2024 Mozhi Prize: Jaideep Pandey wins this year’s prize for his translation of an Urdu short story

The Mozhi Prize has announced its 2024 winner and the first and second runner-ups. Jaideep Pandey won the Rs 50,000 cash prize for his translation of Urdu writer Sameena Nair’s short story “Kallo”. The second place and a cash prize of Rs 25,000 was awarded to Malini Bhattacharya for translating Bimal Kar’s short story “Aangurlata” from the Bangla. Kamlakar Bhat secured the third place and a cash prize of Rs 15,000 for translating Abdul Rasheed’s “Lord Cornwallis and Queen Elizabeth” from the Kannada.

Meanwhile, Indira Chandrasekhar received a special mention for translating Dadapeer Jyman’s “Temple Chariot” from the Kannada, and so did Uma Shirodkar for translating “Wife Eaters” by Bhau Padhye from the Marathi. Both of them will receive cash prizes of Rs 5,000 each. The winning stories will soon be available to read online.

The 2024 jury comprised of authors Anjum Hasan and Anita Agnihotri, and writer and translator Jerry Pinto. Hasan said about the entries, “[…] Running through many stories is the full, oppressive weight of patriarchy but in those written closer to our time we begin to hear men reflect on masculine desire and violence. Finally, the malleability of English impresses, how in the most skilled hands – admittedly rare but…

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