The second volume of Penguin’s annual anthology of new writing from India which came out in 2006 showcases a range of exciting and original work. It certainly introduces ‘new writing’ although not necessarily new writers—many of the contributors appear to be established writers with several literary awards to their credit. However, First Proof (2) does live up to its promise of presenting a wide generic spectrum. Formatted to open at/from both ends, the reader can begin with either fiction or non-fiction and make her way into the middle of the book which contains poetry. But in fact the mixed nature of many of the pieces challenge the categories of fiction and non-fiction and deploy experimental forms which blur the lines of difference. For instance, Arunava Sinha’s ‘Apna Desh, Apna Blog’ is a self-reflexive contemplation on the ‘blog’ format. The piece appears to be a transcript of several postings and entries on the internet which record a failed attempt to maintain a web journal or a ‘blog’.
March 2007, volume 31, No 3