Jury Citation for We Are the Dancing Forest

Author: Raj Shekhar, Devashish Makhija, Venkat Shyam and Nina Sabnani
Publisher: Tulika

“The striking musicality and eye-catching visuals of this book in verse by Devashish Makhija, Raj Shekhar, Venkat Shyam and Nina Sabnani lure readers into the world of Adivasis, ‘…the earth’s kuiya-muiya, singing the forest’s haiya-huiya’ where the river mumbles, the fish babble, hills whisper, trees tumble and everything sways to the timeless tune of nature in all its lush bounty. Originally written in Hindi, We Are the Dancing Forest is an English translation of ‘Hum Jangal ke Jagar Magar’. Judiciously balancing transliteration with translation, the English edition successfully captures the joyous, foot-tapping rhythm of the original verse – a truly remarkable achievement.”

JURY