Three Indian authors are among the 12 candidates short-listed for the 2008 Commonwealth Writers' Prize, it was announced on Monday.

The three Indians shortlisted for the Best Book Award are David Davidar (The Solitude of Emperors), Usha K R (Girl and a River) and Indra Sinha (Animal's People).

Of the three, one lives in India, while another lives in Canada [Images]. Indra Sinha lives in France [Images] and his book Animal's People was also short-listed for the Man Booker 2007.

British writers chosen for the coveted prize, include Hari Kunzru (My Revolutions), Nicholas Shakespeare (Secrets of the Sea), Priya Basil (Ishq and Mushq), Catherine O'Flynn (What was Lost), Jeremy Page (Salt) and J M Shaw (The Illumination of Merton Browne).

Two Pakistani authors Mohsin Hamid (The Reluctant Fundamentalist) and Shandana Minhas (Tunnel Vision) were selected while Tahmima Anam (A Golden Age) is Bangladesh's entry to the list.

Regional chair, Professor Makarand Paranjape (India) said, "For the best book category, we have an outstanding selection of works by some of the finest writers in the English language, drawn from India, Pakistan and England [Images]."

"In the best first books category, we have received very strong regionally flavoured novels, including books set in coastal Norfolk, Birmingham, Bangladesh, Karachi and Kenya, showing a rich harvest of talent from the Commonwealth."