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An array of Indian authors for Paris Book Fair

Vaiju Naravane

They will participate in roundtable discussions, book-signing sessions

PARIS: Over 30 Indian authors have been invited to the Paris Book Fair this year, underlining the growing French interest in all matters Indian.

Vikram Seth with his just released Two Lives is undoubtedly the star of the show, but several other Indian writers such as U.R. Ananthamurthy, Amit Chaudhuri, Shashi Deshpande, Urvashi Butalia, Upamanyu Chatterjee and Shashi Tharoor, to name just a few, will participate in roundtable discussions, book-signing sessions and talks with French editors and publishers. There are some notable absences: Arundhati Roy, Rohinton Mistry, Kiran and Anita Desai, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh and Amartya Sen. There are also a few puzzling presences.

Dominique Vitalyos, eminent translator and literary adviser to the French Centre National du Livre (CNL) said: "There were initial misunderstandings between the French and the Indian side. So the final list of invitees that emerged was not fully the one I had proposed. For instance, we do have authors who have never been translated into French. There was one case of direct pressure when an author that I would not have chosen was thrust upon us by the French embassy. But that aside, I am globally happy with the English versus bhasha mix which was the best we could get in the French context since very few bhasha writers have been translated. I am also pleased with the balance achieved between Indians living and writing in India and expatriate authors."

He added: "The fact that France is beginning to recognise the huge talent that exists in India is for me quite wonderful. Also, we have invited younger writers who have mapped the transformation in Indian society brought about by modernity, globalisation, and other factors. Writers like Sarnath Bannerjee, for instance, who speak to a globalised youth. What we are presenting now is a modern, vibrant India that lives successfully with the older, more traditional India."

The Fair, which last year invited some 175,000 visitors, runs for five days from March 23 to 27. A significant event will be a roundtable entitled "Departed but alive" with modern Indian writers such as Vikram Seth, Alka Saraogi, K.B. Vaid, K. Sachitanandan and Amit Choudhuri discussing the works of Vaikom Mohammed Basheer, O.V. Vijayan, Nirmal Verma, Rabindranath Tagore, Bankim Chandra Chatterjee, Loknath Bhattacharya and Sarat Chandra Chatterjee.

French journalists and critics will conduct hour-long interviews with writers in public sessions.

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An array of Indian authors for Paris Book Fair

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