Christi Merrill’s translation of  Choubuli and Other Stories by Vijaydan Detha (published by Fordham Press and Katha) won a AAS SAC RAMANUJAN BOOK PRIZE FOR TRANSLATION (South Asia) at the AAS Conference in Toronto this year.

A.K. Ramanujan (1929–1993) was born and educated in Mysore, India. He taught at the University of Chicago for more than three decades, where he served as the chairman of the Department of South Asian Languages and Civilizations. He earned the Padma Shri in 1976 and a MacArthur Fellowship in 1983. In recognition of the excellence of his translations, the South Asia Council of the Association for Asian Studies has established the A.K. Ramanujan Book Prize for Translation. The award of $1,000, is given every other year, and is intended to recognize and encourage translations from South Asian languages into English. Translations will be judged by their aesthetic quality and contributions to the field of South Asian studies. Special consideration will be given to innovative work that reaches a wide audience.

The Ramanujan Committee 2012:

  • (Chair) Indira Peterson, Asian Studies Program, Mount Holyoke College
  • Syed Akbar Hyder, University of Texas, Austin
  • Tony Stewart, Department of Religious Studies, Vanderbilt University