Odds against poet and Mahasweta
Malayalam poet K. Satchidanandan and Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi have figured in the list of probables for this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature that is to be announced in a few days. The list, where Satchidanandan (33/1) ranks 18, has been put out on British betting firm Ladbrokes’ website.
Rajasthani short story writer Vijaydan Detha is the other name from India that is creating buzz in this regard.
Satchidanandan, whose poems have been translated into various Indian and foreign languages, told this newspaper that he had been receiving phone calls from various people ever since the Guardian quoted the Ladbroke list.
Meanwhile, Mahasweta Devi (80/1), talking to this newspaper on phone from Kolkata, said that she had not heard of her name being in the list of Nobel probables.
“I have never written anything for awards. Jo hoga, voh hoga (what happens, will happen),” she responded.
“I am happy for the fact that a poet like me who only writes poems in Malayalam has found a place in this list. It is a recognition for Malayalam,” said Satchidanandan, currently a jury member of the Jnanpith Award.
Satchidanandan, who has also published several essays and translations in English, said Mahashweta Devi and Vijaydan Detha are two deserving writers for the award.
“Vijaydan Detha is known for his short stories written on folklores. Mahashweta Devi is one of the most prominent writers in Bengali,” he observed.
In the Ladbrokes list, Syrian poet Adonis is ranked first. Satchidanandan said as a poet he was happy for a poet being the front-runner for this year’s Nobel Prize.
“Adonis is the most prominent living poet in Arabic. The poems of Adonis, with the poems of Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish have taken Arabic poems to a new level,” said Satchidandan, who has translated the poems of both Darwish and Adonis into Malayalam.
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