Lit treat

Come July, Amit Chaudhuri, writer and professor of contemporary literature at the University of East Anglia (UEA) in the UK, and Patrick French, biographer and historian, will conduct a unique literary workshop in Calcutta. They will help non-fiction authors hone their writing skills with regard to genres such as biography, historical narrative, travel writing and essay. As French puts it, India has “swathes of untold history and biography needing to be written” and South Asia’s “exploding interest in literature is not yet matched by institutions or courses that enable writers to reach their potential”. The workshop will be organised by the UEA’s creative writing department whose alumni include Ian McEwan, Mohammed Hanif and Kazuo Ishiguro. All in all, a veritable literary bonanza!

Past perfect

When you are the king of romance, it’s not easy to think of paper boats and trains. But Ravinder Singh — known for his bestselling romantic books — is doing just that. He’s taking a break from love and going down memory lane. But die-hard fans need not despair. His new book — memoirs of his childhood and youth, called Like it Happened Yesterday! — is not all shorn of romance. And while he’ll tell the story of making paper boats during the rains, or counting the number of bogies in a passing train, he’ll also delve into his first love. “I look back and it becomes a journey full of adventure. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry,” says the 31-year-old author in a publicity blurb. Clearly, Calcutta-born Kumar, who grew up in Odisha and is now based in Chandigarh, believes in yesterday once more.

Write choice

A Man Booker nomination certainly works wonders. At least it has for Kannada writer and Jnanpith award winner U.R. Ananthamurthy. It got the Films Division of India to sit up and take notice of the octogenarian author and commission a documentary on him. Directed by Kannada filmmaker Girish Kasaravalli, the film will document Ananthamurthy’s significance as a writer, social activist and thinker. But why did it take a Booker nomination to get the spotlight back on this terrific writer?

 

Fighting fit

We’ve had umpteen tomes on the fitness rituals of Bollywood divas. But till now one was in the dark about the way Bollywood’s beefcake brigade got their muscles and six packs. Well, if you go goggle-eyed at, say, Hrithik Roshan’s lithe, well-toned body, you can turn to this book by Kris Gethin, Roshan’s trainer. Gethin, who was flown in from Los Angeles, is the man who got the Bollywood hunk back in shape to fit into his superhero costume for the next edition of the Krrish franchise. Incidentally, Gethin is also an avid photographer and writer. Published by Simon & Schuster India, Guide to Your Best Body is meant for all fitness enthusiasts who would like to lose weight by eating right and doing weights. Oh, we all want to do that, don’t we?

Fully booked

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is thrilled to bits. The author of novels such as Mistress of Spices and Palace of Illusions is being compared to Dickens and Jane Austen after her latest book, Oleander Girl, was published in the US. “One has to wait to see the response in India,” says a happy Divakaruni. Meanwhile, the prolific author has also come out with a children’s book called Grandma and the Great Gourd, which is based on a Bengali folktale about a sharp-witted grandmother. “It was my favourite folktale when I was a child and I wanted to share it in English with children who do not read Bengali,” says Divakaruni, who says she still carries Calcutta “deep in her heart.” But wait, Divakaruni has one more feather in her cap now — another book of hers, One Amazing Thing, is being made into a Hollywood movie. “Very exciting,” says the author. Indeed.