Bibliofile

Indian authors appear to be a Canadian speciality: two more are on their way to Delhi well in time for the mother of all Indian literary meets. One is Shauna Singh Baldwin, Commonwealth Writers Award winner for her debut novel, What The Body Remembers, about the Partition from the point of view of a Punjabi village girl. Unlike Mistry, Baldwin was born in Canada but like Mistry, grew up in India. The other trump the Canadian embassy has up its sleeve is Anita Rau Badami, author of Tamarind Mem and more recently The Hero’s Walk.

Come the New Year and expect an avalanche of books by Tagore. Rabindranath Tagore is probably the only writer in the world whose copyright was protected for 60 years after his death, instead of the usual 50 years, thanks to a special act of Parliament passed in 1991. The Vishwa Bharati University, which enjoyed sole monopoly of all his works, will now be forced to contend with the scores of publishers dying to get their hands on the great bard’s works. First at the line is Rupa, who have come out with a Tagore pocket series in less than 10 days after the lapse of Vishwa Bharati’s monopoly. Beautifully produced, the series—Gitanjali, Stray Birds, Red Oleanders, The Crescent Moon, Creative Unity, The Post Office, Poems of Kabir and The Religion of Man—are little gems, and highly affordable (Rs 50 each).