Culture writer and translator Sukant Deepak has been awarded the Karan Singh Foundation Fellowship for Translation. The fellowship will support his upcoming translation project, in which he will translate selected short stories by his father, celebrated Hindi author Swadesh Deepak, into English. These stories, known for their powerful social insight, emotional depth, and complexity, have reached new readerships in recent years through translated editions.
Swadesh Deepak, a playwright, novelist and short-story writer was active on the Hindi literary scene since the 1960s and has to his credit 17 books comprising plays, short stories, novels and a memoir. His best known works include the play Court Martial and the memoir Meine Mandu Nahin Dekha. Both these works have also been translated into English by Jerry Pinto. The author suffered from bipolar disorder and in June 2006, went for a morning walk and never returned.
Sukant has previously translated his father’s stories for the anthology A Bouquet of Dead Flowers, edited by Jerry Pinto and published by Speaking Tiger, contributing to the wider appreciation of Swadesh Deepak’s work beyond Hindi readership. His translations have also appeared in the journal Indian Literature.
In addition to his translation work, Deepak’s essay Papa, Elsewhere on his father was featured in A Book of Light, published by Speaking Tiger, offering a deeply personal and reflective account of his father’s life, art and legacy.
While Sukant Deepak has worked for major newspapers and agencies where he covered culture, he is currently with the Institute for Development and Communication (IDC) in Chandigarh, involved in launching its art and culture vertical.
The Karan Singh Foundation, an organisation inspired by the pursuit of cultural enrichment, education and interdisciplinary exchange championed by Dr. Karan Singh, supports fellowship programmes aimed at empowering thinkers and creators whose work transcends linguistic and cultural boundaries.
Expressing his gratitude, Sukant Deepak said, “I am honored to receive this fellowship from a foundation that values cultural dialogue and the translation of ideas. Translating my father’s stories is both a tribute to his work and an effort to understand his world.”
This six-month fellowship will enable the translator to devote sustained creative energy to a project that honors one of modern Hindi literature’s seminal voices.
