With her latest novelistic offering, Trin Dhari Ot she makes a significant literary intervention in the mythical, feminist and creative thought space of India. It is a retelling of Sita’s tale mediated through a reformist-womanist gaze, fortified by historicism, cultural politics and contemporary contemplations.
This is the second of the powerful trilogy of novels by Manoranjan Byapari. It tells the story of Jibon, the central character whose desperate struggle for survival forms the basis of the plot and interconnecting narration spanning all three novels. The Runaway Boy, published in 2020
Following My Heart is published by Dhauli Books—a cherished homegrown publishing house known for nurturing and supporting local literary initiatives. It is befitting that Joardar’s Manua, deeply entrenched in the vivid tapestry of the sights and sounds of Cuttack, should find a place for its English avatar in Dhauli Books.
Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry—Is it a life in Poetry or A Livewire of Poetry? ‘Livewire is Better than a Poet’ is the title of an early poem and ‘Birds like my urge for freedom/ Waiting on the power line’ are lines from another poem titled ‘Companion’.
Enoch’s Ananta Jeevanam describes the life of Anantpur city caught in incessant rains in a drought-prone region. He portrays how the lives of the people of the town were overwhelmed by the devastating downpour. The book reminds one of James Joyce whose work Dubliners captured the essence of Dublin. It also unearths stories of the unwept and the unsung many, along with the fortunes of the feudal family of Nelagallu Zamindar.
While raising her concerns over calculated cultural coercion and divisive politics, Maninder Sidhu presents Sahgal as a crusader whose literary writings caution against the thinly disguised hegemonic practices to dismantle the social-cultural fabric of India.