Bibliofile

Lookout For A Win

With the Nobel Literature Prize to be announced on Dussehra, there’s been excitement over the odds on betting sites. Top of the Indian favourites on Ladbrokes is Malayalam poet K. Satchidanandan, thanks to a prediction by Nobel prize watchers that it would go to a poet this year, probably from Asia. Till a day ago, Satchidanandan was tied at 25/1 odds with John Banville, Cormac McCarthy and Joyce Carol Oates, way ahead of Salman Rushdie (50/1 odds). But that may well be the closest an Indian poet comes to winning the prize anytime soon—he’s already sliding down the list to 33/1 odds, tied with Don DeLillo. But that’s not stopping Malayalis from celebrating—after Kamala Das’s self-publicised Nobel “nomination”, Satchidanandan is the closest they’ve ever got to the Swedish prize.

Prized Arrival

Yet another South Asian literature prize has started, proving beyond doubt that the centre of the publishing world is shifting here. The Rs 1 lakh Tibor Jones South Asia Prize for the best unpublished novel by a South Asian writer has been started by the London literary agency of the same name. The winner gets international representation by the agency and the possibility of a £10,000 scholarship for a creative writing programme at the University of East Anglia. Details at http://tiborjones.com/prizes/ south-asia-prize/

David’s Star

There was one question none dared ask at David Davidar’s launch—no, not about the elephant in the room—but why, with India’s entire publishing world, including its top authors, on his friends’ list, he had to pick his London literary agent, David Godwin, to interview him at his book launch.