Hindi writer Geetanjali Shree bags Booker Prize; first Hindi translated book to win award

LONDON: Indian writer Geetanjali Shree has won this year’s International Booker Prize for her novel ‘Ret Samadhi’ translated to English as ‘Tomb of Sand’. This is the first translated book in Hindi to win the Booker Prize. Geetanjali Shree will share the prize money with American translator Daisy Rockwell.

The prize money is 50,000 Euro (Rs 41.6 lakh). 64-year-old Geetanjali Shree is a native of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh. "I never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could. What a huge recognition, I'm amazed, delighted, honoured and humbled," said Shree, in her acceptance speech”, she said in response to the news of her victory.

Daisy Rockwell, a painter, writer and translator, is a native of Vermont, US. ‘Ret Samadhi’ tells the story of 80-year-old Ma, who insists on travelling to Pakistan after her husband’s death, confronting the unresolved trauma of her teenage experiences of partition. The novel, set in the backdrop of India-Pakistan partition, presents a severely depressed old woman finding the determination to move ahead in life.

The books, which are translated to English and published in the UK or Ireland, are considered for the Booker Prize. Geetanjali Shree is the author of four novels and several short stories. Shree's novel was chosen from a shortlist of six books, namely ‘Cursed Bunny' by Bora Chung, ‘A New Name: Septology VI-VII' by Jon Fosse, ‘Heaven' by Mieko Kawakami, ‘Elena Knows' by Claudia Piñeiro and ‘The Books of Jacob' by Olga Tokarczuk.