Daisy Rockwell

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Daisy Rockwell
Bornc. 1969
Western Massachusetts, U.S.
Alma mater University of Chicago
Known forWriter, painter and artist, and Hindi and Urdu prose and poetry translator
Family Norman Rockwell (grandfather)
Awards International Booker Prize
2023 Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award
2023 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation

Daisy Rockwell (born 1969) [1] is a renowned American writer, an award-winning literary translator working with Hindi and Urdu literature, and a visual artist. Her groundbreaking translations of South Asian classics have drawn wider readership and recognition for writing from the subcontinent than few have ever managed to achieve. The most prominent of these successes include her translation of Krishna Sobti’s final novel, A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There, which became the first South Asian book to win the Aldo and Jeanne Scaglione Prize for a Translation of a Literary Work in 2020. [2] [3]

Contents

Her most acclaimed work continues to be her English translation of Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand (Tilted Axis Press, 2021), which became the first South Asian book to be shortlisted for and to win the International Booker Prize. [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] Additional acclaim that Rockwell has received include the 2022 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation [12] , the Distinguished Translator Award by Vani Foundation [13] [14] , presented at the Jaipur Literature Festival in 2023, and the English PEN x SALT Award 2025 for Our City That Year. Her work has also been supported by the NEA and the NEH, and she has been a translator in residence at various venues including Princeton University. [15]

Besides her literary translations, Rockwell has published two novels Taste and Alice Sees Ghosts [16] and an essay collection. Her forthcoming projects include a collection of poems about literary translation called Mixed Metaphors coming out in 2026, as well as a memoir Our Friend, Art with Pushkin Press in 2027. [17]

Personal life

Rockwell grew up in western Massachusetts. Born to artist parents, Jarvis Rockwell and Susan Merrill, she started pursuing art at an early age. She is the granddaughter of the painter, illustrator, and author Norman Rockwell. [18] [19]

She herself paints under the alias or takhallus Lapata, which means "missing" or "disappeared" in Urdu. [20] [21] [22] Thematically, her collections are wide-ranging, often drawing from the zeitgeist or from literature. Her art has often used uses stylized portraiture and contemporary or historical references, although some recent work like her Quarantine Art series reveals more abstract tendencies while her Text and Violence series delves into text-based art. [23]

Education

Rockwell has been a student of Hindi, Urdu, Latin, French, German, and ancient Greek for many years. She first learned the Devanagari script through private tuitions when she was in school. In college at the University of Chicago, she expanded on these interests by taking coursework in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, and Sanskrit. [24]

She received her Bachelors, Masters, and PhD in South Asian Literature from the University of Chicago [25] , where she studied Hindi literature, translation, and social sciences under A K Ramanujan, Susanne Hoeber Rudolph [26] , and Colin P Masica. In 1998, she received a grant to write her PhD dissertation on the Hindi author Upendranath Ashk, who became the first author whose work she would translate. [27] After her PhD, Rockwell held a number of academic posts, including as the head of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies and as Vice Chair for the Institute of South Asian Studies at the University of California at Berkeley. [28] [29]

In recent years, she remains involved with SALT at the University of Chicago [30] and gives academic talks at universities across the US, including at Cornell University for their Annual Tagore Lecture. [31] [32] [33] She continues to shape discourse on Hindi literature through essays that look at new translations or biographies of the literary legacies of writers like Yashpal and Manto, as well as at reception of contemporary literature. [34] [35] [36]

Works

Some of the early classics Rockwell has translated include Upendranath Ashk's Falling Walls and Hats and Doctors [19] , Bhisham Sahni's Tamas , and Khadija Mastur's The Women's Courtyard.

