Happenings
On what’s been happening. If there’s news you have heard of and think it would make for interesting reading, please share it with us.

A Play of Words, Art & Music
Source: Times of India
A report on the recently-concluded Goa Arts and Literary Festival

Instead, the five-day event was a celebration of great works by lesser-known writers. It gave pride of place to locals, and uniquely, also featured several writers, poets and musicians from the north-east, that oft-ignored part of India that usually comes into the national consciousness only in the event of some unpleasant occurrence there.

The festival conjured up a finely balanced cocktail of both the ingredients that are usually characteristics of a successful literature festival-scholarship and performance, although some argued that a third- scheduling-was in short supply.

While veterans such as Gulzar, Amitav Ghosh and Kiran Nagarkar were the star draws for panel discussions and book-signings, the walls that separate a writer from his reader were slowly chipped away as the festival progressed; by the final day, most attendees, by now familiar with their fellow-delegates, pleasantly greeted each other in a friendly manner of camaraderie consistent with the spirit of the host state.

Informality aside, another highlight of the festival was the spotlight on the younger brigade, led by three writers who stood out throughout the festival. Their works comprise long, hard looks at the cities they’ve lived in.

Nigerian-American novelist Teju Cole wrote ‘Open City’, about an African psychiatry resident who takes long walks around New York City. It has been listed as one of Time magazine’s top-10 fiction books of the year. Sonia Faleiro’s ‘Beautiful Thing’, which takes a look at Mumbai through the lens of a bar dancer, is a formidable work of narrative journalism and its title regularly features in several international best-of lists.

Naresh Fernandes’s ‘Taj Mahal Foxtrot-The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age’, though released at the festival, is already being looked at as a significant chronicle of the city through the perspective of the defining musical genre of that era. During their sessions, Cole, Faleiro and Fernandes exhibited extraordinary mastery of their material, presenting it in a way that held captive the fickle attention of the small, scattered audience.

Read more »Globalocal 2011
GLOBALOCAL 2011- a two day conference for professionals in the content industry – Publishing, Printing, Digitization, Film and more, was held on the 24th and 25th November 2011. The theme of the conference was “Crossing Currents” – looking at how content is being produced, packaged, sold and consumed differently in the current world of increasing digitization. The two day conference started on 24th November with Juergen Boos, President of the Frankfurt Book Fair presenting the opening speech. In Juergen’s words “I am very pleased to be here today because India currently finds itself in a unique position as it shifts into the spotlight of the media world. It is one of the largest English-speaking markets in the world. Print runs are still increasing, even as interest is growing in digital publishing.” He then handed the podium to Dr. Shashi Tharoor, eminent writer and Member of Parliament to present the keynote speech. Dr. Tharoor spoke eloquently, on how the subject of the conference – “Crossing Currents” had intrigued him, he went on to tell us of his personal journey with ‘the book’, how when he was young and asthmatic, reading was his only and best entertainment. Since then, there has been a sea change in terms of what is available for entertainment. Though this digital variety must pose quite a challenge for publishers, Dr. Tharoor insisted that publishers should not see it as such, but rather that all the new technology can only enhance the reader experience.

The first presentation was aptly on Cross media storytelling – presented by Holger Volland who heads the Digital Initiative of the Frankfurt Book Fair, there was rapt attention as Holger expounded on the subject which is at the heart of the discussion on how content is being redefined today. This was followed by a lively panel discussion on the subject with various experts a lively round of questions and input from the audience. The other sessions of the day saw subject experts on retail, film, and social media giving informative and thought provoking presentations and lectures. The second day started with the Keynote Speech by Octavio Kulesz from Argentina. Octavio gave an overview of the state of digitisation in the world today, he spoke of how digitisation can be viewed simply as that which has happened/is happening and is controlled by the developed world and the big players, and digitisation in the rest of the world/ developing world. Setting the tone for the rest of the day’s sessions all focussed on the digital to an engaged and curious audience, the current state of confusion in the industry at present, was especially apparent from the number of questions from the participants – especially in the session on E-Reader/ Tablet platforms and on Cloud Computing. The conference ended with an intense workshop on Digital Practice.

