Anushka Ravishankar

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Anushka Ravishankar (* 1961 in Nashik , Maharashtra , India ) is an Indian writer . Since 1996 she has written over 25 children's books , some of which are also available in German translation. She is considered one of the most important representatives of nonsense poetry in India and has often been called the »Indian Dr. Seuss «.

Her best-known publications include Tiger on a Tree (1997, German Tiger, Kleiner Tiger , 2002), One, Two, Three! (2004, Ger. Eins, Zwei, Drei!, 2006), The Rumor (2012, Ger . A rumor is going around in Baddbaddpur , 2013), Moin and the Monster (2012, Ger . Moin uns das Monster. A story from India , 2016) and Excuses Excuses (2012). His most recent book I Like Cats (2015, dt. I like cats , 2015). For her literary work she has been awarded the Andersen Prize ( Premio Andersen ) (2004) and the South Asian Book Award (2013), among others . The catalog “The White Ravens” published annually by the International Youth Library mentions Anushka Ravishankar several times and particularly highlights her works.

Ravishankar lives in New Delhi .

Life

Anushka Ravishankar was born in Nashik, northeast of Mumbai , in 1961 and spent her childhood there. She studied mathematics in Pune at Fergusson College and graduated in 1981. During her studies, Ravishankar came into contact with the nonsense literature of Lewis Carroll , Edward Lear and Edward Gorey and was extremely enthusiastic. After completing her postgraduate studies in business research , she worked for a time as a software programmer in an IT company in Nashik. After their daughter was born, Ravishankar took time off to look after her daughter. When her daughter was six, she looked for children's books for her, but couldn't find any she liked. So she started writing herself and sent her first stories to the children's magazine Tinkle . In 1996, Ravishankar moved to Chennai with her family . There she was hired as editor by Tara Books , a publisher founded in 1994 with the goal of bringing high quality children's books to the market . She then decided to publish her own stories as well. She later worked as the publishing director of Scholastic India and founded her own publishing house, Duckbill Books , in 2012 .

Ravishankar resists the instructive in children's books, so her preference for absurd and informal stories is no accident. She often takes her inspiration from real life. For Ravishankar, writing in verse opens up the possibility of being able to concentrate less on the content and more on the form and thus to write absurd nonsense poems. Her degree in mathematics helps her write because, in her opinion, a coherent action requires logic and analysis , as well as imagination .

Literary work

1997 saw the debut of Ravishankar with Tiger on a Tree (German tiger, small tiger (2002)). The book tells the story of a young tiger that is caught by villagers. Tiger on a Tree was awarded at the Bratislava Biennale (1999). Die Zeit describes the book as "wonderfully dense" and The Hindu praises Ravishankar's "peculiar [and] witty rhymes." The Guardian even lists Tiger on a Tree in the list of the 10 best tigers in children's books . The Rumor (2012), German A Rumor Is Around In Baddbaddpur (2013, Translation: Birgit Mader), tells the story of a rumor and how it can become independent. The story has appeared twice in Germany. Once together with the North Indian languages Hindi , Urdu and Bengali and once with the South Indian languages Malayalam , Tamil and also in English . Deutschlandfunk finds in the story "a rumor that causes laughter in the village of Baddbaddpur - and among the readers".

Bibliography (selection)

Original English language edition German-language first edition
1997: Tiger on a Tree , Anushka Ravishankar (text), Biswas Pulak (illustration), Tara Books (Chennai), ISBN 978-81-86211-38-0 2002: Tiger, small tiger , Blauburg Verlag (Freiburg), ISBN 978-3-935550-00-0
2004: Excuse Me, Is This India? , Anushka Ravishankar (text), Anita Leutwiler (illustration), Tara Books (Chennai), ISBN 978-81-86211-56-4 not published in German translation
2004: One, Two, Tree! , Anushka Ravishankar (text), Sirish Rao (text), Durga Bai (illustration), Tara Books (Chennai), ISBN 978-81-86211-80-9 2006: one, two, three! , Anu Stohner (translation), Carl Hanser Verlag (Munich, Vienna), ISBN 978-3-446-20636-6
2011: The Storyteller Tales from the Arabian Nights , Anushka Ravishankar (text), Harshavardhan Kadam (illustration), Penguin Books (London), ISBN 978-0-14-333129-2 not published in German translation
2011: Excuses Excuses , Anushka Ravishankar (text), Gabrielle Manglou (illustration), Tara Books (Chennai), ISBN 978-93-8034012-8 not published in German translation
2012: Moin and the Monster , Anushka Ravishankar (text), Anitha Balachandran (illustration), Duckbill Books (Chennai), ISBN 978-93-8162690-0 2016: Moin and the monster. A short story from India , Barbara Brennwald (translation), Baobab Books (Basel), ISBN 978-3-905804-73-7
2011: Excuses Excuses , Anushka Ravishankar (text), Gabrielle Manglou (illustration), Tara Books (Chennai), ISBN 978-93-8034012-8 not published in German translation
2012: The Rumor , Anushka Ravishankar (text), Kanyika Kini (illustration), Tundra Books (Toronto), ISBN 978-1-77049-280-6 2013: A rumor goes around in Baddbaddpur: Hindi-Bengali-Urdu-German , Vibha Surana (translation), Pankaj Chattopadhyay (translation), Amtul Manan Tahir (translation), Birgit Mader (translation), Edition Orient (Berlin), ISBN 978 -3-922825-86-9 ; 2013: A rumor goes around in Baddbaddpur: English – Tamil – Malayalam – German , Annakutty V Findeis (translation), Ajay Kawshik Arunachalam (translation), Birgit Mader (translation), Edition Orient (Berlin), ISBN 978-3-922825- 87-6

Web links

  • Website of Ravishankars Verlag [1]

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Anushka Ravishankar - She writes stories that children can read just for pure fun Mint, September 26, 2007 (accessed December 6, 2016)
  2. ^ Honor roll Premio Andersen (accessed December 5, 2016)
  3. ↑ Previous awards South Asia Book Award, (accessed December 5, 2016)
  4. ↑ Special Mentions - International Children's Digital Library (accessed December 5, 2016)
  5. ↑ Ravishankar, Anushka: Moin and the Monster Baobab Books (accessed December 5, 2016)
  6. ↑ Anushka Ravishankar - She writes stories that children can read just for pure fun Mint, September 26, 2007 (accessed December 6, 2016)
  7. ↑ What makes a Duckbill? Duckbill (accessed December 6, 2016)
  8. ↑ Anushka Ravishankar Edition-Orient (accessed December 6, 2016)
  9. ↑ Anushka Ravishankar: India's Dr Seuss Saffron Tree, February 22, 2012 (accessed December 6, 2016)
  10. ↑ Does he jump? Die Zeit, October 10, 2002 (accessed December 6, 2016)
  11. ↑ Our plot against evil The Hindu, November 20, 2016 (accessed December 6, 2016)
  12. ↑ Top 10 tigers in children's books The Guardian, June 23, 2016 (accessed December 6, 2016)
  13. ↑ Ravishankar, Anushka: Moin and the Monster Baobab Books (accessed December 5, 2016)
  14. ↑ ... so that Arabic literature is better known here Deutschlandfunk, July 30, 2016 (accessed December 6, 2016)
personal data
SURNAME Ravishankar, Anushka
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Indian writer
DATE OF BIRTH 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH Nashik , Maharashtra , India