Sharifa Vijaliwala (born 4 August 1962) is an Indian

Gujarati language Gujarati (; gu, ગુજરાતી, Gujarātī, translit-std=ISO, label=Gujarati script, ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Gu ...

writer, critic, translator and editor from

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

, India. She is a recipient of a 2018

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 ...

for ''Vibhajanni Vyatha'', a collection of critical essays in Gujarati, and has won several Gujarat Sahitya Akademi awards for her literary work.

Biography

Sharifa Vijliwala was born to her parents, Kasambhai and Hajaraben, on 4 August 1962 in Amargadh, a village in Shihor, in the

Bhavnagar district Bhavnagar District is a Districts of India, district of southeastern Gujarat, India, on the Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra peninsula. It is also known as Gohilwar as a major portion of Bhavnagar district was ruled by Gahlot, Gohil Rajputs. The a ...

, India. She completed her primary education there, and passed her secondary and higher secondary board exams in 1978 and 1981 respectively. In 1985, she graduated from the Faculty of Technology and Engineering, at the

Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, in Gujarat state, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a university in 1949 after the independence of ...

earning a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree. She worked as a pharmacist for five years. Because of her interest in literature, she had also joined the university's Gujarati department to study

Gujarati literature The history of Gujarati literature ( gu, ગુજરાતી સાહિત્ય) may be traced to 1000 AD, and this literature has flourished since then to the present. It is unique in having almost no patronage from a ruling dynasty, othe ...

in 1986. In 1990, she secured the first rank in the university and completed post graduation with a Kantawala Gold Medal. During her literature studies, she passed the National Eligibility Test (UGC NET) examination and secured a

Junior Research Fellowship The JRF or JRF Junior Research Fellow is a letter awarded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) to the candidates who qualify in the National Eligibility Test UGC NET or NTA-UGC-NET, is the examination for determining the eligibility ...

. In 1994, under the guidance of Shirish Panchal, she researched narratology. Vijliwala received a PhD for her dissertation ''Point of View in Short Stories: A Critical Study with Particular Reference to Some Gujarati Short Stories''. She taught Gujarati literature at the M.T.B. Arts College,

from 1991 to 2013. Since 2013, Vijliwala has been a professor and head at the Department of Gujarati, at

Veer Narmad South Gujarat University Veer Narmad South Gujarat University is a public university located in the city of Surat, Gujarat, India. Previously known as South Gujarat University, it was renamed as Veer Narmad South Gujarat University(VNSGU) in 2004 in honour of the famous ...

in Surat.

Works

Vijliwala is a translator, critic and editor. She wrote her first article "Mara Bapu", published in ''Pitrutarpan'' compiled by Joseph Macwan in 1988. Her first work of criticism was''Tunki Vartama Kathankendra'' which was also her doctoral research. ''Varatasandarbh'', ''Sampratyay'', ''Naval Vishv'' and ''Vibhajanni Vyatha'' are her other collections of criticism. She has translated several literary works. She began literary translation in 1994 translating the best short stories of western literature. ''Ananya'' (15 foreign stories), ''Anusang'' (10 foreign stories), ''Tran Katha'' (Stories of

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...

), ''Vachan'' (Kannada Vachanas, co-translator), ''Gandhi ni Kedie'' (A brief translation of Sarla Behn's

Autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

) are her translations. She has made a significant contribution as a translator of literature based on the

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

. Her translations of Partition-oriented literature include ''Manto ni Vartao'' (22 Urdu stories by Saadat Hasan Manto), ''Vibhajan ni Vartao'' (Indian stories based on the Partition), ''Intizar Husain ni Vartao'' (18 Urdu stories by Intizar Hussain) ''Jene lahor Nathi Joyu E Janmyo J Nathi'' (A play by

Asghar Wajahat Syed Asghar Wajahat, popularly known as Asghar Wajahat ( hi, असग़र वजाहत) (born 5 July 1946), is a Hindi scholar, fiction writer, novelist, playwright, an independent documentary filmmaker and a television scriptwriter, who i ...

), ''Sukato Vad'' (

Manzoor Ahtesham Manzoor Ahtesham (3 April 1948 – 26 April 2021) was an Indian writer of Hindi literature known for his depiction of the lives of the Indian Muslim community in independent India. Life Manzoor Ahtesham was born on 3 April 1948 in Bhopal. He s ...

's Hindi novel), '' Pinjar'' (A novel by

Amrita Pritam Amrita Pritam (; 31 August 1919 – 31 October 2005) was an Indian novelist, essayist and poet, who wrote in Punjabi and Hindi. A prominent figure in Punjabi literature, she is the recipient of the 1956 Sahitya Akademi Award. Her body of wo ...