In addition to her novel-length translations, she has also brought short stories and poems into English by authors such as Arun Prakash, Shrilal Shukla, S. M. Ashraf, [37] and by poets such as Shubham Shree and Avinash Mishra. [38] [39] [40]

Translations
English-Language TitleEnglish-Language Publication YearOriginal-Language AuthorOriginal-Language Title
Hats and Doctors [41] 2013 Upendranath Ashk Topiyan aur Doctor (Urdu) [42] [43]
Falling Walls [44] 2015Upendranath AshkGirti Deevarein (Hindi, Urdu)
Tamas [45] 2016 Bhisham Sahni Tamas (Hindi)
The Women's Courtyard [46] 2018 Khadija Mastur Aangan (Urdu)
In the City a Mirror Wandering [47] 2019Upendranath AshkSheher Mein Ghoomta Aina (Hindi, Urdu)
A Promised Land [48] 2019Khadija MasturZameen (Urdu)
A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There [49] 2019 Krishna Sobti Gujarat Pakistan Se Gujarat Hindustan (Hindi)
Fifty-five Pillars, Red Walls [50] 2021 Usha Priyamvada Pachpan Khambe, Laal Deewaarein (Hindi)
Tomb of Sand [51] 2022 Geetanjali Shree Ret Samadhi (Hindi)
Won't You Stay, Radhika? [52] 2023 Usha Priyamvada Rukogi Nahin Radhika? (Hindi)
Our City That Year [53] 2025 Geetanjali Shree Hamara Shahar Us Baras (Hindi)
Sleep Journeys [54] 2025Azra AbbasNiind ki Musafatein (Urdu)
Books
TitlePublication YearPressGenre
Upendranath Ashk: A Critical Biography [55] 2004KathaBiography
The Little Book of Terror [56] 2012Foxhead BooksEssay Collection
Taste [57] 2014Foxhead BooksNovel
Alice Sees Ghosts2025Bloomsbury IndiaNovel
Mixed Metaphors2026Bloomsbury IndiaPoetry Collection
Our Friend, Art2027Pushkin PressMemoir

References

  1. ↑ "Daisy Rockwell". The Booker Prizes. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  2. ↑ "Daisy Rockwell – Words are Bridges". Jaipur Literature festival. September 17, 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Daisy Rockwell". Tilted Axis Press. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  4. ↑ "Tomb of Sand | Geetanjali Shree: 'Tomb of Sand' writes history – Geetanjali Shree's translation is 1st Hindi novel in Booker prize longlist". The Economic Times. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  5. ↑ "International Booker prize announces longlist 'tracing ring around the world'". the Guardian. March 10, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  6. ↑ Marshall, Alex (April 7, 2022). "Women Dominate Shortlist for International Booker Prize". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Geetanjali Shree's 'Tomb of Sand' first Hindi novel on International Booker shortlist". ThePrint. April 7, 2022. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  8. ↑ "Discover the longlist: Daisy Rockwell, 'I think of the translator and the author as ballroom dancers' | The Booker Prizes". thebookerprizes.com. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  9. ↑ Mani Jha, Aditya (April 8, 2022). "Daisy Rockwell: Meet the translator of the first Hindi novel to be nominated for the Booker Prize". India Today. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  10. ↑ Rockwell, Daisy (March 13, 2022). "How Daisy Rockwell translated the first Hindi novel to be on the Booker International long-list". Scroll.in. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  11. ↑ "Geetanjali Shree is first Indian winner of International Booker Prize". BBC. May 27, 2022. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  12. ↑ Scroll Staff (November 25, 2022). "Geetanjali Shree's 'Tomb of Sand' shares 2022 Warwick Prize for Women in Translation with 'Osebol'". Scroll.in. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
  13. ↑ "'Tomb of Sand' translator Daisy Rockwell gets 2023 Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award". Scroll.in. January 10, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Daisy Rockwell to receive Vani Foundation Distinguished Translator Award". Deccan Chronicle. January 12, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  15. ↑ "Writer, Translator in Residence, Princeton University" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  16. ↑ Rockwell, Daisy (2025). Alice Sees Ghosts. New Delhi: Bloomsbury India. ISBN   9789361317958.
  17. ↑ "Daisy Rockwell".
  18. ↑ "'It's the best way to live!': International Booker winners Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell". TheGuardian.com . May 27, 2022.
  19. 1 2 Gupta, Trisha (May 13, 2018). "Meet the American who translates some of India's finest Hindi writers into English". Scroll.in. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  20. ↑ Jones, Alexina. "Daisy Rockwell". Bennington Museum | Grandma Moses | Vermont History and Art. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved April 18, 2022.
  21. ↑ Rockwell, Daisy (July 8, 2016). "Why Daisy Rockwell is painting portraits of Black women who committed suicide in US jails". Scroll.in. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Daisy Rockwell – JLF Colorado". JLF. September 17, 2013. Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  23. ↑ "The Oxonian Review: An Interview with Daisy Rockwell" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  24. ↑ "In Full Color" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  25. ↑ "Do they say "dude" in India? Daisy Rockwell, winner of the International Booker Prize, on the subtleties of literary translation" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  26. ↑ "An Interview with Daisy Rockwell, Author, Artist and a Hindi-Urdu Translator | Jaya's blog" . Retrieved April 10, 2022.
  27. ↑ Joshi, Sonam. ""Booker nod is a big win. It will create awareness about Hindi translations," say Geetanjali Shree and Daisy Rockwell – Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved April 9, 2022.
  28. ↑ "Former ISAS Vice Chair, Daisy Rockwell wins the Booker for her translation of "Tomb of Sand."" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  29. ↑ "Father and daughter reflect on art careers" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  30. ↑ "South Asian Literature in Translation" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  31. ↑ "Daisy Rockwell discusses metaphors for translation" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  32. ↑ "'Translation in Teaching and Researching South Asia and Beyond'" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  33. ↑ "Translation and Teaching South Asia with Daisy Rockwell" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  34. ↑ "The Myth of the Lone Ranger: A new biography of Saadat Hasan Manto fails to do justice to either to his world or his words" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  35. ↑ "Night-Smudged Light: Yashpal's monumental novel joins the conversation on partition" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  36. ↑ "Why the Hindi poetry establishment is enraged by Shubham Shree's irreverent, prizewinning poem". August 12, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  37. ↑ "Daisy Rockwell -- Out of Print Magazine" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  38. ↑ "Translation Tuesday: Two poems by Shubham Shree".
  39. ↑ "A Storm of Words -- Public Books" . Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  40. ↑ "An Interview with Daisy Rockwell, Author, Artist and a Hindi-Urdu Translator". December 20, 2016. Retrieved October 22, 2025.
  41. ↑ Ashk, Upendranath Ashk (2013). Hats and Doctors. Translated by Daisy Rockwell (translation ed.). New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   9780143417187.
  42. ↑ Ashk, Upendranath (August 1964). Malsiani, Arsh (ed.). "Topīyān aur Dākṭar". Aaj Kal (in Urdu). 24 (1). Delhi: Publication Division: 18. ISSN   0971-846X.
  43. ↑ "Hats and Doctors". The Caravan . January 1, 2013. Retrieved August 10, 2025.
  44. ↑ Ashk, Upendranath (2015). Falling Walls. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   9780143423690.
  45. ↑ Sahni, Bhisham (2016). Tamas. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   978-0143063681.
  46. ↑ Mastur, Khadija (2018). The Women's Courtyard. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   978-0-670-09136-2.
  47. ↑ Ashk, Upendranath (2019). In the City a Mirror Wandering. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   9780143425991.
  48. ↑ Mastur, Khadija (2019). A Promised Land. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   9789353055868.
  49. ↑ Sobti, Krishna (2019). A Gujarat Here, A Gujarat There. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   9780143453482.
  50. ↑ Priyamvada, Usha (2021). Fifty-five Pillars, Red Walls. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Speaking Tiger. ISBN   978-8194490821.
  51. ↑ Shree, Geetanjali (2022). Tomb of Sand. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   978-0143448471.
  52. ↑ Priyamvada, Usha (2023). Won't You Stay, Radhika?. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Speaking Tiger Books. ISBN   978-9354475757.
  53. ↑ Shree, Geetanjali (2025). Our City That Year. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. London: Tilted Axis Press. ISBN   978-1-917126-11-3.
  54. ↑ Abbas, Azra (2025). Tomb of Sand. Translated by Daisy Rockwell. New Delhi: Penguin Random House India. ISBN   978-0-143473-16-9.
  55. ↑ Rockwell, Daisy (2004). Upendranath Ashk: A Critical Biography. Katha. ISBN   8189020021.
  56. ↑ Rockwell, Daisy (2012). The Little Book of Terror. Foxhead Books. ISBN   098474861X.
  57. ↑ Rockwell, Daisy (2014). Taste. Foxhead Books. ISBN   9940876041.
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