Bibliofile

In Firozsha Baag?

Rohinton Mistry is on the Booker shortlist again—he’s one of the 13 to make it to the finals of the ‘Olympics of literature’—where living writers from all languages (provided they have been translated into English) are pitted against each other—the two-yearly Man Booker International. You could argue about who exactly is a living writer—can Mistry qualify, considering after three wildly popular and widely prize-winning novels, he has disappeared into that void some Booker winners are prone to go. It’s been nine years since . As they say in our family circles: any news?

Men Of Literature

The Booker prize has evolved into a sort of supermarket of literary awards—you have the eagerly awaited Man Booker; before that, there’s the Man Booker International, to be announced on May 18. Besides Mistry, the shortlist has the two Philips: Roth and Pullman; two Maloufs: Amin and David; the Man-Asian winner Su Tong, and Ann Tyler. Also present is James Kelman, whose reputation for “sweary words” follows him, 20 years after How Late It Was, How Late, where the f-word reportedly appeared 4,000 times. And John le Carre, who withdrew from the race as he doesn’t do litprizes. I wonder how many writers are going: “I wish I’d said that!”

Controversation

The newly created platform for writers by L’Alliance Francaise de Delhi has been hosting some lively sessions on leading writers. But their real genius seems to lie in matching writers with a counterpart. This month, it’s Shashi Tharoor in conversation with publisher-writer David Davidar. Rehab time, would you say?