New Delhi: While people in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh waited with bated breath for the outcome of the EVM reports after a much publicized election campaign, a select audience of Delhi’s literati witnessed the Authorspress organize a book release function on the evening of 16 December, 2017 to introduce some new poets and authors besides releasing books of some established writers from across the country at the peaceful ambience of the capital’s Southgate Hotel.
In all, eleven books were released by well-known persons from media, academia and literary circles which included Dr Subhash Chandra, former Associate Professor of English, University of Delhi; Dr Santosh Bakaya, poet, essayist and author; Satbir Chadha, poet and author; Rajesh Mahapatra, Editor at Large, Hindustan Times.
The books released are: Literary Critters (A novel by Varun Gulati), And The Sun Never Rose Again (A novel by Jahangir Majazi), Reminiscences by the Girl Who Lived (A sequel to the well-received debut novel Beyond the Horizon (released on 1st June, 2017) by Samrudhi Dash), The Clipped Lady (Poems by Tanni Bose), Chal Chala Chal (A Hindi self-help and motivational book by Jagdish Bali), The Unfurling: Wordflies and other poems (Sarala Ram Kamal), In My Patina Cup (A collection of poems by Sadia Khan), Once Upon A Time (A Kashmiri novel by famous dramatis, novelist and short-story writer Bansi Nirdosh, translated in English by Qaisar Bashir), Poetry and Art - A Zephyr: Mad at Heart (Vedika Saxena), The Bleak Moon (Poems by Sameer Ahsan), and Philip Roth: His Dystopian Imagination ( Nidhi Sharma).
Speaking on this occasion Mahapatra said that Twitter or Facebook might stay or go but books are there to stay. He also appreciated the publisher for continuing a literary tradition and, especially, for launching new writers.
The author of Mahatma Gandhi’s much-admired poetic biography, The Ballad of Bapu, Dr Bakaya presented a quick overview of the books during which she termed Sadia Khan and her poetry as the most beautiful. Sadia described herself not to talk much except through her poetry and read the first poem “For My Portrait!” from her collection. But, it was Vedika Saxena, a teenage girl, studding in Noida’s Shriram Millenium School, who caught the attention of the audience for getting her first poetry book published. Mad at Heart also has Vedika’s own beautiful sketches with each poem.
Vedika thanked the publisher for giving her the opportunity to share the platform with other poets and writers and for being supportive of her work. She also read out her poem “Fall” amidst a big round of applause. Authors shared their experiences and some of them also read out from their books.
Sudarshan Kcherry of Authorspress was present on the occasion with his team. Monica Sharma and Meenakshi M Singh beautifully coordinated the programme.
(Manzar Imam is a Ph.D. Fellow at the Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia and is also doing the online “Contending Modernities” programme of the University of Notre Dame, USA)
Post Comments
| Quick links