Bibliofile

Out of a Cabinet
What has poetry got to do with politics? No, we’re not referring to the cabinet, although there are at least three poets out of the closet there (Moily, Mamata, Kapil Sibal). The race for the Oxford Professor of Poetry chair gets curiouser. Barely a week into her tenure, British poet Ruth Padel had to resign for her role in the smear campaign against rival Derek Walcott. Now supporters of the third poet in the ring, Arvind Mehrotra, are lobbying for Mehrotra occupying the chair instead of holding fresh polls.

Stranger Shores
Heard this one? V.S. Naipaul was once buttonholed by a stranger. "You are somebody famous, aren’t you?" he said. "Yes," said Naipaul. "I am Salman Rushdie." Sweet revenge?