Journalism of Courage
These young amateur editors and writers have brought out their love for creative writing and quality reading by taking things in their own hands
No publishers,no shelf space at bookstores and no reading sessions or jazzy launch parties. In the age of fast-paced reads and even faster PR machinery running behind them,can books sell just on earnest intentions? The student minds that got together to conceptualise a literary magazine in the city didn’t think much of these logistics. A good reason why they finally did manage to come out with BluSlate. The journal houses the written words of amateurs and professionals,poetry and prose,photographs and illustrations. It’s time then to applaud the arrival of the intrepid indie print being. Online journals and blogs have re-defined how we read,but printed magazines still inspire literary romanticism.
The idea started taking form in mid-December and on February 19 the journal was officially launched at the Kalachaya Cultural Center on Senapati Bapat road. In the run up to it,engaged in stuff like “talking to the printer and making sure the paper is right” was Fergusson college student Mukta Patil. We never wanted it to be exclusive or elitist,neither are we claiming to be an authority on literature. The idea was to get submissions from anyone who writes,paints or draws. And we picked whatever touched us. BluSlate aims to be mostly a forum for Indian amateur writing.
A reflection of similar sentiments comes from Mumbai. Nether was launched in September 2010 and re-launched informally at the recently concluded Prithvi Theater Festival. The first edition embraced 12 poets,four short story writers and an interview of poet Ranjit Hoskote between its covers. We met at University of Mumbai,thought up the idea and it lay dormant in our heads for a year before we pushed ourselves to go talk to people and let them know that we exist. Once the submissions were in place,it took just about two months to launch it,” says Avinab Dutta,one of the editors.
While the quarterly magazines fill up between issues,online blogs keep the movement alive through updates on more submissions.
The third Nether issue is due in March,but the team still admits to playing with ambivalence when it comes to finances and distribution. See,literary venues are our spots. There are corners and cults of readers,but it’s a very small community and we do not have a reliable model to reach out to people with. But there need to be more such blind movements in literature,where possibly every aspect of logistical planning is a scare. It’s an urgent situation that will thrive through youth support,at least for the time being,” Dutta chuckles.
