Thinking, dreaming, writing…

For the new breed of Indian writers, English is their first language and this confidence is reflected in the boundaries they are willing to push vis-à-vis content, genre, style and word play.

May 26, 2015 06:05 pm | Updated 07:31 pm IST - Bangalore

Standing tall: Preeti Shenoy. Photo: Murali Kumar K.

Standing tall: Preeti Shenoy. Photo: Murali Kumar K.

Publishing houses have much literary variety to offer readers across the world, as Indian writers are increasingly using English as their medium of storytelling. They are marking significant territory in the geography of writing. Some of this writing might find a place in history, among other significant writers in English, whose works regale readers, centuries after they are gone.

Drawing attention to the treatment of English by today’s writers, Pranav Kumar Singh, Head of Editorial at Pan Macmillan India, says: “English in India, has become the language of aspiration and expression. Today, Indians writing in English have become supremely confident. They are writing in English as their mother tongue. Undoubtedly, there is a difference in style and content between writers, given their background and reading, but it is quite evident that more writers are beginning to think, dream, and, of course, write in English.”

“Writers are handling the language with a whole new confidence, reflecting contemporary, on-the-street speech, like Anuja Chauhan’s books, for instance,” points out Ajitha G.S. Commissioning Editor, HarperCollins India, adding, “On the more literary end, take Altaf Tyrewala’s writing or Avtar Singh’s Necropolis , English is all the language the writers need to express the cadence of Hindi or Marathi or a high, literary Urdu. There is an Indian English we write and speak today that is distinctly ours. It is an exciting time to be reading and working on books, isn’t it?

It certainly is an exciting time for Indians writing in English. “Fifty years ago,” says Pranav, “writers like Raja Rao had to justify why they wrote in English; books had a glossary for Indian words; and, primary readership was definitely not Indian. While this was better than the era of Tagore, today, we can see the confidence of writers in the way they write in English – the usage is neither Queen’s nor American and the expression and context is completely Indian. Social evolution, publishing, the bookselling ecosystem and media has also favoured and given major support to these writers.”

With this new-age confidence, there are some important milestones that Indian authors are setting towards leaving an imprint in literary writing, globally. “There has been a tremendous expansion in the horizon of writing – what started with fiction, is now evident in non-fiction and poetry as well,” says Pranav, adding, “We are open, forward looking and more adaptable. We have authors, both Indian and of Indian origin, whose works showcase that we are increasingly more global and inclusive. On the other hand, themes and context has also changed from the exotic, to what is real and reflective.”

In effect, writing which is pertinent to the Indian context.

“English has become more ‘Indianized’ and that is of course a reflection of how it was always an Indian language,” says Sudha Sadhanand, Managing Editor, Westland/Tranquebar Press. “It has undergone interesting changes over the years in the Indian publishing industry and the success of that change is reflected in the fantastic success that we have had with Amish Tripathi, Preeti Shenoy, Ashwin Sanghi, Rujuta Diwekar and Rashmi Bansal. The more people read and in English, and in a way which appeals to them, the better it is for the overall industry.”

The appeal of today’s Indian writing crosses borders with the critical acclaim writers are receiving globally.

“In the last year alone Neel Mukherjee has been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Costa Prize, as well as winning the Encore Prize; Amitav Ghosh was shortlisted for the Man Booker International Prize this year and Akhil Sharma’s Family Life was recently awarded the Folio Prize,” says Meru Gokhale, Editor in Chief, Literary Publishing, Penguin Random House.

Talking about the future, Ajitha says, “regarding the imprint of Indo-Anglian writing as something that we realise sometime in the future, I am unable to look at the contemporary scene and see the ramifications of it with clarity.

So much of the conversation nowadays is about what sells, the marketplace, mass-market fiction, which makes it even more difficult to assess what contemporary Indian literary fiction is going to mean for the future.”

Pranav is upbeat saying, “Indian authors will lead the change in ensuring a more flexible and adaptable English – the World English!”

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