Vikram Chandra (SACRED GAMES) and Vikram Seth (TWO LIVES) win Crossword Book Awards (India)

Vikram Chandra and Vikram Seth are the 2006 winners of India’s prestigious
Hutch Crossword Book awards. See:

http://outlookindia.com/pti_news.asp?gid=47&id=452705 –
"Vikram Chandra, Vikram Seth win Crossword Book Awards"
OUTLOOK, MUMBAI, FEB 22 2007 (PTI)

Vikram Chandra’s SACRED GAMES was the winner for English-language fiction,
and Vikram Seth’s TWO LIVES for English-language non-fiction.

I have myself written about both books, in various postings on this blog
and at:
http://www.geocities.com/christopherrollason/VikramSacredGamesrev.pdf
and
http://www.geocities.com/christopherrollason/SETH2LIVESLONGVERSION.pdf

In addition, "In a Forest, A Deer" by the Tamil writer C. S. Lakshmi
(translator Lakshmi Holmstrom) and "Kesavan’s Lamentations", by the
Malayalam writer M. Mukundan (translator A J Thomas) were joint winners in
the Indian Language Fiction Translation category.

Kiran Desai secured the Hutch Crossword Popular Book
Award for her Booker-winning novel "The Inheritance of Loss" (selected on
the basis by
SMSs sent by readers).

Kunal Basu ("Racists"), Manju Kapur ("Home"), Fali S. Nariman ("India’s
Legal System: Can It Be Saved"), Janaki Bakhale ("Two Men and Music")
Sanjay Suri ("Brideless in Wembley"), and Kiran Desai again were among
other contenders in the fiction and non-fiction categories.

FRANCE PAYS HOMAGE TO INDIAN WRITING: PARIS BOOK FAIR 23-27 MARCH 07 AND “MAGAZINE LITTÉRAIRE” 3-07

After the Frankfurt Book Fair 2006, now it is France’s turn to pay homage to
the growing power of Indian writers on the world market.

The PARIS BOOK FAIR (Salon du Livre), to be held from 23 to 27 March 2007,
will this year host INDIA as the GUEST OF HONOUR.

Official site:
http://www.salondulivreparis.com/2/inde.htm?idh=7
Somewhat more user-friendly account of provisional programme:
http://www.abhadawesar.com/booktour.html

The list of INVITED AUTHORS includes:
Vikram Seth, Shashi Desphande, Githa Hariharan, Anita Rau Badami,
Upamanyu Chatterjee, Amit Chaudhuri, Shashi Tharoor,
Sunil Khilnani, Krishna Baldev Vaid, and many more.

As a tie-in, the March 07 issue of MAGAZINE LITTÉRAIRE (no 462)
is dedicated mostly (pp. 24-61) to India,
under the title ‘L’INDE: DU MAHABHARATA À SALMAN RUSHDIE’.
There are articles by Shashi Tharoor, Amit Chaudhuri
and many others, and cameos of India-as-seen-by the
French (including André Malraux), the Germans (notably
Hermann Hesse), the British and the Americans.
Of particular interest too is an interview with the specialist
Christophe Jaffrelot on the nature of today’s reading public in India.

All in all this number should be a useful resource for those interested
in India’s profile in France today.

NEW ISSUE (JAN-DEC 06) OF JOURNAL “PEGASUS” (AGRA, INDIA)

Now out is the latest issue of "PEGASUS: A JOURNAL OF LITERARY AND CRITICAL
STUDIES" (AGRA, INDIA) – Vol V, Jan-Dec 2006.
**
The Chief Editor is Dr Usha Walters Kishore, and the Editor Dr Gajendra
Kumar (both of Agra College). The editorial board includes, smong others,
Dr Jaydeep Sarangi, Dr Gauri Shankar Jha, Dr Dora Sales Salvador,
and myself.
**
PEGASUS publishes literary and cultural essays, book reviews and
creative writing.

This issue includes, inter alia, articles on:
– Asian Pacific Writers in Australia – Jaydeep Sarangi
– Shakespeare’s MERCHANT OF VENICE – C.L. Gautam
– Rushdie’s MIDNIGHT’S CHILDREN – Kuldeep Kumar and Rajeev Bharadwaj
– The American Novel in the 20s – Gauri Shankar Jha
– Githa Hariharan’s THE THOUSAND FACES OF NIGHT – Monika Gupta

Also worthy of note in the extra-literary sphere is
a perceptive essay on the (partly India-driven)
rebalancing of ex-‘centre’ and ex-‘margins’ in the new global economy:
MARGINS AS CENTRES: PROBING THE IMPROBABLE
(A POSTCOLONIAL CRITIQUE OF GLOBALISATION)
by Farida Siddiquie and Gajendra Kumar
**
Among the book reviews are:

review of Jsydeep Sarangi,
INDIAN NOVELS IN ENGLISH: A SOCIOLINGUISTIC STUDY (by O.M. Mathur)
and my own review of:
Damodar Thakur, GITA: THE SONG EXTRAORDINARY
(a commentary on the BHAGAVAD GITA).
**
Under the creative writing rubric, there are poems by:
MADHOO KAMRA, C.L. GAUTAM and A. ARUNCHALAM.