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When verse got better
& fresher
Reviewed by Rakhshanda Jalil
The Harper Collins Book of
English Poetry
Edited by Sudeep Sen. Harper Collins. Pages 541. Rs 599.
FOR
far too long poetry has been the neglected child of Indian Writing in
English (IWE). While the short story and novel have had a spectacular
flowering in the early years of this three-decade old phenomenon
called IWE, the poetry being written by Indians in English — while
in itself neither new nor radical —has received lesser acclaim.
Racy,
cinematic narrative
Reviewed by Nonika
Singh
Mumbaistan
By Piyush Jha. Rupa. Pages 242. Rs 195
what
happens when a filmmaker turns a writer? You bet the book reads like a
film and pages turn into dramatic scenes and are powerful enough to
evoke a visual imagery. Piyush Jha's Mumbaistan comprising
three novellas is an engaging read, almost unputdownable once you
begin.
Political
and the personal
Reviewed by KV Prasad
Durbar
By Tavleen Singh. Hachette. Pages 312. Rs 599
journalists
often taken pride in having been witness to history and writing its
first draft. From that viewpoint, the book is a narration of events
seen by a hard-boiled, sharp-nosed reporter who honed her skills as a
city reporter rising to be a prominent political correspondent and a
columnist.
Tales
of encounters and connections
Reviewed by Manjit
Inder Singh
Lines on the Face: It's a Long Road to Freedom
By Sudipta Bannerji Chakraborty. Frog Books. Pages 175. Rs 125
sudipta
Bannerji Chakraborty is a young writer and an amateur painter. The
collection of short stories. Lines on the Face, as the title
conveys, symbolises individual experiences in the long journey of
existence. The way Chakraborty
delves into 'lives' of ordinary people in modern, urban settings.
Making
history
Reviewed by Balwinder
Kaur
London Company
By Farrukh Dhondy. Hachette. Pages 240. Rs 495
your
kind are not wanted here" and various permutations thereof were
sentiments encountered often by a young immigrant and his girlfriend
seeking a foothold in Britain of the 1960s. A scholarship to Cambridge
University marked the beginning of an exploration and an evolution of
Farrukh Dhondy as both an aspiring writer and individual in a foreign
land.
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