Padma Viswanathan is an acclaimed Canadian playwright, novelist, translator, and memoirist who has been shortlisted for the prestigious International Booker Prize 2026, marking a significant achievement in her literary career. She has made it to the 2026 International Booker Prize for English translation of a Portuguese-language novella. Padma Viswanathan did the English translation of Ana Paula's 2017 novel Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra. In 2026, she is shortlisted for her translation.
Who is Padma Viswanathan?
Padma Viswanathan was born and raised in Canada to Indian parents. She lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas, with her husband, Geoffrey Brock, who is a poet and translator. The couple has two children. Viswanathan has made a mark with her novels and short stories that explore identity, cultural heritage, and human relationships.
Her works often blend intricate storytelling with themes rooted in South Asian history, giving readers a nuanced perspective on diaspora experiences. She graduated from the University of Alberta, and received an MA from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University in 2004 and an MFA from the University of Arizona in 2006.
Padma Viswanathan is shortlisted for International Booker Prize 2026
Indian-origin writer Padma Viswanathan has been shortlisted for the International Booker Prize 2026. She was recognised for translating Ana Paula's novel On Earth As It Is Beneath. The prize, which celebrates global translated fiction and literary excellence, will announce the winning book on May 19, 2026, at Tate Modern in London. The International Booker Prize is awarded every year for a single work of fiction, either a novel or a collection of short stories, which is written in another language, translated into English, and also published in the UK or Ireland.
What is Our Earth As It Is Beneath about?
Our Earth As It Is Beneath (originally, Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra) is a gritty, bleak novella by a Brazilian author. The book explores human brutality, institutional failure, and moral decay, set against the backdrop of a remote penal colony located in the wilderness, where a warden hunts enslaved people, tortures, and brutally kills the enslaved during full-moon nights.
Ana Paula | Scenic Rights
Who is Ana Paula?
Ana Paula Maia is a Brazilian writer and screenwriter who was born in Nova Iguaçu, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. She grew up with books in her childhood and wrote her book, O Habitante das falhas subterrâneas, which was published in 2003. Her 2017 novel, Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra, was selected by The New York Times as one of the best horror books of the month in August 2025. She also won the São Paulo Prize for Literature for Best Novel twice, with Assim na Terra como embaixo da Terra in 2018 and Enterre Seus Mortos in 2019.
