Scribbles: Literary News by Purple Pencil Project

Scribbles, news from India
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We at Purple Pencil Project keep you updated about the latest happenings in the literary world, both national and international, and aim to bring out literary news of the week in this compilation called Scribbles.

India

Writer Chaaru Nivetitha and Singer Jayachandran conferred the Kannadasan Award at Kannadasan Festival

Established in 2009, the Kannadasan award has been presented to eminent writers, singers, cine artists, lyricists, and publishers. The awardees receive 1 lakh rupees and a citation. The award is dedicated to legendary lyricist and poet Kannadasan.

The Founder and Managing Trustee of Shankara Eye Hospitals, R V Ramani conferred the award to the writer Chaaru Nivethitha and singer Jayachandran for their contributions to Indian cultural and literary scene. Writers, literary readers and Kannadasan fans in thousands participated in the event.

Delhi Book Fair at Pragati Maidan from 11th to 15th September 2019

The 25th edition of the Delhi Book Fair organized by the India Trade Promotion Organization is going to be held at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi from 11th to 15th September. The much-awaited fair plays a pivotal role in reviving interest in reading and is a favourite of students, teachers, scholars, authors, librarians, and book lovers alike.

Apart from promoting literacy and reading habits, especially among the children and the youth, the fair presents a myriad of subjects in Indian literature. A number of conferences and seminars, buyer-seller interactions, book releases, book discussions, literary activities, and author meet and greets will also be part of the fair.

The timing of the fair will be from 10:00am to 7:30pm.

Tulu Writer, Theatre Personality Darbe Krishnananda Chowta No More.

Theatre personality, writer, art patron, philanthropist, and businessman Darbe Krishnanada Chowta passed away in Bengaluru on Wednesday. He was 81 years old.

He ran multiple businesses in Ghana and Nigeria before he moved back to India and indulged in his literary interests by writing plays and novels in his mother tongue – Tulu. His prominent works include Pillipathigadasu, Mooji Muttu Mooji Loka and Patt Pajjelu. In 2011, he was conferred an honorary award by Tulu Sahitya Academy for his contribution to Tulu literature.

World

Ling Ma wins Young Lions Fiction Award 2019 for ‘Severance’

Author Ling Ma won the prestigious Young Lions Fiction Award for her dystopian novel, Severance. She was felicitated at a ceremony held at the New York Public Library on June 14th.

The award was founded in 2001 by Ethan Hawke, Jennifer Rudolph Walsh, Rick Moody, and Hannah McFarland and is given every year. A $10,000 prize is given to a young writer (under 35 years of age) for their remarkable novel or short story collection. The other authors shortlisted for the award were: Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah for Friday Black, Akwaeke Emezi for Freshwater, Nick Drnaso for Sabrina, and Laura van den Berg for The Third Hotel.

Nicholas Sparks Issues Apology to the LGBTQ Community

Roughly five years after he was accused of racist and discriminatory behavior, romantic author Nicholas Sparks has issued an apology to the LGBTQ community. This comes after a former employee filed a suit against him accusing him of homophobia in the writer’s emails about banning an LGBT club at a school which he co-founded.

In response to his emails which were leaked, Sparks responded on Twitter on June 17, where he apologized to the LGBTQ community. He said, “As someone who has spent the better part of my life as a writer who understands the power of words, I regret and apologies that mine have potentially hurt young people and members of the LGBTQ community, including my friends and colleagues in that community.”

The case against Sparks will go on trial in August 2019.

Hunger Games To Get A Prequel In 2020

Almost a decade after her blockbuster books turned films first came out, TV writer and author Suzanne Collins is taking her readers back to Panem with a prequel to the Hunger Games saga. Set around 64 years before the book series, the prequel will be released next year.

Collins said in a statement on Monday that she would go back to the years following the Dark Days, the failed rebellion in Panem. The book is set before the lifetime of ‘Hunger Games’ heroine Katniss Everdeen. Other details about the much-awaited have been kept under wraps.

Elizabeth Acevedo Wins The Carnegie Medal

Elizabeth Avocado won the Carnegie Medal for her book The Poet X making her the first woman of color to win the prestigious award. The CILIP Carnegie Medal is an annual literary award. Established in 1936, it awards “the writer of an outstanding book written in English for children and young people”. It is named for the great Scottish-born philanthropist Andrew Carnegie.

