Indian writer Geetanjali Shree’s novel ‘Tomb of Sand’ has received the famous International Booker Prize. This novel was published in Hindi as ‘Ret Ki Samadhi’, translated into English by American Translator Daisy Rockwell and named Tomb of Sand.
It has become one of the 13 books globally that have received the International Booker Prize. You will be happy to know that this is the first Hindi language book to win the award. Geetanjali Shree received the award for this book in London on Thursday.
Geetanjali Shree received prize money of 5 thousand pounds (50000 Pounds Winning Prize) which she will share with Daisy Rockwell.
The novel tells the story of an 80-year-old widow who loses her husband after the Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947. After that, she goes into a deep depression. After much struggle, she overcomes her depression and decides to go to Pakistan to face the past left behind during Partition. ‘Ret Ki Samadhi’, published by Rajkamal Prakashan, is the first Hindi book that made it to the longlist and shortlists of the International Booker Prize and won the honour at a ceremony held in London on Thursday night.
Translator Frank Wynne, who chaired the panel of judges, said the judges voted ‘Tomb of Sand’ to the title by a majority vote after a very passionate debate. He said this is a dazzling novel of India and Partition, whose charm and compassion take young age, man and woman, family and nation in many dimensions. Wynne said it was an extraordinarily unbelievable book, despite the traumatic events she faced.
About International Booker Prize –
The International Booker Prize (formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize) is an international literary award hosted in the United Kingdom. The introduction of the International Prize to complement the Man Booker Prize was announced in June 2004. Sponsored by the Man Group, from 2005 until 2015, the award was given every two years to a living author of any nationality for a body of work published in English or generally available in English translation. It rewarded one author’s “continued creativity, development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage”. It was a recognition of the writer’s body of work rather than anyone title.
Since 2016, the award has been given annually to a single book translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland, with a £50,000 prize for the winning title, shared equally between author and translator.