Translator eligibility: Open to any translator of literature written in a South Asian language.
Retranslations will be considered: Any previously unpublished book-length translation of narrative prose, fiction or nonfiction, including story collections, written in a South Asian language (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Maldives, or part of the diaspora). Note that this year our focus is on literary work by any author, living or dead, that was previously translated into English (anywhere in the world) after the year 1930.
Novellas are also eligible provided they are a minimum of 30,000 words.
Note: South Asia is frequently/generally defined as these countries, and we will also consider translations of South Asia diaspora writers. That said, projects that do not necessarily fall under these rubrics but have a well-reasoned argument for being considered 'South Asia' are welcomed as well. Applicants are invited to make a case for projects that fall outside of the above rubrics.
Deena Chalabi is a recognized curator. She has developed exhibitions, commissioned projects, organized symposia, and edited publications from the US and the UK to the Arab world and Japan, with the common theme of reframing narratives, expanding perspectives and elevating underrepresented voices. Her work explores relationships between individual expression, critical thought, and public imagination. A former Visiting Scholar at UC Berkeley’s Arts Research Center, her writing has appeared in Bidoun, The New Inquiry and the Journal of Visual Culture.
Jason Grunebaum (Jury Chair) is a writer and translator of Manzoor Ahtesham and Uday Prakash, among other Hindi writers. He is the recipient of an NEA Translation Fellowship, a PEN/Heim Translation Grant, and the Global Humanities Initiative Translation Award. His work has been shortlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature and longlisted for the National Translation award. Originally from Buffalo, New York, he is an instructional professor at the University of Chicago, where he teaches both Hindi and literary translation.
Srinath Perur translates from Kannada to English and writes on a variety of usbjects, often around science, travel, and books. He is the author of If It's Monday It Must Be Madurai, a book about traveling with groups. He is the translator of two works of fiction by Vivek Shanbhag (Ghachar Ghochar and Sakina's Kiss) and the memoirs of Girish Karnad (This Life At Play). He splits his time between Bangalore and Dharamshala.
Daisy Rockwell is an artist and a translator of Hindi and Urdu literature living in New England. She was the winner of the 2022 International Booker Prize, with author Geetanjali Shree, for her 2021 translation of the Hindi novel Tomb of Sand.
Pia Sawhney is Cofounder and Partner Emeritus at Armory Square Ventures, where she counseled the ASV team and portfolio companies on developing new businesses. In her prior career as a journalist, Pia's films and media projects were featured and/or published in the New York Times, Variety, the Washington Post and The Huffington Post, and distributed to university libraries nationwide. Her films received grants from the New York State Council on the Arts and other entities; and awards, such as the Amnesty International DOEN Award for Human Rights. They also screened at film festivals at home and abroad. Prior to venture capital and media work, Pia was an investment banker and biologist.
Arunava Sinha has translated Bengali fiction, non-fiction, and poetry into English. Over 70 of his translations have been published to date. He teaches creative writing at Ashoka University in India.
Padma Viswanathan is a fiction writer working in English and a translator from Portuguese. She is also an NEA grant recipient and in the past was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize, and a finalist for the PEN Center USA Fiction Prize.
