Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar

Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (born 1983) is an Indian writer.

Life

Ethnically, Shekhar is a Santhal, one of India's Adivasi groups; this background is reflected in his fiction.[1] His stories are rich in "fine details that add to the deep dimensions" and "open to us a world we have deliberately dismissed" [2] and contain "a surplus of understanding that comes from a kind insider-outsider."[3] Indeed, he characterised his first novel as "the first full-fledged Santhal novel written in English, and published by a mainstream publisher."[4] Born in Ranchi,[5] Shekhar grew up in Ghatshila and Chakulia and went to school in Musabani.[6][7][8] His parents used to work with Hindustan Copper in Ghatshila.[9] By profession, he is a medical doctor and is employed as a medical officer with the government of Jharkhand,[10][11] based in 2017 in Pakur.[12]

Though Shekhar writes primarily in English, he also translates from Santhali to English [13][14][15] and Hindi to English.[16][17]

Works
  • The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey (New Delhi: Aleph Book Company, 2014) ISBN 9789382277323
  • The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories (New Delhi: Speaking Tiger Books, 2015) ISBN 9789385288647
  • Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire: Adventures in Champakbagh (featuring illustrations by Krishna Bala Shenoi)[18] (New Delhi: Talking Cub - an imprint of Speaking Tiger - 2018) ISBN 9789387693975[19][20] In the year 2021, this book was reissued with a new title, Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire: The Dragon who came to Champakbagh. ISBN 9789354470264[21]
  • My Father's Garden (New Delhi: Speaking Tiger, 2018) ISBN 9789388326223[22][23]
  • Who's There? (featuring illustrations by Anupama Ajinkya Apte) (Chennai: Duckbill Books - an imprint of Penguin Random House India - 2020) ISBN 9780143450788[24]
  • Sumi Budhi and Sugi (featuring illustrations by Joanna Mendes) (Bengaluru: Pratham Books, 2020)[25]
  • (as translator, Hindi to English) I Named My Sister Silence (novel, original title: Kaale Adhyaay) by Manoj Rupda (Chennai: Eka, an imprint of Westland Books, 2023) ISBN 9789357765770

Awards

For his debut novel, The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey, Shekhar won the 2015 Yuva Puraskar,[26][27] was shortlisted for the 2014 Hindu Literary Prize[28] and the 2014 Crossword Book Award,[29] longlisted for the 2016 International Dublin Literary Award,[30] and jointly won the 2015 Muse India Young Writer Award.[31] The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey was named by The Hindu in December 2019 as one of the ten best fiction books of the decade.[32]

For his second book, The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories, Shekhar was shortlisted for the 2016 Hindu Literary Prize.[33] The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories was included by Frontline (magazine) in August 2022 in a list of 25 books “that light up the path to understanding post-Independence Indian literature.”[34]

Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire: Adventures in Champakbagh is Shekhar's first book for children.[35] This book features illustrations by Krishna Bala Shenoi.[36] It was shortlisted for a 2019 Neev Book Award in the category Junior Readers[37] and a 2019 Crossword Book Award in the children's books category.[38]

His fourth book, a novel entitled My Father's Garden, has been called "rich and surprising"[39] and "[packing] more emotion, detail and narrative heft than...books four times its size."[40] My Father's Garden was shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature 2019.[41][42]

I Named My Sister Silence has been shortlisted for the JCB Prize for Literature 2023.[43][44] The jury commented: “A novel of epic stature told with great beauty and brevity, it's [sic] power is felt viscerally in Hansda Sowvendra’s Shekhar’s translation. The writing offers rich imagery that does the storytelling using soundscapes and landscapes with equal felicity. Manoj Rupda plays on the theme that everything grand is eventually destroyed, be it a majestic elephant, a ship, or an entire tribal civilization eaten away by a corrupt society. The complex and emotionally wrenching relationship between the protagonist and his sister is at the heart of it, making this perhaps the most layered among many novels about sibling relationships.”[45]

Controversy

On 11 August 2017, the government of Jharkhand banned The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories and summarily suspended Shekhar from his job, on the grounds that the book portrayed Adivasi women and Santhal culture in a bad light.[46] The key complainants appear to have been the ruling party in Jharkhand, the Bharatiya Janata Party; the opposition party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha; and an academic at Jamia Millia Islamia.[47] The government's actions were widely criticised.[48][49][50][51] The ban on The Adivasi Will Not Dance: Stories was removed in December 2017[52][53] and Shekhar's suspension was removed and he was reinstated into his job in 2018.[54][55]

