India 09: Through Fresh Eyes is British Council’s exciting new literature programme which highlighted the India Market Focus at London Book Fair 2009 through participation in a series of literature festivals, workshops and readings in India and the UK.

India Through Fresh Eyes, 18 - 24 April 2009

India was centre-stage last month at this year’s London Book Fair as the British Council played host to a delegation of over 50 Indian writers, translators, critics, academics and industry professionals who took part in a varied programme of events around the themes of cultural and linguistic diversity designed to enable better understanding between India and the UK.

As well as a full and diverse programme of seminars and gatherings at the London Book Fair, there were events held at Foyles, The British Library, Shakespeare’s Globe as well as eight other cities around the UK.

Writers involved included Vikram Seth, Amit Chaudhuri, Girish Karnad, Tarun J Tejpal, K Satchidanandan, Chetan Bhagat, UR Ananthamurthy, Ramachandra Guha, Sankar, Nandan Nilekani and Sunil Ganguly as well several UK authors with strong India connections such as Daljit Nagra, William Dalrymple, Martin Buckley, Michael Wood, Neel Mukherjee among others. Overall 15 Indian major languages were represented in 40 events spread across a week as part of India Through Fresh Eyes initiative, making it essentially the largest festival of Indian writing outside the subcontinent to date.

Susie Nicklin, Director Literature, British Council, said: 'Many people in the UK feel they know India and her writers, which is not surprising given their justified success in this country; many readers in India feel they are au fait with British contemporary literature.  In fact all of us will benefit hugely from this opportunity – a major part of an ongoing British Council programme – to discover more about each other’s literary cultures and societies.'

Sujata Sen, Director East India, British Council, said of the programme: 'This comes at a time when Indian writing is coveted, read and followed internationally.  There is a wide range of exciting Indian writing which is still not accessible to the international market and readers outside India. India writes and speaks in 32 languages that have more than 1 million speakers in each language, and several hundred other languages also have their own literatures.   Our programme in and around the fair will reveal why India is such an exciting market for writing, reading and publishing.'

The keynote address that inaugurated the fair was by Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who spoke passionately about the role of the book in shaping and sorting the present and the future of our crowded, beautiful and yet increasingly dangerous world. Sen then took part in a conversation with UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband where they discussed Indian diversity, democracy, development and the links of all three to its domestic and foreign policy.

Highlights of the India Through Fresh Eyes programme included a Twenty20 cricket match between Indian writers, publishers and BC staff and their counterparts from the rest of the world with a closing address from the literary critic Ian Jack.  The match was sponsored by Asia Literary Review and supported by Woodland Logistics.

Many of the Indian writers were paired with UK authors to act as their 'buddies' for the week and this proved a great success with writers from both countries, allowing deeper bonds and friendships to be forged beyond the formal programming and events.

The conclusion to the week of events came with the Poetry evening at the Nehru centre in partnership with Wasafiri magazine where poets of the post-independence generation read alongside newer talent and revealed the breadth of poetry that is Indian verse.

India Through Fresh Eyes does not end with the work begun London Book Fair. The work continues with upcoming visits by UK authors to Indian literary festivals, working closely with top Indian universities to ensure that contemporary writing from UK is part of the curriculum. There will also be a series of literary translation workshops planned for the coming year.