Amandeep Sandhu

Amandeep Sandhu
Amandeep Sandhu in 2013
Amandeep Sandhu in 2013
Native name
ਅਮਨਦੀਪ ਸੰਧੂ
Born1973
LanguageEnglish
Alma materUniversity of Hyderabad
GenreNovel

Amandeep Sandhu (Punjabi: ਅਮਨਦੀਪ ਸੰਧੂ, born 1973) is a Punjabi writer and journalist who writes in English. His second novel Roll of Honour was nominated for Hindu Literary Prize for Best Fiction in 2013.[1]

Biography

Sandhu was born in a Sikh family in Rourkela, Odisha in 1973. He did a master's degree in English Literature from the University of Hyderabad.[2] He then did a Diploma in Journalism from Asian School of Journalism.[3]

In 2013, he joined Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart, Germany for a 2-year fellowship.[4] In 2021, he was awarded the Homi Bhabha fellowship for 2022-24.[5][6]

His journalism has appeared in The Caravan[7] and The Hindustan Times.[8]

Works

Sepia Leaves (2008)

Sepia Leaves is a semi-autobiographical novel[9] set in 1970s when emergency was declared by then Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi and the protagonist is growing up in Rourkela and his mother has schizophrenia.[10]

Roll of Honour (2012)

Roll of Honour is a semi-autobiographical novel which tells the story of Appu who studies at a military boarding school in the fictional town of Jassabad in Punjab in 1984.[11][12]

This novel was translated into Punjabi by Daljit Ami under the title Gwah De Fanah Hon Ton Pahilan.

Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines (2019)

Panjab Sandhu's first work of non-fiction in which he looks at the past and present of Punjab, India in the backdrop of Green revolution, Emergency, Punjab insurgency and the present.[13] The book was long-listed for the NIF-Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay Award 2020[14] and was shortlisted for the Atta Galatta-BLF Non Fiction Prize 2020.[15]

Punjabi translation of the book, Punjab: Jinhan Rahan Di Main Saar Na Janan, was published in January 2022. It was translated by Dr. Yadwinder Singh and Mangat Ram.[16]

Bravado to Fear to Abandonment (2020)

Bravado to Fear to Abandonment: Mental Health and the COVID-19 Lockdown is an e-book by Sandhu that was published in August 2020. The book highlights that importance of mental health and explores the effects of lockdown in India.[17]

References

  1. ^ Staff Reporter (2014-01-14). "Anees Salim bags The Hindu Prize for Best Fiction 2013". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  2. ^ "Amandeep Singh Sandhu". Akademie Schloss Solitude. Archived from the original on 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  3. ^ "sikhchic.com | The Art and Culture of the Diaspora | Engaging With Life: Amandeep Singh Sandhu". sikhchic.com. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  4. ^ "Amandeep Singh Sandhu". Akademie Schloss Solitude. Archived from the original on 2019-11-06. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  5. ^ Tien, Veronica (2022-08-15). "India at 75 | Contributors A - G". PEN America. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  6. ^ "List of Homi Bhabha Fellows". homibhabhafellowships.com. Retrieved 2023-01-06.
  7. ^ "Amandeep Sandhu | The Caravan". caravanmagazine.in. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  8. ^ "Lockdown Diaries: Punjab; standing between hunger and India by Amandeep Sandhu". Hindustan Times. 2020-04-22. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  9. ^ Goyal, Anuradha (2010-01-08). "Sepia Leaves by Amandeep Sandhu". Anu Reviews. Archived from the original on June 20, 2012. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  10. ^ Sarin, Alok (2009-01-01). "Not to be loose shunted". Indian Journal of Psychiatry. 51 (1): 71. doi:10.4103/0019-5545.44915. ISSN 0019-5545. S2CID 35367656.
  11. ^ Balakrishnan, Uday (2012-12-15). "The need to remember". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
  12. ^ "When a turban defined militancy". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2019-11-13.
  13. ^ "In his new book, Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines, author Amandeep Sandhu touches upon Punjab's disquiet". The Indian Express. 2019-11-10. Retrieved 2019-11-12.
  14. ^ "Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize longlist includes a diverse range of non-fiction work on India". The Indian Express. 2020-09-30. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  15. ^ "Shortlist | Atta Galatta-Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize 2020". agblfprize.in. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  16. ^ "Punjab : Jinhan Rahan Di Main Saar Na Janan". Singh Brothers. Retrieved 2022-01-13.
  17. ^ Sandhu, Amandeep (2020-08-06). Bravado to Fear to Abandonment: Mental Health and the COVID-19 Lockdown (1st ed.). Westland.