2009/3/30 Venantius Pinto <[email protected]>: > What do you think about making this happen. A response on your part will not > be construed as a invitation to solicit money, other than to see whether it > resonates with your sense of being Goan. Quite cheap really. However, > contribution will not be turned away. It would be good to hear from those > who are interested in contributing, either for the statue or the book or > both. In any case I would like to make this possible. > > Lets hear what the goodwill sounds like. More later. > > venantius j pinto
Augusto Pinto earlier wrote: > One way of honouring Joseph Furtado would be to erect a > statue to him. But the poet himself would surely have > appreciated it more if a fresh collection of his best works > were brought out and bought by every lover of Goa. > > However, who will pay the printer? The publisher will pay the printer. If you (the reader) will buy the book/s. What is needed is not charity or philanthrophy, but attempts to build up a viable book culture in Goa. Three to four years ago, the National Book Trust (New Delhi, a GoI institution) held a grossly-subsidised book publishing fortnight long training programme in Goa. From the 15 or so participants, at least four or five have ventured into some form of publishing. Cecil Pinto came out with Domnic's Goa (and I have been constantly goading him to continue in the field, our online fights notwithstanding). Jose Pereira has come out with a neat book on the 'Parish Churches of Goa' (and though he has since shifted to the Gulf, he's very prolific, maybe more than he was in Goa). Another engineer-turned-writer/photographer (Engico-educated Jose Lourenco being the other one) Pantelao Fernandes has come out with his 100 Goan Experiences [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7loZho8Gis] Rajeshree Bandodkar has been into publishing earlier (a book on science for students, in Konkani) and continues now. For an update of Goa,1556 please see [http://goa1556.goa-india.org/index.php?page=our-work-our-plans] Incidentally, because i subscribe to the viewpoint of copylefting, the entire texts of the first four books are at [http://goa1556books.notlong.com] I am confident that some who appreciate a book there would possibly go on to buy a copy once they're in Goa. Victor Rangel-Ribeiro, at 83, is always spending time to mentor us, nudge on the GoaWriters Group, and at last count I saw him whet the manuscript of Pantelao's impressive, photograph-filled book on Goa. More details on that soon, when it makes it to the market. I would like to believe (though others would certainly disagree) that some of these initiatives have become easier due to networking in cyberspace in general, and building friendships via Goanet in particular. VM, another long-time (if silent for long, now) Goanetter has been working on his own publishing ventures, and his book on Goan music brought out during the 'Semana' and also the Aparant book on art in Goa are surely collector's items. I think books in Goa don't need charity at this point of time; they need initiatives that help build the 'market' and make them better appreciated, as they should be. We have a small market here (1.4 million, scattered among different language groups, some non-readers + expats + tourists). So that poses special challenges. But one should not be defeatist. Of course, I'm not being critical of people like Venantius, who (I personally know) has been a big supporter of Goa books. As I see it (and more debate or understanding of the field is certainly called for), we need a few more things to happen in Goa at this point of time in this sector: * Goa books need to be reviewed IN GOA itself. This hardly happens. * Maybe mentoring of youngsters in the field of reviewing could help. * More bookshops need to be convinced about setting up spl 'Goa book' corners. * More reasonably-priced are needed, specially touching the overseas market. * More serious (if small) publishing houses would encourage more to write. * A permanent exhibition of Goa-books needs to be set up * The new Margao/Navelim South Goa district library could be a good venue for this. * Konkani-to-English translations (and others too) are vital. * Cross-language reviewing could help (say, Marathi books reviewed in English). * Overall, a book culture needs to be promoted. * Books can be promoted as presents, in Goa and the diaspora. * Don't buy books as charity, but because they help us understand ourselves. It's amazing how many books a small place like Goa has produced. Just today, I received a copy of the 611-page novel 'Love and Samsara' by Eusebio Rodrigues, Professor Emeritus of English Literature at Georgetown University. Of course, a lot more can be done. For that, we need to keep aside our negativism and work together in a way that the entire field grows. I'm sure it's a possible target... Let's see. FN -- FN * http://fredericknoronha.wordpress.com M +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490 http://twitter.com/fn On Facebook: http://www.new.facebook.com/people/Frederick-Noronha/502514643 "Writing Win32 apps is EASY." - Dave Feinliev
