Comments on: Reading’s love affair with Indian writing

By: Apeksha

Apeksha — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 07:02:22 +0000

Well, I suppose the word I was looking for was 'perception'. And I was referring to international audiences. I often find that people outside of India are intrigued by its tradition and the presence of dual worlds — such as poverty in metropolitan cities, juxtaposition of tradition/religion and modernity. They seem to seek out a rather 'Indianness' —- something that you will find audiences not looking for in say, American novels i.e. an 'Americanness'. To narrow it down for you do you think that with Indian novel audiences expect to see characters deal with situations like identity conflicts or live in exoticized/dualized conditions, rather than just want a story? Do you think that the true notion of being 'creative' no longer carries the import or interest it once generated? That people are not much interested in imaginative stories but merely in stories that perhaps, have, to carry their native symbols/references?

By: ross bradshaw

ross bradshaw — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:55:33 +0000

Apeksha: hard for me to answer. I suppose it might depend on whether the Indian writer is writing for a home audience or an international audience. But even then it is hard to make more much of a comment on the literature of a whole sub-continent and its diaspora.

By: Apeksha

Apeksha — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:56:22 +0000

I have not read much of Indian literature, Mr. Bradshaw. However, I did want to know whether there are any specific expectations from Indian writers. I mean, is there a set view that people have when they pick up a book or peruse Indian literature?

By: ross bradshaw

ross bradshaw — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:52:32 +0000

Apeksha: thanks for pointing out the typos, you are of course correct. I have, by the way, now read Aravind Adiga's White Tiger, which I enjoyed very much. I'd be interested to know your views on some of these books. I can only read them through Western eyes.
Farhanashaikh: all writers struggle to be published. I run a small publishing firm and receive one or two good proposals every day – many more than I could even read let alone publish. I have no idea whether it is harder for Asian writers to get published. But what sort of books do you think Asian readers want to read?

By: Apeksha

Apeksha — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:50:13 +0000

Dear Mr. Bradshaw

I read the overview of Indian Literature you have penned — both from India and within in the UK. However, do forgive me for correcting you but you seem to have got 2 authors' names wrong. They are Mulk Raj Anand and Aravind Adiga.

By: farhanashaikh

farhanashaikh — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:04:33 +0000

RT @damiengwalter Reading’s love affair with Indian writing http://bit.ly/966YFt

By: farhanashaikh

farhanashaikh — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 19:52:38 +0000

Its a good time for British Asian writers to come to the fore and be noted. The London Book Fair India 09 exhibited the unrealised potential of India's book publishing market but increasingly for me, showed that British publishers are still behind the times when it comes to publishing what most Asians want to read.
Whilst attitudes towards writing within our communities have improved there are still barriers! I think writers themselves (once they finally accept they are a writer) still face many challenges in being taken seriously. Many of the Asian writers I speak to and interview, talk about the struggle to get representation and the increasing struggle to get published. And then there is the challenge of not being pigeon holed.
But things are changing. When I first launched my website I could probably count the number of books published by Asian writers on my hands – now the story is very different. Whether these are books that the Asian community are happy and read, is definitely debateable.

By: Damien G Walter

Damien G Walter — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:29:09 +0000

Reading's love affair with Indian writing http://literaturenetwork.org/?p=2884