The 2024 Armory Square Prize Shortlist features work by South Asian woman authors writing in five languages: Assamese, Angika, Urdu, Bengali and Hindi.

Like last year, all five entries reflect the breadth and linguistic complexity of the region and a robust, modern literature in South Asia. The translators hail geographically both from the US and South Asia and have careers that span journalism, English, Hindi and Urdu literature. Most are fluent in multiple South Asian languages. Outside of translation, the finalists are also involved in the promotion and development of South Asia’s artistic traditions. 

1.  Of the five languages represented, two have never had an American publisher. All five — Assamese, Angika, Urdu, Bengali and Hindi — are severely underrepresented in Anglophone literary markets. Over the past decade, translated literary works from South Asian languages made up less than 1% of all translated literature published in the US.

2. Gulabiya, a novel on the shortlist, is written in Angika, a language used only in some parts of the states of Bihar and Jharkhand. The work confronts the impact of caste politics on individual lives and choices.

3. Translator Aruni Kashyap is an author of two novels and a poetry collection of his own. He is the only one on the shortlist translating from the Assamese language, which is spoken by 23 million people.

4. The late Fahmida Riaz was author of more than 15 books of fiction and poetry. She fled political persecution in Pakistan under General Zia-ul-Haq and spent seven years living in India, where she ultimately gained asylum. She had a varied career as a journalist and broadcaster working for Radio Pakistan, and wrote in Persian, Sindhi, Urdu and English.

5. Widely known in India, author Mridula Garg has published over 30 books in Hindi. She also writes in English. In 2013, Garg won India’s highest literary honor, the Sahitya Akademi Award, which recognizes and promotes excellence in Indian writing. She has otherwise written extensively on the environment, the rights of children and the treatment of women.