Bibliofile
So how did the Jaipur local Mita Kapur get William Dalrymple gunning for her? It’s what she said to a Bombay paper: "Why so many goras in an Indian festival?"
Hisab for Kitabs
It’s raining litfests now: Mumbai’s annual Kala Ghoda Arts Festival on this week (Feb 2-10) appears to have got bigger and better, including not just a line-up of authors and panels but contests for poetry slams, sms poetry, flash fiction and graphic fiction. And if Mumbaikars haven’t had their fill of writers and writing, there’s the Kitab festival (Feb 22-24) with a line-up of 29 authors. Unlike its Jaipur predecessor, Kitab has hardly anything filmi in its literary programme this time.
For Those Who Can
Writers who wage battles against unkind reviewers should follow bestselling US author Donna Tartt’s example: she never reads reviews. Asked why, Donna said in Jaipur: she follows the advice of a friend who told her, "Look, kid, the good things don’t help; and the bad things still hurt."