V.K. Karthika, chief editor of HarperCollins, moderated ‘Art of the Tale’ with authors Manjula Padmanabhan, Janice Pariat and Nina McConigley. Starting the session on a light note, V.K. Karthika introduced the panellists. She described Janice Pariat as an outstanding writer, always located within her territory, never outside of it. Of Manjula Padmanabhan, a Chennai favourite and creator of Suki , Karthika said, “She is the wickedest writer in this country today! Terribly serious things she is saying, settle in later.” Nina McConigley, living in the United States, writes about the immigrant experience beautifully.
The session arbitrated the differences between the short story and the novel, for writers, readers and publishers. Manjula noted that novels take years to complete while it is reassuring and satisfying to finish a short piece. Yet she pointed out, “It is lesser as it is shorter. It can be profound but it does not put you through the same rigour a novel does.” A short story for Janice comes from a lovely quote by Scott Fitzgerald, “Find the key emotion; this may be all you need know to find your short story.” When Janice’s first book of shorts was accepted, her publishers wrote her a letter saying that they hoped she would write a novel in the future. Her publisher’s preference funnelled her interest. For Nina, it is about time in a different way, almost as if there was a clock in the story. Manjula calls it a fly out there buzzing, “I’m still working.” Janice says, “Finally, the story has to please me. It’s just me and the paper.” The uneven shifts within anthologies, the intermediate novella, the expectancy of the reader of the short form compared to the immersive power of a novel emerged through the discussion. In an attention-deficit world, the novel actually lets us get lost in it and slows the experience. Yet online forums have found avid readers for the littler expressions. “Around the world publishers are hoping the short story will come back,” says Karthika. Writers, finally, may be asked to write a short.
