Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Deepa Mohan]

I loved "Trying to Grow" by Firdaus Kanga, a semi-autobiographical novel,
when I read it. Haven't re-read it lately, but it was the first account I'd
read of how a 'physically challenged' person feels...with a lot of humour.

Deepa.

On Tue, Oct 24, 2017 at 11:56 PM, Shrabonti Bagchi 
wrote:

> I haven’t read Shantaram (something about the excessive hype put me off a
> little bit) so can’t comment, but most people seem to love it. They also
> love The Kite Runner though, so what do you know...
>
> The Hungry Tide is good, but Ghosh’s earlier works are better. The Shadow
> Lines and The Calcutta Chromosome are brilliant. A few other suggestions:
>
> The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (really obvious one)
> A Suitable Boy (even more obvious)
> Anything by Jhumpa Lahiri
> Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra
>
> Younger authors:
>
> Or The Day Seizes You by Rajorshi Chakraborti
> Tokyo Cancelled by Rana Dasgupta
> Turbulence by Samit Basu (this is SF)
> The Heat and Dust Project by Devapriya Roy and Saurav Jha
>
> Hope this helps!
>
>
>
> Connect:
>
> Twitter: @shrabonti
> Instagram: @shrabonti
> Phone: +91-9880536562
>
> On Tue, 24 Oct 2017 at 5:33 PM John Sundman < John Sundman ( John Sundman <
> j...@wetmachine.com> ) > wrote:
>
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> >
> > On Oct 24, 2017, at 3:43 AM, Shrabonti Bagchi < shrabont...@gmail.com >
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Having said that, I also think that the Indian literary novel in
> English
> > is going through a very low phase, and most IWE novels are either written
> > with the college crowd in mind and are of iffy quality or are genre works
> > (and genre writers do feature prominently at most events)
> >
> > As an American I confess to a profound ignorance of the Indian literary
> > novel in English, but I did this year read The Hungry Tide, by Amitav
> > Ghosh.
> >
> > I quite enjoyed it, although I thought the ending was much too contrived.
> >
> > I would appreciate suggestions on other books in this category that I can
> > read to fill this lamentable hole in my education.
> >
> > Also, I wonder what, if anything, Silklisters think of “Shantaram,” by
> > Gregory David Roberts, which has been an enormous worldwide hit in the
> > Anglo world; I don’t know how it has fared in India. It’s a literary
> novel
> > set in India, but it’s by an Austrailian (who lived in India for a long
> > time & is evidently fluent in 2 or more Indian languages.) I thought that
> > book was a decidedly mixed bag. The great parts were really great and the
> > awful parts were really awful. As it turns out, Joe Regal, the author’s
> > American literary agent, who shaped the book and was instrumental in its
> > success, is a close friend of mine.
> >
> > jrs
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Shrabonti Bagchi]

I haven’t read Shantaram (something about the excessive hype put me off a 
little bit) so can’t comment, but most people seem to love it. They also love 
The Kite Runner though, so what do you know...

The Hungry Tide is good, but Ghosh’s earlier works are better. The Shadow Lines 
and The Calcutta Chromosome are brilliant. A few other suggestions:

The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy (really obvious one)
A Suitable Boy (even more obvious)
Anything by Jhumpa Lahiri
Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra

Younger authors:

Or The Day Seizes You by Rajorshi Chakraborti
Tokyo Cancelled by Rana Dasgupta
Turbulence by Samit Basu (this is SF)
The Heat and Dust Project by Devapriya Roy and Saurav Jha

Hope this helps!

 

Connect:

Twitter: @shrabonti 
Instagram: @shrabonti
Phone: +91-9880536562

On Tue, 24 Oct 2017 at 5:33 PM John Sundman < John Sundman ( John Sundman 
 ) > wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> 
> >
> 
> On Oct 24, 2017, at 3:43 AM, Shrabonti Bagchi < shrabont...@gmail.com >
> wrote:
> >
> > Having said that, I also think that the Indian literary novel in English
> is going through a very low phase, and most IWE novels are either written
> with the college crowd in mind and are of iffy quality or are genre works
> (and genre writers do feature prominently at most events)
> 
> As an American I confess to a profound ignorance of the Indian literary
> novel in English, but I did this year read The Hungry Tide, by Amitav
> Ghosh.
> 
> I quite enjoyed it, although I thought the ending was much too contrived.
> 
> I would appreciate suggestions on other books in this category that I can
> read to fill this lamentable hole in my education.
> 
> Also, I wonder what, if anything, Silklisters think of “Shantaram,” by
> Gregory David Roberts, which has been an enormous worldwide hit in the
> Anglo world; I don’t know how it has fared in India. It’s a literary novel
> set in India, but it’s by an Austrailian (who lived in India for a long
> time & is evidently fluent in 2 or more Indian languages.) I thought that
> book was a decidedly mixed bag. The great parts were really great and the
> awful parts were really awful. As it turns out, Joe Regal, the author’s
> American literary agent, who shaped the book and was instrumental in its
> success, is a close friend of mine.
> 
> jrs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[John Sundman]

> On Oct 24, 2017, at 3:43 AM, Shrabonti Bagchi  wrote:
> 
> Having said that, I also think that the Indian literary novel in English is 
> going through a very low phase, and most IWE novels are either written with 
> the college crowd in mind and are of iffy quality or are genre works (and 
> genre writers do feature prominently at most events)

As an American I confess to a profound ignorance of the Indian literary novel 
in English, but I did this year read The Hungry Tide, by Amitav Ghosh.

I quite enjoyed it, although I thought the ending was much too contrived. 

I would appreciate suggestions on other books in this category that I can read 
to fill this lamentable hole in my education. 

Also, I wonder what, if anything, Silklisters think of “Shantaram,” by Gregory 
David Roberts, which has been an enormous worldwide hit in the Anglo world; I 
don’t know how it has fared in India. It’s a literary novel set in India, but 
it’s by an Austrailian (who lived in India for a long time & is evidently 
fluent in 2 or more Indian languages.) I thought that book was a decidedly 
mixed bag. The great parts were really great and the awful parts were really 
awful. As it turns out, Joe Regal, the author’s American literary agent, who 
shaped the book and was instrumental in its success, is a close friend of mine.

jrs

[silk] On Lit fests

[Shrabonti Bagchi]

If you are looking only at the upcoming BLF you might be tempted to think so, 
but this is generally not true. The composition of littlest speakers depends a 
lot upon who the organisers know well, reach out to etc. and there might indeed 
be a bit of a journalistic bias here because Shinie Antony is a former business 
journalist and has friends among popular Indian journos. 

Having said that, I also think that the Indian literary novel in English is 
going through a very low phase, and most IWE novels are either written with the 
college crowd in mind and are of iffy quality or are genre works (and genre 
writers do feature prominently at most events). OTOH, there’s a surge in 
non-fiction writing, both in terms of quantity and quality. Hence it’s natural 
that more non-fiction authors (many are journalists) will find themselves at 
lit-fests than novelists. Also, the Indian literary novel has sunk into a rut 
and there’s not much to discuss — even around books that do sort of perform 
well — whereas current non-fic books are usually topical, interesting and makes 
for lively discussions. 

   

   

On Wed, 18 Oct 2017 at 8:41 AM Meera < Meera ( Meera  ) > 
wrote:

> 
> 
> 
> Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about
> journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers
> congregate? What do you all think?
> 
> -Meera
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
>

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Sidin Vadukut]

Usually there will be at leasy one bookshop on location. And signings after
each session. Usually.



*Sidin Sunny Vadukut*
*Foreign Correspondent - Mint*
91 Kingswood Road, Bromley, BR20NG
Mobile: +44 757 244 1292
Fax: +44 203 318 2053
Web: http://www.livemint.com
Blog: http://www.whatay.com
@sidin

On Mon, Oct 23, 2017 at 4:21 PM, Bharat Shetty 
wrote:

> On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 5:58 PM, Sidin Vadukut 
> wrote:
>
> > Was supposed to be there (as one of the surprisingly nice people) and
> then
> > my passport vanished into the corridors of the home office here in the
> UK.
> >
>
> I have never attended a LitFest earlier, but plan to visit it this time. I
> wonder if there will be any book sales around or just the talks and
> socializing around etc ?
>
> Regards,
> Bharat
>

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Bharat Shetty]

On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 5:58 PM, Sidin Vadukut 
wrote:

> Was supposed to be there (as one of the surprisingly nice people) and then
> my passport vanished into the corridors of the home office here in the UK.
>

I have never attended a LitFest earlier, but plan to visit it this time. I
wonder if there will be any book sales around or just the talks and
socializing around etc ?

