Apolitical elite class is dangerous: Tarun Tejpal

With tied hair, a nonchalant air and salty humour, Tarun Tejpal might come across as a cool dude, but actually he is quite fastidious. The man behind India’s most path-breaking journalism, Tehelka, Tejpal has just come out with his latest book, The Valley of Masks.

With an audience comprising Shashi Tharoor, LK Advani, Sharmila Tagore, Soha Ali Khan, Urvashi Butalia, Jaishree Mishra, the book launch at Taj Mahal Hotel,  saw the capital’s literati in full attendance.

Introducing the book, Sahitya Akademi winner Nayantara Sahgal sent the audience cracking when she said, “when I picked up his first book The Alchemy of Desire, people said it’s sheer porn, of course I read it and discovered a highly compelling story of obsessive love.  ‘The Valley…’  is very different from his previous books as it’s a fable set in the Himalayas.”

In a world where fundamentalist terror has become a harsh reality, the book – his most profound and imaginative till date – examines the pathology of perfection.  “I have an obsessive need to observe collective space. Even as we become more global, in an absurd paradox there’s a growing insularity – Hindu right wing extremism, Norway killings – what is the pathology that leads perfectly intelligent people down that road that seems inspirational and redemptive  but end up in a perilous place?” the author poses a rhetorical question.

Full report here Hindustan Times 

Penguin India presents a collection of 21 books on Delhi

Ahead of the Commonwealth Games, Penguin India has put together a collection of 'must-read books'on Delhi.

The list of authors includes famous names like Khushwant Singh, William Darlymple and Nayantara Sehgal among others.

The anthologies, City Improbable, Celebrating Delhi, Finding Delhi and Trickster City, have writers portraying the city's different localities and people, the famous and the obscure alike.

The biographies, Sam Miller's Delhi: Adventures in a Megacity, William Dalrymple's City of Djinns and Ranjana Sengupta's Delhi Metropolitan map the newer Delhis, attempting to bring its many chameleon faces to life.

The Mughal past is celebrated in Mahmood Farooqui's Beseiged: Voices from Delhi 1857, William Dalrymple's The Last Mughal: The Fall of a Dynasty, Delhi, 1857 and Pavan Varma's Ghalib, The Man, The Times.

Full report here Sify

New prize richer than Asian Booker

You know the publishing industry has arrived when it boasts a lucrative, international prize. A new prize for South Asian Literature, instituted in January this year, is open for entries. The prize money is not a sum to sneeze at: $50,000. The reward is considerably bigger than what the Man Asia Literary Prize (or Asian Booker) offers: $30,000.

The award will “recognize writers of any ethnicity writing about South Asia and its diaspora”. You need not belong to South Asia, only write on it. “The prize has porous literary borders,” observes Namita Gokhale, director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, “the world we are living in is the world of the internet. You shouldn’t need a passport to write a book, to win a prize.”

Its global scope is evident from the advisory board that includes Lord Meghnad Desai, journalist Tina Brown, Michael Worton of University College, London, writer Nayantara Sehgal, writer-publisher Urvashi Butalia, publisher-turned-literary agent David Godwin and journalist MJ Akbar. They will select the five-member jury to be in place by end April, with April 24 as last date for entries. Named DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, the prize is being sponsored by construction company DSC Limited, who also fund the Lit Fest.

Full report here Times of India 

Jaipur fest names committee for fiction prize

After weeks of anticipation DSC Ltd on Tuesday, March 23, announced the Advisory Committee for the recently launched DSC Prize for South Asian Literature, which now opens up the registration procedure for entries. The first winner of this prestigious US $50,000 prize will be announced in January, 2011. The prize aims to commemorate fiction writers from across the globe writing about South Asia or its people.

The Advisory Committee of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature comprises reputed personalities from the world of literature. It represents a wide canvas of experience and a judicious mix in terms of gender, geographies and expertise. The 10-member committee includes:

    * David Godwin, publisher and literary agent (UK)
    * Lord Meghnad Desai, eminent writer and Professor Emeritus, London School of Economics (India, UK)
    * Michael Worton, Vice Provost, University College London (UK)
    * MJ Akbar, distinguished editor and author (India)
    * Nayantara Sahgal, author (India)
    * Surina Narula, businesswoman and fundraiser (NRI,UK)
    * Senath Walter Perera, specialist on Sri Lankan writing in English (Sri Lanka)
    * Tina Brown, Editor and founder of the Daily Beast (US)
    * Urvashi Butalia,  publisher and cofounder of Kali for Women (India)
    * William Dalrymple, author (UK)

Sharing his point of view, Mr Manhad Narula, Director DSC and Member of the DSC Prize Steering Committee said “The setting up of the Advisory Committee is a step forward to recognise the immense pool of talent writing about the South Asian region through the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. We hope that our efforts will encourage new and emerging writers to showcase their work and further enrich the literary heritage of the South Asian region. We would like to thank all the eminent advisory committee members for their assistance in supporting our efforts.

On the occasion Urvashi Butalia, Member Advisory Committee, the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature said “It is a privilege to be associated with a prize which aims to recognise the contribution to South Asian literature. Apart from guiding the prize process, the key role of the Advisory Committee will be to nominate and help select the Judging Panel. We are looking forward to participation from the writers and publishers. We also believe that this prize will help in setting a benchmark for South Asian Literature.”

The judging panel will comprise persons of eminence in literature, arts and culture. The winner will be announced on the final day of the DSC Jaipur Literature Festival in January, 2011.

Full details of the Advisory Committee are available on the website www.dscprize.com. It also outlines the registration procedure whereby publishers can log on to the website and download the entry form for their entries to reach the DSC Prize Secretariat by April 24, 2010.