Writers’ conclave at book fair
Source: Times of India
At a conclave held at the 13th North East Book Fair, noted writers from the city stated that authors’ stand to lose their originality if they let their publishers amend their composed works in accordance with the taste of readers.

‘North East Writers’ Conclave – an open platform: A conglomeration of Creative Minds’ was a gathering of professional and amateur writers held with the objective of discussing issues concerning writers ranging from writing styles and influences, new-age tools for writers, integrity of the writer, understanding of a community, publishing woes of writers etc. The conclave was attended by writers cutting across professional lines.

“Different writers, both from the classical and from the contemporary genre, may influence us and our writings, but as writers we need to have a sensitivity to respond and react and have to touch upon us. All we need is to be open to moments that might range from the beautiful to the ugly and we need to grasp it no matter what,” said Srutimala Duarah, associate professor and writer.Read more »

The Seagull School of Publishing launched
The Seagull Foundation for the Arts in association with Seagull Books supported by the Royal Norwegian Embassy of New Delhi, launched The Seagull School of Publishing in Calcutta today. The inauguration was done by Her Excellency Ms. Ann Ollestad, Ambassador of Norway in the presence of Mr. Naveen Kishore, Publisher, Seagull Books, Mr. Samik Bandopadhyay, Founder Editor, Seagull Books and Dean of Editing, The Seagull School of Publishing, and Ms. Sunandini Banerjee, Senior Editor and Graphic Designer, Seagull Books and Dean of Design & Production, The Seagull School of Publishing and Professor Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, eminent scholar, University Professor at Columbia University, New York, and Seagull Books author.

The inaugural year will conduct a single session from April to July 2012 and thereafter Spring (January-April) and Autumn (June–September) sessions from 2013. The course will include a one-month compulsory overview covering the art, science and business of publishing, editing, marketing and distribution of books followed by three months of specialization in Editing or Design and Production. The selection procedure will include a national online test (www.seagullschool.org) whereby candidates will be shortlisted for another round of written test and final interview to be held in Kolkata. The academy will admit 40 qualified students per batch. The course fee will be Rs. 20,000 per session.

The curriculum is enriched with special Saturday sessions comprising master classes and field trips to publishing houses, printing presses, book fairs, bookstores as well as lectures by guest faculty from mainstream and independent presses, universities, authors and designers who will share their insights gained from their long years in this field. The School will be offering a selection of national and international internships for its students as well as a few fellowships for those aspiring entrepreneurs who wish to set up their own publishing venture.

Oxford Press to continue printing Ramayana essay
Source: Economic Times
Oxford University Press (OUP) has gone back on an earlier move to stop printing a controversial essay suggesting that the Ramayana has many versions, and now said that it will, after all, continue to publish A K Ramanujam’s Three hundred Ramayanas. The essay was removed somewhat hurriedly from the Delhi University’s History syllabus in October this year.

OUP on Friday said; “Given the current concerns expressed by members of the scholarly community over the availability of The Collected Essays and Many Ramayanas, we have decided to immediately reprint both titles and make them available in India and beyond. We are also making Questioning Ramayanas available again.”

The publishing house came under an unprecedented attack from scholars worldwide, including powerful and influential alumni of Oxford University (OUP is closely connected with the University) for having ‘apologised’ to those wanting the Ramanujam essay on the diversity in the versions of the Ramayana removed from the Delhi University syllabus. Those protesting against the inclusion of the essay had used a statement reportedly made by OUP’s India office stating that OUP has decided to desist from publishing the controversial essay. Read more »

Wolters Kluwer Health acquires Medknow
Source: Indian Express
Wolters Kluwer Health acquired Medknow, a leading scientific, technical and medical journal publishing operation headquartered in Mumbai and one of the largest open access publishers in the world.

The acquisition expands Wolters Kluwer’s medical research business presence in key developing markets and supports its strategy to increase locally written content and incorporate more open access platforms into its business model. Read more »

Good Response at Hyderabad Book Fair
Source: http://ibnlive.in.com
The annual book fair which was in town for 10 days had quite a few people from the city turn up at the 250 and-odd stalls that were put up, where about 150 English book stalls and 90 Telugu book stalls were put up. Stalls were set up by book shops from across the twin cities and outside including New Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gorakhpur, Vijayawada, Anantapur and a couple of others. With a recorded foot-fall of about 10,000 on weekdays and more than 50,000 on weekends, the fair was considered a success overall.

