FRANKFURT book fair
A colourful canvas
Shinie Antony

Books by Indira Goswami, Krishna Sobti and Maitreyi Pushpa will air the "rich, paradoxical continuum of Indian language literature" at the Frankfurt Book Fair, says Katha, executive director, Geeta Dharmarajan. Goswami’s The Man From Chinnamasta, Sobti’s The Heart Has Its Reasons and Pushpa’s Alma Kabutari will be Katha’s main English offerings at the fair that begins October 4.

"At the fair, Katha is showcasing the multi-dimensional literary traditions of Indian languages through translations," Dharmarajan told IANS here. "Our new releases from brilliant writers who come from different geographical and cultural spaces, such as Goswami and Pushpa, present before the world the rich and paradoxical continuum of Indian language literature," she added.

Katha will carry 60 books, including 25 children’s books, to the fair that honours India as a special guest this year. "We are also taking U. N. Singh’s collection of poems originally written in Maithali. His second person singular springs from the ancient land of Mithila and looks at language as an ironic link between human spaces," said Dharmarajan.

Maestros of modern storytelling will rub shoulders with Chitra Katha award winner Komilla Raote’s The Princess With The Longest Hair, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyaya’s The Mountain Of The Moon, Abanindranath Tagore’s Raj Kahini and Naiyer Masud’s The Myna From Peacock Garden.

Gurdial Singh’s The Survivors, Sundara Ramaswamy’s Suraa, Thi Jaa’s Remembering Amma, Alka Sarogi’s Over To You, Kiran Nagarkar’s Seven 6s Are 43, Paul Zacharia’s Two Novellas, Ashokamitran’s Water and Kamleshwar’s How Many More Pakistans? are the other Indian books that Katha will transport.

In the poetry section, Shah Abdul Latif’s Seeking The Beloved will sit next to Tamil anthologies by poets like Na Pichamurthy and Kanimozhi.

Dharmarajan says: "Such fairs help us explore the possibilities of presenting to the world the variegated traditions of Indian bhasha literatures." "The Man From Chinnamasta", translated from Assamese by Prasant Goswami, is the portrait of a shocked conscience where the author startles with her sensitive explication of various aspects of the Kamakhya myth.

In Alma Kabutari, translated from Hindi, Pushpa delineates the old Kabutari tradition of sexual slavery to the Kajjas. The onus of breaking this vicious circle of subjugation and securing a human status for the Kabutaris falls upon young Alma.

Alma Kabutari is a story of both her extraordinary achievement and also a window to the lives of marginalised tribes, says a release from Katha. The Heart Has Its Reasons, originally Dil-o-Danish in Hindi, has 1920 Delhi havelis—mansions—and a love triangle with the heart for canvas.

Goswami has bagged the Jnanpith award in 2000, while Pushpa is a Sahitya Akademi Award winner and Sobti won the Hutch Crossword award this year. — IANS

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