• Geetanjali Shree has become the first Indian author to win the prestigious International Booker Prize.

• ‘Tomb of Sand’, originally titled ‘Ret Samadhi’ in Hindi, was translated into English by Daisy Rockwell. 

• Set in northern India, the novel follows the adventures of an 80-year-old woman who unexpectedly gains a new, and highly unconventional, lease of life. 

• The author of three novels and several story collections, Delhi-based Shree has translated her works into English, French, German, Serbian, and Korean.

• This year, the judges considered 135 books.

Shree’s novel was chosen from a shortlist of six books. The others were:

i) ‘Cursed Bunny’ by Bora Chung, translated by Anton Hur from Korean.

ii) ‘A New Name: Septology VI-VII’ by Jon Fosse, translated by Damion Searls from Norwegian.

iii) ‘Heaven’ by Mieko Kawakami, translated by Samuel Bett and David Boyd from Japanese.

iv) ‘Elena Knows by Claudia Pineiro’, translated by Frances Riddle from Spanish.

v) ‘The Books of Jacob’ by Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Jennifer Croft from Polish.

‘Tomb of Sand’ is the first book originally written in any Indian language to win the International Booker Prize, and the first novel translated from Hindi to be recognised by the award. 

International Booker Prize

• The International Booker Prize, formerly known as the Man Booker International Prize, has been awarded since 2005.

• It is a sister prize to the Booker Prize, awarded to a novel written in English.

• It was initially a biennial prize for a body of work, and there was no stipulation that the work should be written in a language other than English. Early winners of the Man Booker International Prize therefore include Alice Munro, Lydia Davis and Philip Roth, as well as Ismail Kadare and Laszlo Krasznahorkai. 

• In 2015, the rules of the original Booker Prize expanded to allow writers of any nationality to enter — as long as their books were written in English and published in the UK — the International Prize evolved to become the mirror image of the English-language prize.

• Since then it has been awarded annually for a single book, written in another language and translated into English.

• The vital work of translators is celebrated, with the £50,000 prize money divided equally between the author and translator. Each shortlisted author and translator also receives £2,500.

• Novels and collections of short stories are both eligible.

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