When asked about how the response had been over the 10 days, secretary of Hyderabad Book Fair Society, Hanumanth Rao said, “The response has been incredible, especially on the weekends. The number of people who visited the fair on the last day has been more than 60,000, definitely a larger turn-out than last year.”

While parents and teachers seem worried about children spending too much time either watching television or on internet, the book fair reflected differently. Most of the stall owners found that children’s books were the most sold category of books. Another comforting trend observed was the sale of Telugu doing as well as English books; in some cases Telugu book stalls did much better business than their English counterparts. Read more »

It’s a woman’s world
Source: The Hindu
Over the last 10 years, the face of publishing has been changing, and what was a bit of a boys’ club a few decades back is no longer so.

Today, more women occupy important, decision-making positions in the Indian publishing industry, and many have broken off from larger, multinational publishing houses to start their own imprints. With the multinationals too, a large number of young, spirited women are at the editorial helm. Over the past 10 years, at least in the world of publishing, women have surely and silently begun to outnumber men. But hasn’t there always been a greater ratio of women in the editorial teams of publishing houses? And if so, what has changed?

Read more »Commercial success, a diving force for writers today
Source: DNA
The scary submission to market forces

“I want to beat Chetan Bhagat’s record!” screeched another hopeful in his conversation with me. At the risk of supreme generalisation, the aspiration of several, if not all, budding authors is precisely this – emulate Mr Bhagat. I really have nothing against this man who is being touted as a ‘publishing phenomenon’ and frankly think my fellow-authors who love to bitch about him in all Lit Fests and social gatherings are plain jealous of his monetary success.

But the greatest disservice that I feel he has done to Indian writing is in creating this vast pool of youngsters who want to be like him! Making the lowest common denominator as an aspirational benchmark for both writers and readers not only feeds, but also celebrates mediocrity! No surprise then that a very eminent and erudite author in his ‘diplomatic’ review of Chetan’s latest book commented tongue-in-cheek that while his style might be ‘pedestrian,’ ‘careless’ and ‘awkward’, the author’s ‘ultimate vindication’ is the number of copies his book sells and hence he must be read! Bananas sell too, I thought! So what is the point?

Read more »How to Succeed in Business? By Reading, India Says
Source: cnbc.com

Indian readers, particularly young ones, have been devouring books on business, management, careers and money in recent years. In storefront displays and airport bookstores across India, these tomes get pride of place, relegating fiction and books about politics to the back row.

Bangalore’s annual book fair, which was held over 10 days this month in the grounds of the Bangalore Palace, a Windsor Castle lookalike from the Raj days, attracted dozens of business-focused publishers and retailers with catchy names like Success and Genius, as well as more than 200,000 attendees.

Young Indians graduating from management schools “are voracious readers of nonfiction, they read to get a competitive edge,” says Krishan Chopa, chief editor for nonfiction at HarperCollins Publishers India. India’s growing economy has accelerated changes in business and at the workplace, he said, and authors who write about these changes are popular because the “country’s book-reading public is eager to stay updated.”

Read more »Kids’ publishers take baby steps in digital world
Source: Times of India
Realising that there is little point in resisting digital books, publishers and writers are embracing the digital world and working to promote their books online. Artistes related to children’s literature debated the idea of being hooked to books at the ‘The Reading Child’ conference.

Editor of Karadi Tales Manasi Subramaniam said that holding a book comes with a unique social experience. “When I see somebody reading a book I want to walk up to them and talk about it. That social aspect gets destroyed in a digital medium,” she said. “However, there’s no point in fighting the change. With ebooks publishing becomes cheaper and books also become cheaper, encouraging more people to buy them. It’s actually awesome,” she said. Author of Mayil Will Not Be Quiet Niveditha Subramaniam said there is no denying the fact that e-books are a trend now. “We have to find a way to use them creatively,” she said.

