Rupa Bajwa is an Indian writer who lives and works in

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

as well as spending time in various other Indian cities and towns. She is a recipient of the

Grinzane Cavour Prize The Grinzane Cavour Prize (1982–2009) was an Italian literary award established in 1982 by Francesco Meotto. The annual award ceremony took place in the medieval castle of Grinzane Cavour. The goal of the prize was to attract young people to re ...

, the Commonwealth Award, and India's

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

Novels

In 2004, she published her first novel, ''The Sari Shop'', which explores her hometown and the class dynamics of India. The novel won the writer flattering reviews, with reviewers calling her India's new literary find. ''The Sari Shop'' was long listed for the

Orange Prize for Fiction The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

in 2004. The novel won the XXIV

for best first novel in June 2005, the Commonwealth Award in 2005 and India's

English 2006. ''The Sari Shop'' has been translated in several languages, among them: French ('' Le vendeur de saris''),

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

(''De Sariwinkel'') and

Serbian Serbian may refer to: * Pertaining to Serbia in Southeast Europe; in particular **Serbs, a South Slavic ethnic group native to the Balkans ** Serbian language ** Serbian culture **Demographics of Serbia, includes other ethnic groups within the co ...

(''Prodavnica sarija'') and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

. Rupa Bajwa's second novel, ''Tell Me a Story'', was released in April 2012. It was met with extreme reactions. It received critical appreciation from some quarters, at the same time creating controversy among the literary circles in New Delhi, since a part of this novel lampooned these very people. Currently, Rupa Bajwa is working on her third novel.

Columns

Though she is from a

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

family, Bajwa wrote a controversial piece called "Dark Things Do Happen in

Gurdwara A gurdwara or gurudwara () is a place of assembly and place of worship, worship in Sikhism, but its normal meaning is "place of guru" or "home of guru". Sikhism, Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths and rel ...

s Sometimes", in ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are often names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * The Telegraph (Adelaide), ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaid ...

'', an Indian newspaper.

Works

* 2004 ''The Sari Shop'' * 2012 ''Tell Me a Story''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajwa, Rupa Women writers from Punjab, India Living people Sikh writers Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian novelists Novelists from Punjab, India Writers from Amritsar Year of birth missing (living people)

Novels

Columns

Works

Further reading

References