Regards,
Bharat

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Sidin Vadukut]

Was supposed to be there (as one of the surprisingly nice people) and then
my passport vanished into the corridors of the home office here in the UK.

On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 1:08 PM Suresh Ramasubramanian 
wrote:

> Jaggi and Manu Joseph, fml.  The rest of the usual suspects and some
> surprisingly nice people.
>
> On 18/10/17, 5:15 PM, "silklist on behalf of Jayadevan P K"
>  jayadeva...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Bangalore Lit fest speaker list
> 
>
>
>
>

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Suresh Ramasubramanian]

Jaggi and Manu Joseph, fml.  The rest of the usual suspects and some 
surprisingly nice people.

On 18/10/17, 5:15 PM, "silklist on behalf of Jayadevan P K" 
 wrote:

Bangalore Lit fest speaker list

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Jayadevan P K]

Bangalore Lit fest speaker list


On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 4:00 PM, Sidin Vadukut 
wrote:

> I have attended several in various capacities. And there are a few reasons
> for this perhaps:
>
> 1. Most big fests have a media partner. And one of the quid pro quo
> arrangements is that some senior editors will moderate panels, talk to
> writers and so on.
> 2. Some senior journos are mini celebs in their own right, and are also
> useful for higher profile, reaching out to foreign writers and journalists
> and so on.
> 3. Journalists also write a lot of non-fiction books in India. I am not
> sure what proportion of the whole corpus of non-fic. But my sense is that
> they do tend to serve as a sort of public intellectual in India subsuming
> the roles that academics, teachers and other may do overseas. So they are
> more than journalists in that sense.
> 4. Many fests have politicians. And usually you set off a journalist
> (usually TV) against politicians on stage. This creates a kind of staged
> tension on stage. Or real tension.
> 5. And besides authors, and perhaps more so than authors, the largest
> supply of articulate firangs free to do the fest kind of thing are foreign
> correspondents working on India. So that is them. (Unlike the UK, for
> instance, India does not have a large number of foreign students or
> professors who can be summoned to do sessions.)
> 6. Litfests are also a kind of entertainment jamboree for anybody who
> writes. In some sense I have often felt the literature is incidental to
> these fests. They are good fun. But I don't think I have really come away
> from these with any substantial insight into the craft of writing. (Except
> for one session with Lawrence Wright in Jaipur which was very useful from a
> journalistic perspective.)
>
> So, in summary, I think a bunch of factors come together.
>
> On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 4:12 AM Meera  wrote:
>
> > Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about
> > journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers
> > congregate? What do you all think?
> >
> > -Meera
> >
>



-- 
Jayadevan
+91 98865 51061
Writer & Head of Product
FactorDaily 


Follow me on: Twitter / Facebook
/ LinkedIn

"FactorDaily: Signals that help you read the future"

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Sidin Vadukut]

I have attended several in various capacities. And there are a few reasons
for this perhaps:

1. Most big fests have a media partner. And one of the quid pro quo
arrangements is that some senior editors will moderate panels, talk to
writers and so on.
2. Some senior journos are mini celebs in their own right, and are also
useful for higher profile, reaching out to foreign writers and journalists
and so on.
3. Journalists also write a lot of non-fiction books in India. I am not
sure what proportion of the whole corpus of non-fic. But my sense is that
they do tend to serve as a sort of public intellectual in India subsuming
the roles that academics, teachers and other may do overseas. So they are
more than journalists in that sense.
4. Many fests have politicians. And usually you set off a journalist
(usually TV) against politicians on stage. This creates a kind of staged
tension on stage. Or real tension.
5. And besides authors, and perhaps more so than authors, the largest
supply of articulate firangs free to do the fest kind of thing are foreign
correspondents working on India. So that is them. (Unlike the UK, for
instance, India does not have a large number of foreign students or
professors who can be summoned to do sessions.)
6. Litfests are also a kind of entertainment jamboree for anybody who
writes. In some sense I have often felt the literature is incidental to
these fests. They are good fun. But I don't think I have really come away
from these with any substantial insight into the craft of writing. (Except
for one session with Lawrence Wright in Jaipur which was very useful from a
journalistic perspective.)

