Kanishka Gupta, founder of one of the best literary agencies in India
P3’s Prakruti Maniar caught up with Kanishka Gupta, founder of one of the best literary agencies in India, Writer’s Side. The agent, who represents Daisy Rockwell, translator of Geentajali Shree’s Ret Samadhi (Tomb of Sand) which won the International Booker Prize this year, was at the Jaipur Literature Festival 2022. Excerpts. How is it to […]
Being Assamese in India: The Black Magic Women
The Black Magic Women: Stories of Suffering and Survival, written by Moushumi Kandali and translated by Parbina Rashid is a must-read to understand racism in India against the Assamese. Stories of migrations are often bitter-sweet, sprinkled with hopes of a better future. A young man comes to the big city to chase his dreams. While […]
The Mughal Empress, The Twentieth Wife; A Story worth reading?
Indu Sudaresan’s historical fiction book, The Twentieth Wife, captures the drama of the lives of the Mughal kings and queens. Erudite, beautiful, and fiercely brilliant, Mughal Empress Nur Jahan has been the subject of interest for many historians in general and feminist scholars in particular. The sheer extent of her legacy is awe-inspiring, from grand […]
The story of Tamil labourers by Raphaël Confiant
Translated from the French by Vidya Vencatesan A human saga that is both bleak and epic, The Cane Cutter’s Song tells the story of the indentured Tamil labourers who had been lured with the hope of a better life in America but landed in the French Colony of Martinique. Here, they had to toil in […]
Literature Awards in India for 2021
When you think of literature awards in India, we think of the JCB Prize, the Sahitya Akademi Prize, or Jnanpith Award which is India’s highest literary honour. But did you know that each State, each State Sahitya Akademi, several foundations, organizations, too give out literature awards in India? In our for books published or awarded […]
Odia Writer Jagadish Mohanty’s Battles of our Own
Read Akankshya’s review of Battles of Our Own by Odia writer Jagadish Mohanty, translated from the Odia by Himansu S. Mohapatra and Paul St-Pierre During the 1960-the 70s, Jagadish Mohanty was known as one of the most influential Odia writers. In his lifetime (1951-2013), Mohanty authored 13 short story collections and five novels. His writing […]
Pakistan, growing up: The Whispering Chinar by Ali Rohila
Ali Rohila, a writer and banker from Pakistan, comes out with his second book. The Whispering Chinar is a collection of 11 short stories set in or connected to the village of Charbagh in Pakistan. The titular story introduces the family of Khan Sahib living in an old mansion in the village. They have a […]
Being a translator, researcher, and more: Rakhshanda Jalil at JLF 2022
Rakhshanda Jalil is an Indian writer, critic, translator, and literary historian. Jalil runs an organization called Hindustani Awaaz, devoted to the popularization of Hindi-Urdu literature and culture. Excerpts from an interview conducted by Prakruti Maniar and transcribed by Amritesh Mukherjee. How is it to be back for live events on the ground? Rakhshanda Jalil: I think […]
A Mahar speaks: Daya Pawar’s Baluta
The story of freedom struggle in a “free” India, that of the Mahar community What does it mean to belong to the “lower caste” in a society pregnant with hardened attitudes borne of the pervasive nature of the caste system? Daya Pawar’s autobiographical book Baluta, translated from Marathi by Jerry Pinto, explores a demeaning practice […]
All about Mumbai city in this collection of plays by Anju Makhija
Mumbai – the city of dreams, glitz and glamour, with a boiling cauldron of intense passion, be it political, religious or personal. Among the chaos of trains that ferry people from one end to the other, stars are born, live briefly, and die (or live eternally in our memories). Here, a silently turning wheel is […]
