In Sharjah, Daisy Rockwell explains the work behind Tomb of Sand
At the book fair, the translator explains why a Hindi word called for one solution on the cover and another inside the novel.
What happens when a word in a title says more than a translation can hold? At the Sharjah International Book Fair in the United Arab Emirates, Daisy Rockwell revisited a decision she made for Geetanjali Shree’s novel Ret Samadhi. According to Sharjah24’s account published on 6 November, she chose Tomb of Sand as the English title and gave readers five definitions of samadhi at the front of the book.
The novel won the International Booker Prize in 2022. The Sharjah discussion drew attention back to the work that came before that success: deciding what the cover can convey and what should unfold as the reader goes along. The fair runs until 15 November at Expo Centre Sharjah.