), ''Basti'' ( Intizar Hussain's Urdu novel), ''Adha Gaon'' (A novel by Rahi Masoom Raza) and ''Mahabhoj'' (

Mannu Bhandari Mannu Bhandari Yadav (3 April 1931 – 15 November 2021) was an Indian author, screenplay writer, teacher, and playwright. Primarily known for her two Hindi novels, ''Aap Ka Bunty'' (''Your Bunty'') and ''Mahabhoj'' (''Feast''), Bhandari also ...

's political novel). She also completed a research project ''Analytical and Comparative Study of Literature Based on Partition Theme'' funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) of

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...

. Himanshi Shelat, a renowned Gujarati author, said that, "without losing the flavour of the source language the translated works of Sharifa Vijaliwala aim to preserve the lucidity of the target language. She works diligently to achieve the high standards of excellence in her translations." She has edited more than 20 books including: ''Bani Vatu''(1999) (A compilation of folk stories), ''Bakulesh ni Vartao'' (2004), ''2000 ni Vartao'', ''Shatrupa'' (2005) (A compilation of feminist Gujarati short stories), ''Jayant Khatri ni Gadhyasrushti'' (2009), ''Jayant Khatri no Vartavaibhav'' (2010), ''Varta Vishesh : Harish Nagrecha'' (2010), ''Varta Vishesh :

Saroj Pathak Saroj Pathak (1 June 1929 – 16 April 1989) was Gujarati novelist, story writer and essayist from Gujarat, India. Life Saroj Pathak was born on 1 June 1929 to Narandas Uddeshi in Jakhau in Cutch State (now Kutch district, Gujarat). She complete ...

'' (2012), ''Varta Vishesh : Himanshi Shelat'' (2012), ''Ratilal Anil na Uttam Chandrana'' (2014), ''Vibhajan ni Gujarati Vartao'' (2018), ''Himanshi Shelat Adhyayan Granth'' (2018), ''Bhagwatikumar Sharma no Varta Vaibhav'' (2019), ''Shirish Panchal Adhyayan Granth'' (2020), ''Umashankar Joshi no Varta Vaibhav'' (2020), ''Pannalal Patel no Varta Vishesh'' (2020), ''Meghni no Varta Vaibhav'' (2021), ''Varsha Adalja no Varta Vaibhav'' (2021), ''Ghanshyam Desai no Varta Vaibhav'' (2023) and ''Mohan Parmar no Varta Vaibhav'' (2023). ''Sammukh'' and ''Vyatha ni Katha'' are a compilation of her interviews. ''Sambandho nu Aakash'' is her collection of reminiscences. Her other works include ''Manto ni Vartasrushti'' – Introduction Booklet (2002), ''Komi Samasya ni Bhitarma'' (2010) (A brief introduction of "The communal triangle in India" by

Achyut Patwardhan Achyut Patwardhan (5 February 1905 – 5 August 1992) was an Indian independence activist and political leader and founder of the Socialist Party of India. He was also a philosopher who believed fundamental change in society begins with man hi ...

and

Asoka Mehta Asoka Mehta (24 October 1911, Bhavnagar – 10 December 1984, New Delhi) was an Indian freedom fighter and socialist politician. He helped organize the socialist wing Congress Socialist Party of the Indian National Congress, along with Rambriksh ...

) and ''Harmony'' (2018).

Awards and recognition

Vijliwala has received many educational and literary awards. In 1988, she received the Pranjivan Charitable Trust Prize (State Level). She secured the first rank in the university and completed post graduation with a Kantawala Gold Medal. Her contributions to the field of literary criticism and translation have been recognised by the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi. ''Ananya'' (2000), ''Ba Ni Vatun'' (2000), ''Varta Sandarbh'' (2002), ''Sampratyay'' (2003) and ''Manto ni Vartao'' (2003) have received a Gujarat Sahitya Akademi Award. A research paper by Vijaliwala, ''The Study of Some Stories through Feministic Point of View in Gujarati Language'', was awarded the Best Research Paper Award by the Bhaikaka Inter-University Trust (1998–99). Her PhD thesis, ''Point of View in Short Stories'', was awarded the Ramanlal Joshi Critic Award (2002) by Gujarati Sahitya Parishad. She was awarded the 2015

Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize or Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation is a literary honour in India, presented by Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, given to "outstanding translations of creative and critical works" in 24 m ...

for her translation ''Jene Lahor Nathi Joyu E Janmyo J Nathi'' and 2018 Sahitya Akademi Award for ''Vibhajanni Vyatha'', a collection of critical essays in Gujarati based on the partition of India. She has also received Soham Award (2016) by Navneet Samarpan,

Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an Indian educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by Dr K.M Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The trust programmes through its 119 centres in India, 7 centres abroad and 367 constituent instit ...

and Sadbhavana Puraskar (2017) by the Sadbhavana Trust, Mahuva.

Note

References

External links