India Today
(February 15, 1997)
Fluent Fiction: A rewarding collection of regional language literature.
At a time when being Indian and being published abroad spells big money, big fame and bigger media hype, this series shows something remarkable: qualitatively, contemporary Indian writing in regional languages is just as good as Indian writing in English.
For the past six years, Katha has been bringing out what it considers is the best in Indian short fiction over each year. This anthology of fourteen stories is no exception. Painstakingly selected and translated into English, the collection offers an insight into an India progressing towards fifty years of independence, an Indian which is going through social, political and cultural upheavals. For this, we have to thank the translators (or should we say transcreators?) as much as the editors. In translation, the stories retain their vibrancy and their subtleties without forsaking the refinement of narrative technique …
If one is keen on window shopping the contemporary literary scene in the country, there could not have been a better showcase than this book. All the stories retain a whiff of the region they are rooted in. At the same time, they have the universality that the best of fiction demands.
– Soumya Bhattacharya
Outlook
(January 8, 1997)
The sixth volume of Katha is an extension of the expected: excellent stories, most of them in regional languages, put together in a committed manner as always. There are thirteen short stories in regional languages, and one that was originally written in English. The stories reflect the multicultural tapestry of India as they narrate the individual creative experiences of some of the most talented writers in contemporary times. For those who have read the previous volumes of Katha – in fact, even one – this volume only echoes the standards it has set for itself through its predecessors. In other words, it makes for a fine read.
The Indian Express
(January 12, 1997)
Banking on a steady steam of creative translators, many of whom have transformed the act into an art, the Katha Prize Stories make available a small share of the regional goldmine denied to most readers. These collections negate all regional, national and thematic straitjackets and it is India, resplendent in all its diversity, that comes alive in story after story.
By demonstrating a sustained excellence, the recently released sixth volume of Katha Prize Stories establishes itself as an organic extension of its predecessors. The thematic concerns that manifest themselves in this anthology represent not only the dominant issues that kept the country preoccupied in 1995-96, but also those themes that have become a perennial part of the collective consciousness of India.
– Pallavi Rastogi
Business Standard
(New Delhi, December 27, 1996)
Katha’s Sixer on India’s fifty
Since its inception in 1990, the Katha Prize Stories series had become something of an institution in the world of Indian literature …
Releasing the book at a quiet function attended by Nirmal Verma and Rajendra Yadav, among other luminaries, Dr Manmohan Singh commented on the impact some of the characters in the stories made on him.
Dr Manmohan Singh … [referred in his speech to how] “Literature creates awareness; that role needs to be preserved. Katha’s work is of tremendous significance in building a new India. All of us in public life need to ensure that Katha flourishes.”
– Nilanjana S Roy
The AuthorsAnil Vyas
Dhruba Hazarika
Irathina Karikalan
Jayanta Kumar Chakravarthy
P Lankesh
N S Madhavan
Mohinder Singh Sarna
Priya Vijay Tendulkar
Pudhuvai Ra Rajani
Rawindra Pingé
Shaukat Hayat
P Vatsala
Vishnu Nagar
Yashodara Mishra
The Translators
Sharada Nair
Hephzibah Israel
Kaveri Rastogi
Keerti Ramachandra
Mahasweta Baxipatra
Mitra Phukan
Prachi Deshpande
K M Prema
K E Priyamvada
Roomy Naqvy
Revathi
Sara Rai
Satjit Wadva
The Nominating Editors & Journals
Assamese: Harekrishna Deka (Gariyoshi)
English: Makarand Paranjape
Gujarati: Prabodh Parikh (Parab)
Hindi: Asad Zaidi (Hans)
Kannada: Nataraj Huliyar (Lankesh Patrike)
Malayalam: K Satchidanandan (Malayala Manorama, India Today)
Marathi: Sudha Naravane (Loksatta, Dipavali)
Oriya: Pratibha Ray (Jhunkara)
Tamil: Ambai (Sathangai, Kavithaasaram)
Urdu: Gopi Chand Narang (Aajkal)
Punjabi: Kaptar Singh Duggal (Aarsee)
Edited by
Geeta Dharmarajan
Meenakshi Sharma
Publishers: Katha
Cover Design: Taposhi Ghoshal
Colours: Arvinder Chawla
Logo Design: Crowquill
Category: Katha Prize Stories
Statistics: 5.5" x 8" 224 pages
ISBN 81-85586-52-7 [PB]
Price: Rs 200 [India and the subcontinent only]
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