Geetanjali Shree<\/a> is the author of three novels and several story collections, Mainpuri-born Geetanjali Shree has translated her works into English, French, German, Serbian, and Korean and her book \u2018Tomb of Sand\u2019 is the first novel in any Indian language to win the prestigious International Booker Prize making the country proud.<\/p>\n\u2018Tomb of Sand\u2019 originally called\u00a0 \u2018Ret Samadhi\u2019, is set in northern India and tracks an 80-year-old woman.\u00a0 The Booker judges said, “We were captivated by the power, the poignancy, and the playfulness of Tomb of Sand\u2019.\u00a0 Frank Wynne, chair of the judging panel said, “This 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” he said.<\/p>\n
It was chosen from a shortlist of six other books: Cursed Bunny\u2019 by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur from Korean; A New Name: Septology VI-VII\u2019 by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls from Norwegian; Heaven\u2019 by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Samuel Bett and David Boyd from Japanese; Elena Knows\u2019 by Claudia Pi eiro, translated by Frances Riddle from Spanish; and The Books of Jacob\u2019 by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft from Polish.<\/p>\n
A melancholic satisfaction in the award: Shree in her acceptance speech
\n\u201cI never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could. What a huge recognition, I\u2019m amazed, delighted, honored, and humbled, said Shree, in her acceptance speech. There is a melancholic satisfaction in the award going to it. Ret Samadhi\/Tomb of Sand\u2019 is an elegy for the world we inhabit, 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\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n
At a ceremony in London on Thursday, the New Delhi-based writer said she was completely overwhelmed by the \u201cbolt from the blue\u201d as she accepted her prize, worth GBP 50,000, and shared it with the book\u2019s English translator, Daisy Rockwell.<\/p>\n
Pondering 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. But behind me and this book lies a rich and flourishing literary tradition in Hindi, and in other South Asian languages. World literature will be richer for knowing some of the finest writers in these languages. The vocabulary of life will increase from such an interaction, she said.<\/p>\n
The author wrote 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, \u2018Tomb of Sand\u2019 is the first of her books to be published in the UK in English by Tilted Axis Press in August 2021.<\/p>\n
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