This seminar looks at the state of fiction in India now, bringing together authors writing in English as well as other languages.
The seminar explores Indian writing abroad, writers who, by birth or choice, live elsewhere but in whose writing India is a recurrent theme.
What is to be Indian is a critical question that is more relevant than ever before. India’s diversity, its contradictions, its many constituents and stakeholders has given rise to a body of writing that is bold and challenging, scrutinising ideas that the rest of the world takes for granted.
As sub-national identities increasingly clamour for more voice on the national stage, conflict, whether orchestrated or spontaneous, sustained or sporadic, is emerging as one of India’s biggest concerns. Here we look at literature on or arising out of that violence that is corroding the idea of India.
In this seminar we continue with the presentation of the state of writing in India now, as outlined in the first seminar, reflecting diversity, and bringing together authors writing in Indian languages and English.
India is one of the very few countries in the world that has two different names on its postage stamps and currency – “India” in English and “Bharat” in Hindi. With its 28 recognised languages and 10 scripts, translation is one of the most challenging yet promising areas of literary activity as well as publishing in India. This seminar looks at the complex issues around translation in India.
India has the largest film industry in the world, both in terms of number of films produced and also in terms of box-office sales. As a result, a significant corpus of Indian writing revolves around films. We present some of India’s best loved and critically acclaimed writers who write for, on and about cinema in India.
Which authors are Indians reading in vast numbers and why? What genres sell and in what languages? This seminar attempts to answer some these questions and raise others in the process.
We bring a selection of non-fiction writers on industry, sports, memorabilia and ideas.
Are Indians reading right? Is the future of the book secure in India? What are successful reader-development and retail initiatives from India? Critics, journalists, academics – arbiters of taste – join issue with publishers to ponder the questions.
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