Spread the Word

While 2007 was about book clubs mushrooming across Delhi,the following year saw the city’s authors and book lovers hop from one book launch to another,drinking wine and biding their time till the next invite was handed out. Although launches are still heavily attended,a spate of small initiatives are hoping to attract the “real” lovers of the word,written or spoken. “We stay away from the big dos that book launches have become. Instead,we are focussing on events such as ‘Hold the Novel’ that bring readers and writers together in an intimate space,” says Sen. The store is trying to carve its own identity as an alternative and contemporary space for literature,music and cinema. With the success of the first “Hold the Novel”,Sen and the team at Yodakin are working to reprise the evening soon.

The Attic in Connaught Place has been organising book readings and workshops for a few years; last year,their five star neighbour,the Park hotel too launched an evening of readings with contemporary Indian authors. Titled “A Reading in a Room with a View”,the event takes place at the Residence Lounge which offers a spectacular view of Connaught Place and Jantar Mantar. “We wanted to use the Lounge because it has a lovely vibe and view. It’s a nice setting for readers to interact with authors,” says Anushree Banerjee,The Park. The first author at the Park readings was Aatish Taseer (Stranger to History,The Temple Goers),followed by other established names like Amitava Kumar,Kishwar Desai,Anita Nair and Pakistani author HM Naqvi. On June 16,the Lounge will play host to journalist Abhisar Sharma who will discuss his debut book The Eye of the Predator with Santosh Sinha of the BBC.

Though Delhi is not new to poetry readings,these have been few and far between. Delhi Poetree and the Bombay Elektrik Projekt-Delhi chapter (BEP-Delhi) organise open mics for poets sporadically and Yodakin is the latest to jump on the rather rickety bandwagon. “We have a poetry reading with Tibetan poets Tenzin Tsundue and Buchung Sonam in July,” says Sen.

BEP-Delhi has an exciting book event up its sleeve: tentatively titled BYOB+B (Bring Your Own Books and Buy),it will be a book bazaar selling old books. “Think a mini-Daryaganj in a diner,” says Neha Malhotra,BEP-Delhi. “We are sourcing about 300-400 secondhand books from various people who want to give their old books away. These books will be put up for sale at the Bazaar,the proceeds of which will go to charity. We’re also planning to invite independent publishers to put up a table of their titles,” says Malhotra. The event is scheduled for the first week of July at The International Diner in GK-I. If you’d like to talk books and buy them as well,this is for you.

Contact: Yodakin: 011-26536283 ,

The Park: 011-23743000 ,BEP-Delhi: neha@bombayelektrik.com

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