Lakshmi Holmström

Lakshmi Holmström

MBE
Holmström at 2013 Jaipur Literature Festival
Holmström at 2013 Jaipur Literature Festival
Born(1935-06-01)1 June 1935
Salem, Madras Presidency, British India
(now in Tamil Nadu, India)
Died6 May 2016(2016-05-06) (aged 80)
Norwich, England,
United Kingdom
OccupationAuthor, translator in English
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
University of Madras
Period1973–2016
GenreTamil – English translation
SubjectWomen, classical and contemporary literature
Notable worksSangati (trans.)
Karukku (trans.)
In a Forest, A Deer

Lakshmi Holmström MBE (1 June 1935 – 6 May 2016[1][2]) was an Indian-British writer, literary critic, and translator of Tamil fiction into English. Her most prominent works were her translations of short stories and novels by contemporary writers in Tamil, such as Mauni, Pudhumaipithan, Ashoka Mitran, Sundara Ramasami, C. S. Lakshmi, Bama, and Imayam.

Education

She obtained her undergraduate degree in English literature from the University of Madras and her postgraduate degree from University of Oxford. Her postgraduate work was on the work of R. K. Narayan.

Career

She settled in the United Kingdom and was the founder-trustee of SALIDAA (South Asian Diaspora Literature and Arts Archive) – an organisation archiving the work of British writers and artists of South Asian origin.[3][4][5][6][7][8]

From 2003 to 2006 she was a Fellow of The Royal Literary Fund at University of East Anglia in Norwich, Norfolk, England.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2011 for services to literature.[9]

Death

She died of cancer on 6 May 2016 in Norwich, aged 80.[1]

Bibliography

Year Title Genre Role Publisher
1973 Indian Fiction in English: the Novels of R. K. Narayan Criticism Author Writers Workshop, Calcutta
1990 The Inner Courtyard: Short Stories by Indian Women Short story anthology Editor Virago Press, London
1992 A Purple Sea

(Original author: Ambai)

Short story anthology Translator Affiliated East-West Press
1994 Writing from India: Figures in a Landscape Editor Cambridge University Press
1996 Silappadikaram and Manimekalai (illustrated) Epics Translator Orient Blackswan
2000 Karukku

(Original author: Bama)

Novel Translator Oxford University Press
2001 Beasts of Burden

(Original author: Imayam )

Novel Translator Manas
Waves: An Anthology of Fiction and Poetry Translated from Tamil Anthology Editor
2002 My father's Friend

(Original author: Ashokamitran)

Anthology Translator Sahitya Akademi
2003 Pudumaippittan: Fictions Anthology Translator Katha, Chennai
That's It But

(Original author: Sundara Ramaswamy)

Short fiction
2004 Mauni: A Writers' Writer Criticism Author
Waterness

(Original author: Na Muthuswamy - Neermai )

Short story anthology Translator
2005 Sangati

(Original author: Bama)

Novel Oxford University Press
Clarinda, a Historical Novel

(Original author: A. Madhaviah)

Novel Sahitya Akademi
2006 In A Forest, A Deer: Stories

(Original author: Ambai)

Short story anthology Katha, Chennai
2009 The Hour Past Midnight

(Original author: Salma)

Novel Zubaan
The Penguin Book of Tamil Poetry: The rapids of a great river Poetry anthology Editor-translator Penguin Books
2012 A Second Sunrise

(Original author: Cheran Rudramoorthy)

Poetry anthology Translator

(with Sascha Ebeling)

Navayana

Awards

  • 2000 Crossword Book Award in the Indian language fiction translation category for Karukku by Bama
  • 2006 Crossword Book Award in the Indian language fiction translation category for In a Forest, A Deer by C. S. Lakshmi
  • 2007 Iyal Virudhu Lifetime Achievement Award given by The Tamil Literary Garden, Canada
  • 2015 Crossword Book Award in the Indian language fiction translation category for Children, Women, Men by Sundara Ramaswamy[10]
  • 2016 The A.K. Ramanujan Book Prize for translation from a South Asian language, awarded by the Association for Asian Studies for Children, Women and Men, originally published as Kuzhandaigal, Pengal, Aangal by Sundara Ramaswamy, Penguin Books India

References

  1. ^ a b Amanda Hopkinson, "Lakshmi Holmström obituary", The Guardian, 18 May 2016.
  2. ^ "Our lady of Tamil literature". Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved 8 May 2016.
  3. ^ Manoj Nair (23 April 2001). "A Number of Great Indian Writers Are Not Known in the Rest of the World". Outlook Magazine. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Current Fellows – Lakshmi Holmström". The Royal Literary Fund. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  5. ^ "Sangati Events". Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  6. ^ "The Hutch Crossword Book Award 2006 for Indian Language Fiction Translation". Crossword Bookstores. Archived from the original on 31 January 2010. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  7. ^ Malashri Lal (29 June 2009). "On Back Stage". Outlook Magazine. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  8. ^ "Tamil poems find an English audience". The Times of India. The Times Group. 22 August 2009. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  9. ^ "No. 59647". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2010. p. 17.
  10. ^ Zafar Anjum (29 April 2015). "India: Raymond Crossword Book Award 2014 winners announced". kitaab.org. Retrieved 29 April 2015.