“We cease to be artists when we cease to cause trouble”: Jerry Pinto

"I enjoy writing, I love writing, I love being in the process of writing."

So says Jerry Pinto. One would expect nothing less from a writer who produces fiction, biography, translations and poetry. He has worked as an editor, teacher and journalist, but sees himself as a poet first. His writing flows from a place of keen awareness even combative at times: an awareness of the multilayered landscape he inhabits. He probes these many worlds, layer by layer, with poignancy and with a humane touch.

Kanika Katyal of the Indian Writers Forum spoke to the writer on the courage to say what you want to say.

Jerry Pinto's novel Em and the Big Hoom, won him The Hindu Lit for Life award, the Crossword Award for Fiction and the Windham-Campbell Prize for Fiction. In the last few years, he has also emerged as a diligent bilingual translator of Marathi books into English. His translations include Sachin Kundalkar's eponymous debut novel Cobalt Blue, and Baluta by Daya Pawar.