In a literary landscape where recognition often gravitates toward the canonical and the celebrated, a quiet revolution has emerged from Bengal. Two academics from Kolkata have won the prestigious A K Ramanujan Prize for Translation for bringing the powerful, marginalised voice of Dalit poet Kalyani Thakur Charal to English readers. Their award is not merely a scholarly milestone; it is a cultural intervention. Sipra Mukherjee, professor of English at West Bengal State University, and Mrinmoy Pramanick, a scholar of Comparative Literature who recently joined Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) from Calcutta University, were honoured by the Association for Asian Studies. The award recognises their English translation of Charal’s poems in the volume I Belong to Nowhere, an anthology of 30 poems curated from five of her collections spanning the 1990s to the 2020s.

A Prestigious Global Recognition

The Association for Asian Studies announced this year’s prize winners on February 11, celebrating outstanding scholarship and contributions to Asian studies. The award ceremony will take place during the Association’s annual conference in Vancouver on March 13. Alongside Mukherjee and Pramanick, South Asian scholars Rishad Choudhury and Charu Gupta were recognised with the Bernard S. Cohn Prize and the Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Prize, respectively. The A K Ramanujan Prize for Translation is a distinguished honour named after the celebrated poet, translator, and scholar whose work bridged Indian languages and English with rare sensitivity. Historically, the prize has often recognised translations of classical or widely known literary works. This year’s award marks a significant departure. As Pramanick observed, their project did not involve a classical or famous text. Instead, it focused on a contemporary Dalit woman poet whose voice had largely remained within the confines of Bengali readership. Their win also makes them the first Bengalis to receive this recognition from the Association for Asian Studies for translation.

The Voice of Kalyani Thakur Charal

Kalyani Thakur Charal, now 60, hails from Bagula town in Nadia district of Bengal. Born into a modest family her father worked as a school security guard and her mother, though a housewife, was literate. Charal’s poetry emerges from lived experiences of caste marginalisation and gendered exclusion. Her work speaks of humiliation, resilience, memory and assertion. As a Dalit woman writing in Bengali, Charal occupies a space that has historically been underrepresented, particularly in English translation. There is limited availability of Dalit women’s writing from Bengal in global literary circuits. Translation, in this context, becomes not just a linguistic act but a political one. By rendering her poetry into English, Mukherjee and Pramanick have expanded the readership of her work beyond the vernacular boundaries of Bangla. As Mukherjee noted, recognition brings attention to a book that deserves a larger audience than what Bengali alone can offer.

Two Years of Careful Craft

The translation process took two years. Translating poetry is a delicate endeavour, especially when it carries the weight of caste realities and emotional immediacy. Language is not simply about words; it is about rhythm, context, silence and historical resonance. The translators had to preserve the urgency and authenticity of Charal’s voice while ensuring that it remained accessible to readers unfamiliar with Bengal’s socio-cultural landscape. Poetry rooted in specific geographies and experiences often resists direct equivalence. Every line requires negotiation between fidelity to the original and readability in the target language. Pramanick described the book as highlighting “a South Asian woman’s voice that is found in Bengali language.” In bringing that voice to English, the translators have ensured that the social and political dimensions of Charal’s poetry are not diluted.

Translation as Bridge and Responsibility

Translation occupies a critical place in India’s multilingual literary ecosystem. It acts as a bridge across linguistic regions and opens pathways for marginalised voices to enter national and global conversations. Yet not all voices are translated with equal urgency. Dalit literature has long challenged dominant narratives in Indian writing. While some Dalit writers in Marathi, Tamil and Hindi have found international readership through translation, Bengali Dalit women writers remain less visible. The recognition of I Belong to Nowhere signals a shift in attention.

A Milestone for Bengali and Literature

The A K Ramanujan Prize for Translation affirms the growing recognition of contemporary, non-canonical voices. It also reinforces the importance of regional languages in shaping national literary identity. For Bengal, the award marks a proud moment. For Dalit women’s writing, it opens doors to broader readership. For global academia, it signals a commitment to amplifying voices that have historically been sidelined. In celebrating I Belong to Nowhere, the Association for Asian Studies has acknowledged not only scholarly excellence but also the moral urgency of literary inclusion. Through careful translation and sustained commitment, two academics have ensured that a powerful voice from Bagula now resonates far beyond Bengal’s borders.