Hinduism and modernity

The contemporary Indian novel might be said to have two strains. The first is the Indian novel in English, and its best-known representatives are household names: Salman Rushdie, Vikram Seth, Amitav Ghosh, Vikram Chandra, Kiran Desai and Aravind Adiga. The second is the Indian novel in languages other than English, and who the great names are in this space depends very much on the language and geographical location of the reader. The English-speaking reader, relying solely on translations and looking down again from a pan-Indian perspective, might say that currently these are the Bengali novelists Sankar and Mahasweta Devi, the Tamil writer Salma, the Hindi writer Alka Saraogi, the Oriya writer Chandrasekhar Rath, and the Rajasthani folklorist Vijay Dan Detha.

One remarkable aspect of the Indian novel is that both these strains trace their origins in the work of one man, Bankimchandra Chatterji (1838-1894). The first Indian to take a BA under the new English-medium educational system set up by the British, Chatterji thereby came under the influence of the novel, then a prose form unknown in India. Chatterji’s first novel, Rajmohan’s Wife (1865), written while he was a young deputy magistrate in the newly established Indian civil service, was composed in English.

Full report here Mint

Never too late

In spite of the sweltering heat in Kolkata, Sankar sounds cheerful on the phone. He has a good reason to be: the 77-year-old Bengali writer’s renowned novel Chowringhee has been short-listed for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, an award that celebrates contemporary fiction in translation in the UK. The prize has been established by The Independent.

“I can’t say that I am not delighted. All my life my middle-class Bengali arrogance led me to believe that the world should come to me and not vice versa. But it’s better late than never,” he says. Although Chowringhee was originally published in Bengali in the 1960s, last year Atlantic Books published in the UK the translation by Arunava Sinha. “After Rabindranath Tagore, there has been little or no global recognition for Bengali literature,” says Sankar. He, however, will not travel to London for the prize ceremony. “I don’t want to be presumptuous,” he chuckles.

Full report here Indian Express

Chowringhee on foreign fiction shortlist

Chowringhee, an iconic Bengali novel by Kolkata-based Mani Sankar Mukherjee penned in 1962, has been shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction 2009. It is the only novel from Asia to figure on the shortlist. The prize, instituted 10 years ago, is supported by the Arts Council England and Champagne Taittinger, is considered one of the most esteemed for fictions in translation in Britain and beyond. The winner will be announced May 15. The novel has been translated by Arunava Sinha.

The shortlist includes Brodeck's Report by Philippe Claudel, The Blind Side of the Heart by Julia Franck, 'Fists' by Pietro Grossi, 'Broken Glass' by Alain Mabanckou and 'The Dark Side of Love' by Rafik Schami.

Chowringhee written under the pen-named Sankar was first published in 1962. It is woven around the most enduring and elite relic of colonial Kolkata, the Grand Hotel. It appears in his book in the avatar of Shahjahan Hotel.

Full report here Sify News

Champions of the word

Treasures from Berlin to Bengal feature on the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize shortlist

For ten years the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize has been running in its present form. Over that time, and with loyal and generous support from Arts Council England and Champagne Taittinger, it has grown into the most highly esteemed, and eagerly awaited, prize for fiction in translation in Britain – and maybe far beyond.

It would be nice to report (from somewhere in Utopia) that within that short decade UK publishers had galloped to embrace the best in international fiction, and set aside their traditional reluctance to look overseas at any work outside their native tongue. Needless to say, that has not happened - and will not happen any time soon. All the same, the reach and resonance of fiction from beyond the Anglosphere have, beyond any doubt, increased.

Full report here Independent

Sankar's Chowringhee in Indy longlist

A raft of independent publishers working in languages including Arabic, Japanese, Russian and Bengali have made the 15-strong longlist for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize, worth £10,000.

Titles from Maia, Comma Press, Bitter Lemon and Atlantic have been nominated alongside Harvill Secker and Chatto, among others.

The prize, in association with Champagne Taittinger, celebrates "an exceptional work of fiction by a living author which has been translated into English", published in the UK in the last year.

2010 is the 10th year since the prize was revived with the support of Arts Council England. The £10,000 prize money is divided between the winning author and translator, who each receive a limited edition magnum of Champagne Taittinger.

Full report here Bookseller
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The longlist:

The Coronation by Boris Akunin, translated by Andrew Bromfield from the Russian (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

To the Music by Ketil Bjornstad, translated by Deborah Dawkin and Erik Skuvvegik from the Norwegian (Maia)

The Madmen of Freedom Square by Hassan Blasim, translated by Jonathan Wright from the Arabic (Comma Press)

Brodeck’s Report by Philippe Claudel, translated by John Cullen from the French (MacLehose Press)

The Blind Side of the Heart by Julia Franck translated by Anthea Bell from the German (Harvill Secker)

Fists by Pietro Grossi, translated by Howard Curtis from the Italian (Pushkin)

Yalo by Elias Khoury, translated by Humphrey Davies from the Arabic (MacLehose Press

The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell, translated by Charlotte Mandell from the French (Chatto & Windus)

Broken Glass by Alain Manbanckou, translated by Halan Stevenson from the French (Serpent’s Tail)

Your Face Tomorrow by Javier Marias, translated by Margaret Jull Costa from the Spanish (Chatto & Windus)

Thursday Night Widows by Claudia Pineiro, translated by Miranda France from the Spanish (Bitter Lemon)

The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa, translated by Stephen Snyder from the Japanese (Harvill Secker)

Chowringhee by Sankar, translated by Arunava Sinha from the Bengali (Atlantic Books)

The Dark Side of Love by Rafik Schami, translated by Anthea Bell from the German (Arabia)

Sunset Oasis by Bahaa Taher, translated by Humphrey Davies from the Arabic (Sceptre)

Sankar is a star at London

47 years after he created a sensation with his best-selling novel about a hotel in his native Kolkata, Bengali writer Sankar is kicking up a literary storm in the West, says an IANS report. Sankar, whose real name is Mani Sankar Mukherjee, has turned out to be the surprise triumph of the ongoing London Book Fair - feted by academics, lauded by reviewers and mobbed by fans.

From heavyweights such as Vikram Seth to relative unknowns, Sankar’s admirers have lined up to be photographed with him. At age 75, Sankar couldn’t be a happier man today.

His 1962 novel Chowringhee has been translated into dozens of Indian languages, sold hundreds of thousands of copies in India and Bangladesh and made into a film that is a Bengali cine-classic.
But for all his success in India, he has been a virtual unknown in the West. “For 47 years I had this typically Bengali arrogance about me. ‘Let them come to me,’ I said, ‘I won’t go to them’,” Sankar told IANS.

“That is what happened. And now I feel relaxed. You know, it’s been worth the wait,” said Sankar with a broad smile.
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