Geetanjali Shree First Indian Author to Win International Booker Prize for Hindi Novel

The International Booker Prize is the sister prize of the Booker Prize and is awarded for a book which has been translated into English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. The winner of the prestigious prize receives international publicity which usually prompts a boost in sales.

Author Geetanjali Shree has become the first Indian author to win the International Booker Prize for her Hindi novel 'Tomb of Sand'.

This makes the novel the first book in any Indian language to win the prestigious literary award.

Originally published in Hindi with the title 'Ret Samadhi' in 2018, the book was translated into English by Daisy Rockwell and is Geetanjali's first book to be published in the UK by Tilted Axis Press in August 2021.

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@Terribleman @JeremyTiang @mervatim @VascoDaGappah @VivGroskop pic.twitter.com/TqUTew0Aem

— The Booker Prizes (@TheBookerPrizes) May 26, 2022

The novel tells the story of an 80-year-old woman from north India who experiences deep depression after her husband's death and how she overcomes it by deciding to visit Pakistan to confront at last the past that she left behind during India's partition in 1947.

At the ceremony held in London on Thursday evening, the Booker judges dubbed the book a "joyous cacophony" and an "irresistible novel".

After winning the prize, Shree said that she was "completely overwhelmed" and that the prize was a "bolt from the blue".

In her acceptance speech, the New Delhi-based author said: “I never dreamt of the Booker, I never thought I could. What a huge recognition, I’m amazed, delighted, honoured and humbled".

“There is a melancholy satisfaction in the award going to it. ‘Ret Samadhi/Tomb of Sand’ is an elegy for the world we inhabit, a lasting energy that retains hope in the face of impending doom. The Booker will take the novel to many more people than it would have reached otherwise - that should do the book no harm,” she added.

The cash prize is worth £50,000 ($63,000) which Geetanjali will share with Rockwell who translated the book.

‘Tomb in Sand’ was chosen from a shortlist of six books.

The other books on the shortlist were: 'Cursed Bunny' by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur from Korean; 'A New Name: Septology VI-VII' by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls from Norwegian; 'Heaven' by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Samuel Bett and David Boyd from Japanese; 'Elena Knows' by Claudia Piñeiro, translated by Frances Riddle from Spanish; and 'The Books of Jacob' by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft from Polish.

A total of 135 books were considered for the literary award this year by the jury and for the first time all shortlisted authors and translators will each receive £2,500 ($3,200), up from £1,000 ($1,300) in previous years – bringing the total value of the prize to £80,000 ($100,000).

Netizens were joined by several prominent personalities - including the state chiefs of Odisha and Arunachal Pradesh - in heaping praise on the author.

Congratulating Geetanjali for winning the award, Odisha's State Chief Naveen Patnaik said in a tweet that this will “encourage our vernacular and Odia writers to reach world readers”.

Odisha State Chief Naveen Patnaik Congratulated Geetanjali Shree for Winning International Booker Prize

© Photo : Twitter/@Naveen_Odisha

And Arunachal Pradesh's State Chief Pema Khandu described the award as “a moment of pride”.

BJP Politician and Aruncahal Pradesh State Chief Pema Khandu Congratulated Geetanjali Shree for Winning International Booker Prize

© Photo : Twitter/@PemaKhanduBJP

All India Professionals' Congress Congratulated Geetanjali Shree for Winning Booker Prize

© Photo : Twitter/@profcongupwest

Journalist Rajdeep Sardesai Heaped Praises for Geetanjali Shree

© Photo : Twitter/@sardesairajdeep

Netizen Congratulated Geetanjali Shree for Her Achievement

© Photo : Twitter/@shashank109

Twitterati Praises Geetanjali Shree for Winning International Booker Prize

© Photo : Twitter/@abhaychawla13

Geetanjali, who comes from Mainpuri city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, has written three novels and some story collections and her work has been translated into English, French, German, Serbian, and Korean.