Six 'phenomenal' translators win inaugural PEN Presents awards for sample translations 

Six translations representing four of the languages of India have been selected for PEN Presents, a new award launched in June aimed at supporting the production of sample translations to give publishers access to titles from underrepresented languages and regions.

The samples, selected by an international panel of writers, agents, editors and critics, will be showcased to publishers of literature in translation. The winners are Deepa Bhasthi, for a translation from Kannada of Banu Mushtaq’s Haseena and Other Stories; Gopika Jadeja, for a translation from Gujarati of Umesh Solanki’s Transformations and Kartikeya Jain, for a translation from Hindi of Chandan Pandey’s Songs of Glory.

Also awarded are Shabnam Nadiya, for a translation from Bengali of Wasi Ahmed’s The Ice Machine; Nikhil Pandhi, for a translation from Hindi of Anita Bharti’s Chronicle of the Quota Woman and Other Stories and V Ramaswamy, for a translation from Bengali of Adhir Biswas’ Last Boy: An Untouchable Boy’s Classroom.

The six winners were chosen from a shortlist of 12 translators, who were awarded grants to create samples of their proposed works.

The samples have received editorial support from English PEN and are available to read on the PEN Presents platform, which will be developed as “an online catalogue of the most outstanding, original, and bibliodiverse literature not yet published in English translation."

Will Forrester, translation and international manager at English PEN, said: “Selected from a phenomenal shortlist, these samples comprise the first few thousand words of what I’m sure will soon be books in the hands of English-language readers.

“This inaugural selection features six exceptionally talented translators conveying six significant works of literature across linguistic borders; taken together, these projects represent an extraordinary range of languages, contexts and perspectives. We are excited to see which publishers – in the UK, India, and across the Anglophone market – take them on.”

Preti Taneja, co-chair of English PEN’s translation advisory group, said: “In their range of forms, themes, voices and context, these samples testify to the depth of ideas and breath of stories being written across India and the diaspora, and to the talent of the writers and translators creating them. We are thrilled to be presenting these artists and their words; it’s a privilege to support them as they make their way to English-language publishers and readers.”

The first round of PEN Presents marks a partnership between English PEN and the British Council, as part of the British Council’s India/UK Together Season of Culture. Featured PEN Presents winners will be platformed at literary festivals, events and journals throughout 2023.

Jonathan Kennedy, director of Arts India, British Council, said: “Through our work in literature and publishing, we are creating more platforms and opportunities for outstanding Indian writers and literary professionals to take the best of Indian-language literature to global audiences in new translations into English.

“The India/UK Together Season of Culture has literature, publishing, and translation as key elements of the collaborations between India and UK with emerging and established creative professionals. We are delighted at the line-up of the inaugural PEN Presents winners and are excited at the prospect of some great Indian voices writing in Kannada, Hindi, Bengali and Gujarati being read by English-language audiences for the first time.”

The next round of PEN Presents – for translations of works from any region, originally published in any language – will open for proposals on 1st January 2023, in collaboration with Translating Women and supported by an Open Innovation Platform grant from the University of Exeter.