References
  1. Ziya Us Salam, 'A Santhal Suppressed', Frontline (13 October 2017).
  2. Binoo K. John (November 30, 2015). "The tribal world strikes back at Indian writing in English through a doctor". Scroll. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  3. Sumana Roy (October 17, 2015). "Faith in the local". Livemint. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  4. Sujit Prasad, '“I Am a Santhal, and My Opinion Too Should Matter,” says Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar', antiserious.com (16 August 2017) [repr. from the Boston Coffee House Magazine 2014].
  5. Kaartikeya Bajpai (January 18, 2015). "Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar is a dedicated doctor and writer". DNA. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  6. Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, 'Not just one', The Hindu Business Line (24 July 2015)
  7. Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (April 23, 2016). "Ghatsila: A nostalgist's map". Mint Lounge/Livemint. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  8. Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar (April–June 2018). "Black". The Indian Quarterly. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  9. Paromita Chakrabarti (September 2, 2018). "Playing with Fire: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar on his first children's book". The Indian Express. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  10. Binoo K. John (November 30, 2015). "The tribal world strikes back at Indian writing in English through a doctor". Scroll. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  11. Sudipta Datta, 'Who is Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, fighting a ban', The Hindu (19 August 2017).
  12. Ziya Us Salam, 'A Santhal Suppressed', Frontline (13 October 2017).
  13. Parimal Hansda (August 20, 2017). "Eight melancholic, introspective poems by Parimal Hansda on being a Santhal today". Scroll. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  14. Shibu Tudu. "Memories of the Kirta Dangra". Asymptote. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  15. Shibu Tudu. "Memories of the Kirta Dangra (Santhali)". Asymptote. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  16. Manish Mundra (September 16, 2017). "I am from the Earth". The Hindu. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  17. Ranendra (August 2, 2018). "Baba, Crows and Black Smoke". Usawa literary Review. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  18. "Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire: Adventures in Champakbagh". Goodbooks. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  19. "Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire". Speaking Tiger Books. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  20. Duckbill Books (July 21, 2018). "New Indian Kids' and YA Books in August 2018". The Duckbill Blog. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  21. "Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire". Speaking Tiger Books. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  22. Prasun Chaudhuri (April 1, 2018). "'Those accusing me of objectifying women were all bullying women'". The Telegraph, Kolkata. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 15, 2018.
  23. "My Father's Garden". Speaking Tiger Books. Retrieved February 22, 2019.
  24. "Who's There?". Penguin Random House India. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  25. "Sumi Budhi and Sugi". Pratham Books StoryWeaver. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  26. Sahitya Akademi. "List of Yuva Puraskar winners (2011-2017)". Sahitya Akademi. Archived from the original on August 5, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  27. Sudipta Datta, 'Who is Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, fighting a ban', The Hindu (19 August 2017).
  28. "Here's the shortlist". The Hindu. October 5, 2014. Retrieved December 24, 2014.
  29. Arunima Mazumdar (April 4, 2015). "Meet the contenders: the Crossword Book Award 2014 shortlists for fiction and non-fiction". Scroll. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  30. "The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey". International Dublin Literary Award. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  31. GK News Network (December 21, 2015). "Shahnaz Bashir's The Half Mother declared winner of Muse India award". Greater Kashmir. Retrieved August 12, 2018.
  32. "Best fiction books of the decade". The Hindu. December 28, 2019. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
  33. "Shortlist for The Hindu Prize 2016 announced". The Hindu. October 16, 2016. Retrieved September 13, 2017.
  34. Anusua Mukherjee and Abhirami Girija Sriram (August 26, 2022). "India at 75 - Fiction". Frontline. Retrieved October 25, 2022.
  35. Kanishka Gupta (August 9, 2018). "Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar on writing his first children's book, depicting small-town India in fiction". Firstpost. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  36. "Jwala Kumar and the Gift of Fire: Adventures in Champakbagh". Goodbooks. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  37. "Neev Literature Festival 2019 Book Awards". Neev Literature Festival. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  38. "Crossword Book Award: Women writers sweep fiction shortlist". Outlook. Retrieved December 7, 2019.
  39. Keshava Guha (February 2, 2019). "'My Father's Garden by Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar: Something rich and surprising". The Hindu. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  40. Saudha Kasim (February 7, 2019). "The Simple Prose of My Father's Garden Cuts Like a Knife". TheWire. Retrieved February 18, 2019.
  41. Scroll Staff (October 4, 2019). "JCB Prize 2019 shortlist: An acknowledgement that Indian fiction is now raw, brutal and angry". Scroll. Retrieved October 6, 2019.
  42. Press Trust of India (November 3, 2019). "Madhuri Vijay's debut novel 'The Far Field' wins 2019 JCB prize for Literature". The Hindu. Retrieved November 28, 2019.
  43. The JCB Prize for Literature (September 2, 2023). "The JCB Prize 2023 Longlist Announcement". YouTube channel of The JCB Prize for Literature. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
  44. Utkarsh Mani Tripathi (October 20, 2023). "The 2023 JCB Prize shortlist is about leaving, forgetting and finding our roots". Vogue India. Retrieved October 22, 2023.
  45. The JCB Prize for Literature (September 2, 2023). "I Named My Sister Silence". The JCB Prize for Literature 2023. Retrieved September 4, 2023.
  46. Sudipta Datta, 'Who is Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar, fighting a ban', The Hindu (19 August 2017).
  47. Ziya Us Salam, 'A Santhal Suppressed', Frontline (13 October 2017).
  48. Sanjay Srivastava, 'What the ban on The Adivasi Will Not Dance tells us about India’s political life', Hindustan Times (14 August 2017).
  49. Ruchir Joshi, 'The reader will not dance', The Hindu (13 August 2017).
  50. 'Dubbed 'porn', book on tribals banned in Jharkhand', The Times of India (13 August 2017).
  51. 'Writers, Activists Condemn Banning of ‘The Adivasi Will Not Dance’ in Jharkhand', The Wire (29 August 2017).
  52. Scroll Staff (December 13, 2017). "Four months after ban, Jharkhand finds nothing objectionable in Hansda Shekhar's book on Adivasis". Scroll. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  53. Prashant Pandey (December 14, 2017). "Jharkhand: Govt finds nothing objectionable in Santhal writer's book, ban could be lifted". The Indian Express. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  54. ICF Team (August 17, 2018). "Suspension on Writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar Revoked". Indian Cultural Forum. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
  55. Paromita Chakrabarti (September 2, 2018). "Playing with Fire: Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar on his first children's book". The Indian Express. Retrieved September 2, 2018.
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