Bibliofile

A Winter's Tale

Come September, plans are on for the winter's deluge of litfests. And with too few litstars to go around, the business of booking the stars well in advance is in full swing. Kitab litfest's Pablo Ganguli has managed to snatch away Jaipur Viraasat's prize catch last year: Hari Kunzru. Kunzru, says Pablo, has already confirmed he will attend Kitab's do in January-February. Equally in short supply are litfest organisers, with Viraasat's Pramod Kumar wooed away by the Alkazi Foundation.

Virgin Ventures
Authors griping about their publishers not paying them royalties is an old story but here's the buzz about a publisher famous for his lavish book launches: "He only gets virgin authors because he rapes them all. Nobody wants to go back to him a second time."