Publishers of multilingual children’s books Tulika knows that technology is here to stay, so though the organisation hasn’t got down to e-publishing first hand, they have been approached by others who have. Read more »

The Retell Market
Source: Times of India

Gautam Padmanabhan, CEO of Westland (that had first refused to publish Amish Tripathi, like every other Indian publisher, and then had to eat crow and buy the rights for his next book when The Immortals of Meluha hit top of the publishing charts), says it is a combination of various factors that has ensured the success of this genre. “The new generation of Indian readers is not just comfortable with its Indian roots but also willing to know more about it. And there is a wealth of material in our mythology and history which can become a bestseller in the hands of a gifted writer,” reasons Padmanabhan. Westland has quite a few titles in this genre in its kitty, like the next big series by Ashok Banker, who pioneered this subset in Indian writing almost two decades ago. Banker’s next, The Mahabharat series, is due to be published by Westland in 2012.

Read more »15 Literary Prophecies for 2012
Source: DNA
Bookstores will stock seasonal vegetables, Chetan Bhagat will finally be translated into English, and literary festivals will have readings from telephone directories, predicts bibliophile Sanjay Sipahimalani

Street food vendors will stay off Indian roads to protest against the declining sales of newspapers and magazines. When lauded for their attempts to promote reading, the president of the vendors’ association will say: “Reading-shmeading. We only want to make sure there’s no shortage of plates and wrappers.”

Read more »

New Book Releases and Events
New book and journal releases, new imprints and other similar events.

Rasāla Books
Rasāla publishes India’s most beautiful forgotten poems in translation. These exquisite volumes of Sanskrit poetry, accompanied by contemporary English translations, allow the general reader to enjoy ancient India as imagined by her poets.

Each bilingual edition, with Sanskrit on the left hand page and English on the right, is available in print and eBook format. Rasāla also offers annual subscriptions which include two volumes of poetry and the Rasāla annual anthology.

Rasāla is run by a small team based in southern India. For more details, please visit www.rasalabooks.com or get in touch at venetia@ rasalabooks.com

Revolutionary Road
Source: livemint.com
From 1955-75, a small literary magazine in Mumbai published some of India’s greatest writers and thinkers, before falling victim to Cold War conspiracies and the Emergency. A new anthology recalls its heady legacy, and its importance to Indian modernity.

The clearest indications of its target audience are the advertisements directed at them – ads reproduced painstakingly in The Best of Quest. Here, Mafatlal “puts colour into my life”, suggests a man posing as a painter. “For elegance and comfort, Lambretta 150 li,” says an ad for the famous scooter. With their sparkling, lengthy copy and sophisticated models in translucent saris, they recall a time when such advertisements targeted a very small, but fairly homogenous band of English-speaking sophisticates across the country. In its last years, the magazine cost a generous Rs. 2.

Read more »Campfire Young Writer of the Year
Campfire is proud to launch Campfire Young Writer of the Year – a story writing competition for anyone from classes 5 to 9. The first competition of its kind to take place on a pan-India basis, it is being held in association with Spell Bee India (as co-partner for 2012). Anyone from classes 5 to 9, attending any school in India, participate in this competition. All the child needs to do is write a fictional story (maximum 2,000 words), then log onto www.campfire.co.in/youngwriters to submit their entry. All entries must be received no later than 15th March, 2012. The results will be announced during the first two weeks of April.

Elsewhere…
News from around the world…

The Nobel Prize in Literature goes to…Tomas Transtromer
Source: nytimes.com

Critics have praised Mr. Transtromer’s poems for their accessibility, even in translation, noting his elegant descriptions of long Swedish winters, the rhythm of the seasons and the palpable, atmospheric beauty of nature.

“So much poetry, not only in this country but everywhere, is small and personal and it doesn’t look outward, it looks inward,” said Daniel Halpern, the president and publisher of Ecco, the imprint of HarperCollins that has published English translations of Mr. Transtromer’s work. “But there are some poets who write true international poetry. It’s the sensibility that runs through his poems that is so seductive. He is such a curious and open and intelligent writer.”

Read more »