My Father’s Garden by Hansda Sowvendra Shekha

Bio

Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar is a writer and translator who writes in English and translates from Santali (his mother tongue), Hindi, and Bengali into English.

Sowvendra’s first novel, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey (Aleph Book Company, 2014), won a Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar; jointly won the Muse India Young Writer Award; was shortlisted for The Hindu Prize and a Crossword Book Award; and longlisted for the International Dublin Literary Award. His collection of stories, The Adivasi Will Not Dance (Speaking Tiger, 2015), was shortlisted for The Hindu Prize and was a #1 bestseller on Amazon India. His second novel, My Father’s Garden (Speaking Tiger, 2018), was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature. Sowvendra has also written three books for children: Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire, illustrated by Krishna Bala Shenoi (Talking Cub, an imprint of Speaking Tiger; 2018); Who’s There, illustrated by Anupama Ajinkya Apte (Duckbill, 2020); and Sumi Budhi and Sugi, illustrated by Joanna Mendes (Pratham Books, 2020).

Sowvendra’s writings have also been published in The New York Times, The Hindu, The Indian Express, The Times of India, The Asian Age, Deccan Chronicle, Frontline, The Caravan, Mint Lounge, OPEN, Reader’s Digest, The Indian Quarterly, Outlook, National Herald On Sunday, Fifty Two, Scroll, and other places.

Sowvendra’s translations have been published in Asymptote, The Hindu, Scroll, Usawa Literary Review, Hammock Mag, Indian Literature, Poetry at Sangam, The Indian Express, and The Dalhousie Review. He has translated Manoj Rupda’s Hindi novel, Kaale Adhyaay, into English as I Named My Sister Silence (Eka, an imprint of Westland Books; 2023).

Sowvendra’s books represented by Jacaranda Literary Agency:
1. The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey
2. The Adivasi Will Not Dance
3. The Weavers and the Elephant from the Sky
4. I Named My Sister Silence (as translator)