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Jerry Pinto

ジェリー・ピント

Jerry Pinto

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1966-01-01 (Goa, India)
Nationality
India
Languages
English, Marathi (used in translation work)
Religion
Roman Catholic
Residence History
Mahim (Mumbai) → Mumbai (base)

Career

Occupations
poet, novelist, writer, translator, journalist
Active Years
1998-
Affiliations
Man's World (consulting editor), Paprika Media (special projects editor), Freelance journalist (contributor to Hindustan Times, Live Mint, etc.)
Influenced By
Nominations
Commonwealth Book Prize (shortlisted)

Education

Elphinstone College (University of Mumbai)
Liberal arts
Degree: Bachelor (Liberal Arts)
Country: India
Received a liberal arts degree
Government Law College, Mumbai
Faculty of Law
Degree: LLB
Country: India
Obtained a law degree

Awards

National Film Award for Best Book on Cinema
2007
Work: Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb
Organization: National Film Awards (India)
Result: 受賞
The Hindu Literary Prize
2012
Work: Em and the Big Hoom
Organization: The Hindu
Result: 受賞
Crossword Book Award (Fiction)
2013
Work: Em and the Big Hoom
Category: Fiction
Organization: Crossword Book Awards
Result: 受賞
Windham–Campbell Prize (Fiction)
2016
Work: Em and the Big Hoom (recognized work)
Category: Fiction
Organization: Windham–Campbell Prizes (Yale)
Result: 受賞
Sahitya Akademi Award
2016
Work: Em and the Big Hoom
Organization: Sahitya Akademi (India)
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb

2006 Non-fiction (biography)

A biographical account of Indian dancer and actress Helen, detailing her career in Bollywood and aspects of her personal life.

Bollywoodfemininitymemory and biography

Em and the Big Hoom

2012 Novel

A novel exploring family life, a mother's mental illness, memory and everyday life in Mumbai; contains semi-autobiographical elements.

familymental illnessmemoryMumbai

Surviving Women

2000 Short stories / Essays

A collection of short stories and essays centered on women.

womensociety

Asylum and Other Poems

2003 Poetry

A collection of contemporary English poems containing personal and social observations.

personal experiencesocial observation

Bibliography

  • Surviving Women (2000)
  • Bombay, meri jaan: writings on Mumbai (2003, with Naresh Fernandes)
  • Asylum and Other Poems (2003)
  • Confronting Love (2005, edited with Arundhathi Subramaniam)
  • Helen: The Life and Times of an H-Bomb (2006)
  • Reflected in Water: Writings on Goa (2006)
  • Bollywood Posters (2008, with Sheena Sippy)
  • Leela: A Patchwork Life (2009, with Leela Naidu)
  • Em and the Big Hoom (2012)
  • Phiss Phuss Boom (2013, with Anushka Ravishankar and Sayoni Basu)
  • When Crows Are White (2013)
  • Monster Garden (2016)
  • Murder in Mahim (2017)
  • The Education of Yuri (2022)
  • Citizen Gallery: The Gandhys of Chemould and the birth of modern art in Bombay (2022)

Translations by Author

  • Cobalt Blue (Marathi → English) — translation by Jerry Pinto
  • Baluta (Marathi → English) — translation by Jerry Pinto
  • When I Hid My Caste (Marathi → English) — translation by Jerry Pinto
  • I, the Salt Doll (Marathi → English) — translation by Jerry Pinto

Style & Themes

Literary Style
direct, conversational proseblend of humour and pathosattention to familial and urban detail
Recurring Motifs
familyMumbai/Bombay urban landscapememory and the pastcinema and Bollywood culture

Legacy

Jerry Pinto is a Mumbai-based English-language writer and translator whose novel Em and the Big Hoom won major national and international awards. He is also noted for his non-fiction on Bollywood and for translations from Marathi.

In Popular Culture

  • Contributed to public understanding of Bollywood and Mumbai culture through writings and criticism

Trivia

  • Born in Goa and raised in Mahim (Mumbai).
  • He is a Roman Catholic.
  • Has translated several Marathi works into English.
  • Won the Windham–Campbell Prize and the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2016 for Em and the Big Hoom.