International Booker Prize Winner Geetanjali Shree

Addresses Students and Parents at Shiv Nadar School

Delhi NCR, Oct 8: International Booker Prize winner, Geetanjali Shree, interacted with students, parents and teachers at the Shiv Nadar School, Noida. Speaking to a full house, she touched upon several themes including the importance of Hindi and regional literature, and how language shapes one’s identity.

While recounting her journey as a writer, the award-winning author spoke about her childhood spent in small town Uttar Pradesh, where Hindi was predominantly spoken. With her ears attuned to different dialects, her interest in Hindi deepened when she was pursuing her PhD on Munshi Premchand, during which time she wrote her first short story. Her novel, Mai, which was translated into several languages, including English, French and German, catapulted her to fame.

Geetanjali Shree has written several short stories and five novels. Ret Samadhi (2018), was translated into English as Tomb of Sand by Daisy Rockwell and became the first Hindi novel to have ever won the International Booker Prize. The book is an urgent yet engaging protest against the destructive impact of borders between religions, countries or genders.

“The Booker Prize is not just about me, the individual,” said the author.” I represent a language and culture and this recognition brings into larger purview the entire world of Hindi literature in particular and Indian literature as a whole.” Motivating young students in the audience, she also spoke about the importance of reading and writing in one’s formative years.

During the visit, the Delhi-based litterateur was introduced to Shiv Nadar School Noida’s recent ‘student authors’ book launch, where a total of 19 young literary voices from the school launched their literary debuts as anthologies, novellas and short stories.

She also interacted with students and answered questions posed by young minds.