The International Library

The International Library: Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell on Tomb of Sand

Monday, 1:00 pm EDT May 6, 2024

The Center for Fiction
& Livestreamed

When acclaimed author Geetanjali Shree first released her novel Tomb of Sand in 2018, it pushed the boundaries of experimental Hindi literature. After the publication of an English translation by Daisy Rockwell, Tomb of Sand received the 2022 International Book Prize, becoming the first work originally written in a South Asian language to do so. Shree, the award-winning novelist of Mai and The Empty Space has crafted a playful feminist epic following Ma, an inimitable 80-year-old matriarch living in northern India. Reeling from the death of her husband, Ma’s life changes after her son gives her a magical golden cane covered in butterflies. She sets off on an unconventional adventure, ditching her saris and embarking on a journey that upends her family. Subversive, entertaining, and completely original, Tomb of Sand explores borders, the gender binary, and cultural diversity. Rockwell, the award-winning translator of Krishna Sobti’s A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There, received the 2023 Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award for her stunning translations of books in Hindi and Urdu. Shree and Rockwell collaborated over two years to craft the brilliant English-language version of Tomb of Sand. Join the two women for a fascinating conversation on the novel, the boundaries of language, and the relationship between writer and translator.

About The International Library

This event is part of The International Library, a series launched in collaboration with the American Library in Paris, Center for the Art of Translation, and the London Library offers conversations across time, place, and language. The International Library celebrates the live diffusion of in-person conversations in the hope of connecting new audiences across land and sea for a collective, intercultural experience. These conversations broach deeper questions about writing and translation as we learn to think critically about how stories are told, investigating the points of view, the timing of the translations, and the intended or assumed audiences as well as inspiration, philosophy, and craft.

In Conversation

Geetanjali Shree

Geetanjali Shree

Geetanjali Shree (Ghee-TAHN-juh-lee Shree) is the author of five novels, including Tomb of Sand, for which she was awarded the 2022 International Book Prize, and several story collections. Her work has been translated into English, French, German, Serbian and Korean and has received numerous accolades. She lives in New Delhi.

Photo Credit: Rajkamal Publishers
Daisy Rockwell

Daisy Rockwell

Daisy Rockwell is a painter, writer and translator living in Vermont. She has translated a number of classic works of Hindi and Urdu literature, including Upendranath Ashk’s Falling Walls, Bhisham Sahni’s Tamas, and Khadija Mastur’s The Women’s Courtyard. Her 2019 translation of Krishna Sobti’s A Gujarat Here, a Gujarat There was awarded the Modern Language Association’s Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Translation Prize.

Photo Credit: Daisy Rockwell

Featured Book

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Tomb of Sand

By Geetanjali Shree

Published by HarperCollins

Translated by Daisy Rockwell

PURCHASE

“A tale tells itself. It can be complete, but also incomplete, the way all tales are. This particular tale has a border and women who come and go as they please. Once you’ve got women and a border, a story can write itself . . .”

Eighty-year-old Ma slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband. Despite her family’s cajoling, she refuses to leave her bed. Her responsible eldest son, Bade, and dutiful, Reebok-sporting daughter-in-law, Bahu, attend to Ma’s every need, while her favorite grandson, the cheerful and gregarious Sid, tries to lift her spirits with his guitar. But it is only after Sid’s younger brother—Serious Son, a young man pathologically incapable of laughing—brings his grandmother a sparkling golden cane covered with butterflies that things begin to change.

With a new lease on life thanks to the cane’s seemingly magical powers, Ma gets out of bed and embarks on a series of adventures that baffle even her unconventional feminist daughter, Beti. She ditches her cumbersome saris, develops a close friendship with a hijra, and sets off on a fateful journey that will turn the family’s understanding of themselves upside down.

Rich with fantastical elements, folklore, and exuberant wordplay, Geetanjali Shree’s magnificent novel explores timely and timeless topics, including Buddhism, global warming, feminism, Partition, gender binary, transcending borders, and the profound joys of life. Elegant, heartbreaking, and funny, it is a literary masterpiece that marks the American debut of an extraordinary writer.

About this series