Geetanjali Shree's Tomb of Sand nominated for Booker

NT Features

A critically acclaimed author Geetanjali Shree’s novel Tomb of Sand, translated from a Hindi language book by Daisy Rockwell, has been nominated for this year’s International Booker Prize. Also, the winner of the English Pen Award, Tomb of Sand, a translatory book from Hindi for the first time has been nominated for the International Booker Prize. The Booker Prize, established in 2002, aims to promote the art and value of literature for the public benefit.

This book was first published in Hindi as Ret Samadhi in 2018. The publishers will also be releasing the English translation in March. The International Booker Prize is one of the most prestigious awards in translated literature, giving both the author and translator a platform to showcase their exemplary work in translations.

One of the finest works by Geetanjali Shree, an Indian writer and an author of three novels and several story collections, her work has been translated into English, French, German, Serbian, and Korean.

Based on a tragic premise, the story however has a playful tone and exuberant wordplay that is engaging, funny, and utterly original. At the same time, it is an urgent and timely protest ag ainst the destructive impact on borders and boundaries, whether between religions, countries, or gender.

In northern India, an eighty-year-old woman slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband, and then resurfaces to gain a new lease on life. Her determination to fly in the face of convention – including striking up a friendship with a transgender person – confuses her bohemian daughter, who is used to thinking of herself as the more ‘modern’ of the two.

To her family’s consternation, Ma 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.

Translator Daisy Rockwell says, Tomb of Sand is a rich, beautiful, experimental work. It was an honour to work with Geetanjali Shree to create the English translation. I am beyond thrilled that the International Booker Prize jury has chosen our book for the long list.”

Tomb of Sand is truly an insightful and a oneof-a-kind partition novel, making the author–translator pairing perfect. The book has received a lot of appreciation from readers, who have reviewed it as engaging, funny and utterly original.