Bibliofile

Beyond Boundaries
It’s the competition, stupid! Or why else would the Man Booker Prize be the most closely followed literary race of the year despite the fact that the prize money of £50,000 is piffling compared to lesser known literary awards. Ever heard of the Prince Claus Award? This Dutch annual award is given to a notable writer from across the world, and carries a cash prize of ,1,00,000, nearly double the amount on the Booker prize cheque. This year the award goes to Assamese novelist, poet and memoirist Indira Goswamy. Indira, not one to resign herself to the relative anonymity of regional writers, has been self-translating her works into English for decades now.

Beginner’s Luck
The Booker shortlist has been the greatest stroke of luck not just for Aravind Adiga but his publisher, HarperCollins, as well. After paying a heartstoppingly high advance to secure the Indian rights of The White Tiger, the book refused to fly off the bookshelves. But just when they were giving up hopes of recovering their advance—"There’s always the paperback rights, you know", as the publisher said bravely—the Booker longlist happened. Then the shortlist. At this rate, they may actually sell the print run of 20,000.

Fest Script
The Kovalam litfest hopes even before it kicks off next week to become bigger than the Jaipur one in five years. But not at the rate the latter is growing: nearly a hundred writers, including Vikram Seth, Michael Ondaatje, Mohsin Hamid, Pico Iyer, Pankaj Mishra, Hari Kunzru, will attend the three-tent event early this year.