Tomb of Sand, a Hindi novel authored by New Delhi-based Geetanjali Shree, the unassuming literary figure, and translated into English by Daisy Rockwell based in the USA, won the International Booker Prize 2022 on Friday.
Tomb of Sand, originally titled Ret Ki Samadhi and published in 2018, is the first Hindi work translated to English to have received the coveted recognition. Penguin India released its English translation in March 2022. The book has also been the winner of the English Pen Award. Within hours of hitting book shelves across the nation, Tomb of Sand became a hotly debated and discussed literary work among readers.
The story revolves around an octogenarian woman slipping into a deep depression after the death of her husband and then resurfaces to gain a new lease of life. The change in Ma’s way of thinking and her new found interest in life confuses even her daughter who considers herself as ultramodern. The author takes the reader from the present day to the days of Partition, a time which saw the protagonist undergoing traumas and shock. Ma, through her eyes and words, re-evaluvates what it means to be a mother, daughter, a woman and a feminist.
“We are quite incoherent. We are both ecstatic and wonder if we are dreaming!” were the first reaction by the author, according to a release by Penguin Books, the publishers of Tomb of Sand.
“This is a bolt from the blue but what a nice one, and I am still reeling. Tomb of Sand is an elegy for the world we inhabit, a laughing elegy 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,” said Shree while accepting the prize.
Shree has four novels and several story collections to her credit.
The jury that decided the prize was chaired by Frank Wynne, an Irish literary translator from French and Spanish. The judging panel consisted of Merve Emre, Associate Professor of English Literature at the University of Oxford, Zimbabwean lawyer and writer, Petina Gappah, translator and author, Jeremy Tiang, and Viv Groskop, writer, critic, broadcaster and stand-up comedian.
Meru Gokhale, Publisher, Penguin Press, Penguin Random House India, said on Friday it was a landmark day for Indian publishing. “This win honours Shree’s genius, and Daisy Rockwell’s brilliant translation. Just as excitingly, it also opens up possibilities for so many other writers and translators who I hope will now reach international readers.” said Gokhale.