vancouver, Canada, in collaboration with the Department of Asian Studies at the University of British Columbia. It is the largest international literary prize for fiction in Gurmukhi or Shahmukhi Punjabi, making it one of the most prestigious awards for South Asian languages.