Rupa Bajwa is an Indian writer who lives and works in

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

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 (1989–2009) 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 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

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 commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

(''De Sariwinkel'') and Serbian (''Prodavnica sarija'') and

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

. 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 ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

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

Gurdwara A gurdwara (sometimes written as gurudwara) (Gurmukhi: ਗੁਰਦੁਆਰਾ ''guradu'ārā'', meaning "Door to the Guru") is a place of assembly and worship for Sikhs. Sikhs also refer to gurdwaras as ''Gurdwara Sahib''. People from all faiths ...

s Sometimes", in ''

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

'', an Indian newspaper.

Works

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bajwa, Rupa Women writers from Punjab, India Living people Punjabi 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