Geetanjali Shree becomes first Indian winner of International Booker Prize
Her novel Tomb of Sand follows the story of an 80-year-old woman after the death of her husband.
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Geetanjali Shree has become the first Indian winner of the International Booker Prize for her novel Tomb of Sand.
The book follows the story of an 80-year-old woman after the death of her husband and is set during the partition of India in 1947.
It was the first Hindi-language book to be shortlisted for the £50,000 prize and was translated to English by American translator Daisy Rockwell.
“I never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could,” Shree said, in an acceptance speech quoted by the Press Trust Of India.
“What a huge recognition. I’m amazed, delighted, honoured and humbled.”
She adedd: “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.”
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Frank Wynne, chair of the judges, said he had not read anything like Tomb of Sand before.
“It has an exuberance and a life and a power and a passion that the world could do with right now,” he said.
Announcing the news online, the organisation said: “We are delighted to announce that the winner of the #2022InternationalBooker Prize is Tomb of Sand by Geetanjali Shree, translated from Hindi to English by @shreedaisy
and published by @tiltedaxispress.”
Shree beat five other finalists including Polish Nobel literature laureate Olga Tokarczuk, Claudia Piñeiro of Argentina and South Korean author Bora Chung to be awarded the prize at a ceremony in London on Thursday.