Author Geetanjali Shree's Hindi novel 바카라Tomb of Sand바카라 has become the first book in any Indian language to win the prestigious International Booker Prize.
Reflecting upon becoming the first work of fiction in Hindi to make the Booker cut, the 64-year-old author said it feels good to be the means of that happening.
Author Geetanjali Shree's Hindi novel 바카라Tomb of Sand바카라 has become the first book in any Indian language to win the prestigious International Booker Prize.
At a ceremony in London on Thursday, the New Delhi-based writer said she was 바카라completely overwhelmed바카라 with the "bolt from the blue" as she accepted her prize, worth GBP 50,000 and shared with the book's English translator, Daisy Rockwell.
바카라Tomb of Sand바카라, originally 바카라Ret Samadhi바카라, is set in northern India and follows an 80-year-old woman in a tale the Booker judges dubbed a 바카라joyous cacophony바카라 and an "irresistible novel".
바카라I never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could. What a huge recognition, I바카라m amazed, delighted, honoured and humbled,바카라 said Shree, in her acceptance speech.
바카라There is a melancholy satisfaction in the award going to it. 바카라Ret Samadhi/Tomb of Sand바카라 is an elegy for the world we inhabit, a lasting energy that retains hope in the face of impending doom. The Booker will surely take it to many more people than it would have reached otherwise, that should do the book no harm,바카라 she said.
Reflecting upon becoming the first work of fiction in Hindi to make the Booker cut, the 64-year-old author said it feels good to be the means of that happening.
바카라But behind me and this book lies a rich and flourishing literary tradition in Hindi, and in other South Asian languages. World literature will be the richer for knowing some of the finest writers in these languages. The vocabulary of life will increase from such an interaction,바카라 she said.
Rockwell, a painter, writer and translator living in Vermont, US, joined her on stage to receive her award for translating the novel she described as a 바카라love letter to the Hindi language".
바카라Ultimately, we were captivated by the power, the poignancy and the playfulness of 바카라Tomb of Sand바카라, Geetanjali Shree바카라s polyphonic novel of identity and belonging, in Daisy Rockwell's exuberant, coruscating translation,바카라 said Frank Wynne, chair of the judging panel.
바카라This is a luminous novel of India and partition, but one whose spellbinding brio and fierce compassion weaves youth and age, male and female, family and nation into a kaleidoscopic whole,바카라 he said.
The book바카라s 80-year-old protagonist, Ma, to her family바카라s consternation, insists on travelling to Pakistan, simultaneously confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of Partition, and re-evaluating what it means to be a mother, a daughter, a woman, a feminist.
The Booker jury were impressed that rather than respond to tragedy with seriousness, Shree's playful tone and exuberant wordplay results in a book that is 바카라engaging, funny, and utterly original바카라, at the same time as being an urgent and timely protest against the destructive impact of borders and boundaries, whether between religions, countries, or genders.
The author of three novels and several story collections, Mainpuri-born Shree has translated her works into English, French, German, Serbian, and Korean.
Originally published in Hindi in 2018, 바카라Tomb of Sand바카라 is the first of her books to be published in the UK in English by Tilted Axis Press in August 2021.
Shree's novel was chosen from a shortlist of six books, the others being: 바카라Cursed Bunny바카라 by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur from Korean; 바카라A New Name: Septology VI-VII바카라 by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls from Norwegian; 바카라Heaven바카라 by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Samuel Bett and David Boyd from Japanese; 바카라Elena Knows바카라 by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle from Spanish; and 바카라The Books of Jacob바카라 by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft from Polish.
This year the judges considered 135 books and for the first time in 2022, all shortlisted authors and translators will each receive GBP 2,500, increased from GBP 1,000 in previous years 바카라 bringing the total value of the prize to GBP 80,000.
Complementing the Booker Prize for Fiction, the international prize is awarded every year for a single book that is translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland.