It was a great moment when Aisha al Saifi of Oman recently won the prestigious ‘Prince of Poets’ title in Abu Dhabi, more so as it was on International Women’s Day. Not only did the prize establish the quality of Aisha’s craft, but it was also a recognition of the way in which women are shining in the literary world.
The path has not been easy, but women’s creative works have begun to be recognised and celebrated more than ever before. Be they novelists, non-fiction or motivational authors, storytelling by women has begun to gain popularity. Even more important is the emergence of women artists in the Global South.
Doubly marginalised by gender and historical forces like colonialism, women writers in the Global South have been less recognised for their craft, especially if they wrote in languages other than English. Traditional prizes like the Booker or the Pulitzer were originally given to works in English. They also remained the arbiters of international quality.
That is, fortunately, no longer true. There has been a sprouting of literature in every part of the world, and there are an equal number of platforms where writers now can showcase their art, both online and off it. This is in the form of literary festivals, book readings, online discussions and regional competitions as the one in which Aisha won a prestigious prize.
The two years of the pandemic offered opportunities for women writers to be involved in creative writing workshops and digital roundtables, giving them an international stage otherwise not accessible to everybody, mainly due to funding challenges.
Translation is an equally important path to gain recognition in the global platform. Witness to this is Jokha Al Harthi’s novel ‘Celestial Bodies’ and ‘Bitter Orange Tree’, both of which were translated into English by Marilyn Booth, with the former novel winning the International Booker Prize for translation. The novel and novelist soon became a household name among fans of fiction.
Another example of translation is Geetanjali Shree, whose novel ‘Tomb of Sand’ was the first Indian translation to win the International Booker Prize. The novel was translated by Daisy Rockwell.
To the question of whether women’s writing should still be a category on its own, the short answer is, yes. Both Al Harthi and Shree, for example, explore what it means to be a woman in their own social and cultural contexts, and the answers are not those posited by native English works. These are perspectives which are still not fully understood and require repeated reminding and telling.
The rise of publication houses dedicated to women’s work has also gone a long way in centring the work of women writers. So also has the rise of digital platforms in which women engage in sharing and disseminating their work.
The task is never complete as many layers of women’s writing, both in history and in contemporary times, is being explored. But it is definitely a rich tapestry which deserves much attention, and yes, celebration.
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