Mehdi Khawaja's English Translation Of Kashmiri Novel Bags Literary Award

For Mehdi Khawaja, 26, what started as an interest as a reader of the work of the first Kashmiri novelist, Akhtar Mohiuddin, has given shape to his ambition to translate Kashmiri language writers into English. Mehdi's translation of Mohiuddin's novel 'To Each Their Own Hell' has bagged the 2025 Armory Square Prize for South Asian Literature in Translation.

Mehdi, who has not studied Kashmiri language at the school level, said that the book was the first Kashmiri novel that he had read.

The young writer and journalist, who has written for various Indian and international publications and has also taught courses on Kashmiri language and literature at Ashoka University before studying literature at Jamia Millia, said that the translation work of Mohiuddin’s novel will culminate in October this year.

The book will be published by Open Letter, the University of Rochester's nonprofit literary translation press in the US.  Mehdi is also looking at the possibility of publishing the novel in India through some other publishing house before the book is expected to be published in the US in 2027.

Mehdi is proud of his contribution to the Kashmiri language, which he said, “has literature that is as profound as the world’s literature” in other languages.

“The book is the first one published in Kashmiri that has been translated into English for an international audience,” said Mehdi, who was announced as the Armory Square Prize winner on June 16.

"Before this translation, another Kashmiri book was translated into English, but it is a collection of short stories by writer Hari Krishen Koul", he said.

About  Khawaja’s winning entry, Daisy Rockwell, juror for the prize, said, "The 1975 Kashmiri novel To Each Their Own Hell by Akhtar Mohiuddin is a taut, compelling meditation on love, and its absence, populated by mysterious characters."

Mehdi said that Akhtar’s Kashmiri novel was written by the late author in 1975 and was published in 2002. 

“There was no concept of novel writing in the Kashmiri language, and the works were mostly in poetry. Akhtar Mohiuddin was the first Kashmiri author who wrote a novel and was widely appreciated and read by people,” said Mehdi.

According to Mehdi, the author, who died in 2001, and had won several awards, used to publish books on his own and earned wide acclaim even as the "reading culture was limited in Kashmir."

“The late authors' work had themes that were international in appeal. I picked up his novel as its theme is broad. The novel is very famous in literary circles; it is his best-selling work.  The novel sort of critiqued the institution of marriage, it addresses political and social questions, and also the lack of love in our lives, the role of love in our lives,” said Mehdi.

He also said that the translated work would appeal to the readers in the US and elsewhere in the world, as they can relate to the story. “Other works of the author were more local and more provincial, and themes of love and life that ‘To Each Their Own Hell’ touches would appeal the global readers.   It is also a book that critiques social and political models.”

Book Summary of ‘To Each Their Own Hell’

The story revolves around Mr. X and Mrs. X, whose marriage is based on convenience rather than love. Mr. X is a manipulative and morally bankrupt individual who secretly keeps sex tapes of powerful politicians and government officials for future leverage.  The backgrounds of both Mr. and Mrs. X are revealed gradually. Mr. X, a poor clerk, was chosen to marry Mrs. X by the Supreme Leader, who hoped to put to rest her affair with his son, Madanvaar, whom she continues to love throughout the story.

Though the Supreme Leader isn’t an active character, he is omnipresent in the lives of the characters. People swear by his name, speak of him with reverence or fear, yet he remains unseen, a symbol of power and influence that permeates every aspect of their world.

To climb up the social ladder and acquire power and wealth, both Mr. and Mrs. X are involved in illicit activities, including running a prostitution ring and smuggling.

As the story unfolds, Mrs. X becomes disillusioned when she realises her romantic ideals will never be realised. Through her eventual remorse and death, the novel explores societal struggles during the 1970s and is relevant today in its portrayal of how individuals grapple with the moral compromises they make and the harsh realities of life.