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.

Sinha,the Delhi-based translator of the book,is thrilled: “It’s an honour. Back when I was growing up in Kolkata,Sankar’s books were very popular with my mother and aunts. I suppose he occupied the space that TV has taken up today. But unlike other Bengali fiction that has fallen by the wayside,Sankar’s books have only gained readership over the years,” says Sinha.

The other contenders for the prize are Brodeck’s Report by Phillippe 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. The prize,which will be announced on May 13,acknowledges both the winning novelist and translator,each being awarded £5,000 and a magnum of champagne.