Latitudes of Longing:
An Indian Novel Finds a Global Voice
Author Shubhangi Swarup’s Latitudes of Longing (HarperCollins India, 2018) challenges the belief that English is the only gateway to global recognition. Translated into 17 languages, the novel has earned prestigious awards in France and Taiwan, resonating with readers across diverse cultures.
Challenging Language Norms
As Indian writers, we are made to believe that the English language is the gate to global recognition. My experience with ‘Latitudes of Longing’ strongly challenges this notion. It is the first Indian work to win the Emile Guimet prize, and also the prestigious Openbook award in Taiwan, both, in its translated avatar. It is currently translated in 17 international languages but more importantly, has a unique relationship and reception with each culture.
A Genre of Its Own
The French jury of the Emile Guimet Prize gifted me with a genre of my own, they called it ‘fiction of nature’. It’s more apt than magical realism, ecological fiction, post-colonial etc. that others have used to describe it as. It just goes to show that books, like the ideas and beliefs they represent, transcend cultures and provide a genuine chance for solidarity in ways that identity politics would love to destroy.
Learning from Global Literary Circles
I am grateful that my novel piqued the interest of a few French publishers, and I couldn’t have dreamt of a better editor and publisher than Métailié. The interest of my editor Lise Belperron, lay in the universality of the text rather than any Indophile preoccupation. She used the word “telluric” to describe it, and once I looked it up, I realised how apt it was. It means “of the planet”, and my book attempts to reorient stories by using the forces of nature, rather than political borders, as narrative threads.
So it is a compliment when another culture accepts the work on its own terms and vision, and this has been my experience with publishing in France. I was also invited to share a panel with Annie Ernaux in Jaipur, for the Night of Ideas, and I learned so much by just observing the French writers I shared the panel with. The humility, honesty and depth they brought was refreshing.
Shubhangi Swarup is an Indian author, journalist, and educator, best known for her award-winning novel Latitudes of Longing, a bestseller in India and Sweden. A former journalist with Open and Mint, she also led India’s first VR journalism platform, ElseVR, where she created the acclaimed documentary When Borders Move. Her work spans fiction, reportage, and immersive storytelling.
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