C, a novel by poet and writer Anupama Raju, was launched in the city on Friday.
In a conversation with poet and writer K. Srilata, Ms. Raju during the launch of her book said C tells the story of two cities. “While one has a sun and the other doesn’t have it. The writer chooses to go to the city without the sun to spend her time writing. The book deals with what happens while she lives in the city without the sun because there is eternal darkness, strange experiences that she goes through and her encounter with ghostly characters”.
Ms. Srilata said the form of the book was particularly striking. “The way in which poetry interludes with prose, it enriches the book very much,” she said.
Ms Raju said: “I wanted to tell a story using poetry. These experiments have been successfully done by many contemporary writers. I wanted to see how it would be to combine prose with poetry; it is an experiment. I will never stop writing poetry.”
The title C is open to readers interpretation. “It could stand for a city too,” she said. “Cities have always been important to me. I wanted to see what story a city can have. How can one relate that city — be it real or imagined — to an individual or a woman’s state of mind. I wanted to establish a relationship between them. I wanted to use a form of poetry and prose and experiment telling a story using these two things,” she added.
