Dhahan Prize and Other Diaspora Novels

The biggest literary award for fiction books in Panjabi, the Dhahan Prize for 2015 was awarded to Balbir Singh Parwana from Jalandhar, Panjab on 12 Nov. Balbir received the award for his novel Rauleyan Vele (In the Time of Unrest) and a cash award of CAD 25K. Alongside Balbir, Mudassar Bashir, Lahore and Bhagwant Rasulpuri, Jalandhar were also announced as two finalists for their works Goyal (Precarious Shelter, a novel) and Delivery Man (a short story collection), respectively. Meanwhile, author Sukhjit Kaur Khalsa, from Australia, published her debut book Fully Sikh: Hot Chips and Turmeric Stains in early 2025. The book explores the themes of Sikh-Australian identity, culture, and family through a blend of poetry, prose, and recipes. Khalsa, who always faced issues of belonging in a land where her identity was not understood, says slam poetry is to be credited for her unique journey. ‘I hated myself, hated my body hair, hated not belonging,’ she says. ‘Slowly, art made me love myself.’ Khalsa started her journey in a poetry slam in Perth in 2014 with a poem about her experience as a Sikh woman, who doesn't remove her body hair for cultural reasons, but sometimes feels judged for being unshaven. The poem landed her in the final of Australian poetry slam at Opera House. Since then, Khalsa has earned an Order of Australia medal, become head of an independent theatre, Blue Room in Perth. Today she looks at her identity as being about more than her Sikh identity and is working on new screen projects and a rom-com musical. Also, a Sikh from Peterborough, UK Jax Singh Takk has published his first novel called Blitzkrieg Tommies. Singh who suffers from chronic pain has credited writing to helping him cope with his pain and ‘transcending physical limitations’. Blitzkrieg Tommies is a gripping journey of Private Singh, a Sikh soldier in the British Army in World War II and Major Watkins who leads a covert team of military prisoners, known as the Rum Bunch, on a daring mission behind enemy lines. The story is set in World War II.