Two Indian-American Authors Shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize 2017

London, Mar 15, 2017: Two Indian-American authors Siddhartha Mukherjee for his book "The Gene" and Paul Kalanithi for his book "When Breath Becomes Air" have been shortlisted under the non-fiction category for the 30,000 pound Wellcome Book Prize. The Wellcome Book Prize is themed on works of fiction and non-fiction on health and medicine.

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New York born Kalanithi was a Standford neurosurgeon, his 'When Breath Becomes Air' chronicles his life from being a medical student to a neurosurgeon, a patient and a father, till before his death at the age of 37 from lung cancer while still working on his book. It is the first posthumously published title to be shortlisted for the Wellcome Book Prize, mentioned PTI report.

Delhi-born Mukherji, a Pulitzer Prize winning author and assistant professor of medicine at New York's Columbia University, in 'The Gene' writes about his family and the recurring pattern of mental illness in his own family. The book highlights the importance of genetics in everyday life and question our advancement which has led to our ability to alter human genome. Mukherji's 'The Emperor of All Maladies' was nominated in 2011 for the Wellcome Book Prize.

The 2017 winner of the Wellcome Book Prize will be announced at an evening ceremony on April 24.

– Prepared by Upama Bhattacharya. Twitter @Upama_myself