Joseph Macwan

Joseph Ignas Macwan (9 October 1936 – 28 March 2010) was an Indian Gujarati-language novelist, short story writer and essayist from Gujarat, India. He received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1989 for his novel Angaliyat. He was also a recipient of the Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak (1990). His significant works include: Vyathana Vitak (Agony of Suffering; 1985), Angaliyat (The Step Child; 1986) and Mari Paranetar (1988). He died on 28 March 2010, in Nadiad following kidney failure.

Biography Macwan's grandfather was a Hindu, but he adopted Christianity in 1892. Macwan was born on 9 October 1936 in Tranol, a small village of Kheda taluka, Anand district, Gujarat. His family were natives of Oad, a small village nearby. He was born in the village of Tranol. He was born there because his father Ignas, or Dahyalal was working with a Christian mission there. His father was also known as a master in his village. His childhood passed in poverty and lack of maternal care. His mother Hiriben (Hira) died when he was young. His father soon married another woman who was cruel to him.

Macwan was a prodigy. He was admitted to school when he was five years old because of his reading and writing skills. Which were more advanced than those of most students of the usual admitting age of seven years. At that time it was unusual to study in school in his community. He had good memory skills and he could remember poems by listening to his brother who used to recite poems to his ill mother.

He died on 28 March 2010, in Nadiad following kidney failure.

Translations and adaptations His novel Angaliyat has been translated into English by Rita Kothari as The Stepchild in 2004. His Lohino Sambandh has been adapted as the film Bas Yari Rakho (English title: My Little Devil) and Baheru Aayakhu Mungi Vyatha has been adapted as a tele-film.

Recognition He won Sahitya Akademi Award for Gujarati language in 1989 for his novel Angaliyat. He won Dhanji Kanji Gandhi Suvarna Chandrak in 1990.