So, in summary, I think a bunch of factors come together.

On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 4:12 AM Meera  wrote:

> Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about
> journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers
> congregate? What do you all think?
>
> -Meera
>

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Mohit]

I assume you mean English Lit fests.
I have no knowledge of these since I haven't attended any. But I do look at
the lists of panelists occasionally, and not sure the charge applies
equally to all of these.

Meanwhile, take a look at the line-up for Jashn-e-Rekhta, the annual Urdu
lit-fest & you'll notice the poets are leading the charge, followed by
writers, followed distantly by other celebrities/journalists.

Regards,
Mohit


On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 8:41 AM, Meera  wrote:

> Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about
> journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers
> congregate? What do you all think?
>
> -Meera
>

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Sumant Srivathsan]

>
> Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about
> journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers
> congregate? What do you all think?
>

I don't believe literary festivals are about journalism more than
literature. In fact, I'm curious to know why you believe this is so. Of
course, non-fiction deserves its place within the literary conversation,
and there have been some good non-fic books in recent years, many of them
by journalists. Concurrently, much fiction, particularly IWE, has been
rubbish. That the translation market shows no sign of growth is another
issue that might drive organizers towards the deeper wells.

As for where writers might congregate, well, I don't know, since I'm not a
writer myself. I meet writer friends as one might meet friends, and at
literary events where there aren't too many journalists.

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[maia]

because technical writing, like science communication, is sneered at by the
lit crowd

loosely in the cloud with typos

On 18 Oct 2017 15:28, "Venkatesh H R"  wrote:

> Intriguing question. I think because narrative non-fiction (which requires
> both a writer's skill and a journalist's eye) has become tremendously
> popular in the last 10-20 years? If you're talking just fiction, you won't
> find too many journalists, but the non-fiction field is dominated by
> current and former journalists.
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 9:33 AM, Thaths  wrote:
>
> > On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 2:12 PM Meera  wrote:
> >
> > > Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more
> about
> > > journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do
> writers
> > > congregate? What do you all think?
> > >
> >
> > Gets whom popularity? The journalists? The organizers?
> >
> > Having never been to a literary festival in India (or anywhere for that
> > matter) I have no useful answers.
> >
> > Thaths
> >
>
>
>
> --
> H R Venkatesh
> ICFJ Knight Fellow
> Founder, NetaData 
> Co-organiser, Hacks/Hackers New Delhi
> Ph: +91 9811824503
> Twitter: @hrvenkatesh
>

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Venkatesh H R]

Intriguing question. I think because narrative non-fiction (which requires
both a writer's skill and a journalist's eye) has become tremendously
popular in the last 10-20 years? If you're talking just fiction, you won't
find too many journalists, but the non-fiction field is dominated by
current and former journalists.


On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 9:33 AM, Thaths  wrote:

> On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 2:12 PM Meera  wrote:
>
> > Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about
> > journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers
> > congregate? What do you all think?
> >
>
> Gets whom popularity? The journalists? The organizers?
>
> Having never been to a literary festival in India (or anywhere for that
> matter) I have no useful answers.
>
> Thaths
>



-- 
H R Venkatesh
ICFJ Knight Fellow
Founder, NetaData 
Co-organiser, Hacks/Hackers New Delhi
Ph: +91 9811824503
Twitter: @hrvenkatesh

Re: [silk] On Lit fests

[Thaths]

On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 2:12 PM Meera  wrote:

> Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about
> journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers
> congregate? What do you all think?
>

Gets whom popularity? The journalists? The organizers?

Having never been to a literary festival in India (or anywhere for that
matter) I have no useful answers.

Thaths

[silk] On Lit fests

[Meera]

Why are literary festivals in India less about literature and more about
journalism? That gets them the popularity of course, but where do writers
congregate? What do you all think?

-Meera