This year Elizabeth Acevedo was awarded the CILIP Carnegie Medal for her YA novel, The Poet X, and illustrator Jackie Morris won the Kate Greenaway Medal for The Lost Words.

The Poet X is about Xiomara Batista, a young girl who gives vent to her emotions by writing poetry. However she gets a chance to join the slam poetry club of her school and she’s torn, for though she has a lot to say, she knows the world does not want to hear it.

Both winners received a golden medal, £500 worth of books to donate to a library of their choice and a £5,000 cash prize.

Claire Adam Wins Desmond Elliott Prize 2019 For Her Debut Novel

Claire Adam was awarded the Desmond Elliott Prize 2019 for her debut novel Golden Child at a ceremony on June 17th.

Launched in 2007, in memory of literary agent Desmond Elliot, the 10,000-pound award is given every year to a first fiction book written in English and published in the United Kingdom to “support new writers and to celebrate their fiction”, according to a statement on the official website.

Set in Trinidad, Golden Child is the story of Clyde’s equations with his twin boys, Peter and Paul. The twins have differing personalities– Peter is academically inclined, while Paul is considered as a ‘misfit’ in their family. But when Paul goes missing one day, Clyde has to race against time to save his son whom he never understood. The novel has been described as an electrifying psychological thriller.

New Releases

Title of the book: The Far Field by Madhuri Vijay

Description: In the wake of her mother’s death, Shalini, a privileged, naive and restless young woman from Bangalore, sets out for a remote village in Kashmir. But as soon as Shalini arrives, she is confronted with the region’s politics, as well as the tangled history of the local family that takes her in. As life in the village turns volatile and old hatreds threaten to erupt into violence, Shalini finds herself forced to make a series of choices that could have dangerous repercussions for the people she has come to love.

Publication: Fourth Estate India (4 July 2019)

Where to get it: Get it here.

Title of the book: Till The Next Wave Comes by Sarita Jenamani

Description: The poems sometimes appear as questions as the title suggests. The poetic anthology contains poems about Jenamani’s experiences as an immigrant in Austria.

Publication: Dhauli Books (2017)

Where to get it: Get the book here.

Title of the book: The Young and the Restless by Gurmehar Kaur

Description: In The Young and the Restless, Gurmehar Kaur, student activist and author of Small Acts of Freedom, follows the journeys of eight youth leaders, their aspirations for the country’s youth, their aspirations for themselves and, most importantly, their aspirations for the nation. She explores whether their politics only mimics that of the older party leaders or if they have the ideas, passion and motivation of the demographic they represent.

Publication: Penguin (20 May 2019)

Where to get it: Get it here.

Adaptations

Manu Joseph’s ‘Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous’ to be adapted for the screen

One of India’s wittiest writers, TOI Write India author Manu Joseph’s critically acclaimed novel ‘Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous’ was released in 2017. Now the book will be adapted into a TV series, publisher HarperCollins India announced on June 18.

A socio-political thriller, the book is a contemporary take on and highlights the increasingly ruthless regime of fanatics and pseudo-feminists. Check out our review for the book here.

For Aspiring Writers

Lamakaan will help you pen your thoughts.

Write Club Hyderabad helps you pen your thoughts, spill your mind and finally make an appointment with the writer in your head. They conduct free, weekly events that foster writing. They host free, weekly events that foster writing.

They are open to anyone who writes, regardless of genre, language or age. We have members writing novels, short stories, poetry, screenplays, essays, school reports and more.

They host Write Club sessions every Saturday afternoon – 3 to 6 PM.

Narrow Roads Literary Magazine is accepting submissions.

Narrow Road Literary Magazine is a triannual journal published in April, August and December. It focusses on flash fiction, poetry and haibun. They are now accepting short stories, flash fiction pieces, poems and haibun for their August, December, and April issues.

Find the link to submit your pieces here.

Book-ish Things

Amazon launches all new Kindle Oasis starting from Rs. 21,999.

Amazon recently launched the 10th get edition of the Kindle Oasis in India starting from Rs.21,999. The newly launched Kindle Oasis will be available in subtle Graphite and jazzy Champagne Gold colour variants and it will go on sale in India starting August 19.

The device will be available in 8GB (wifi) and 32GB (wifi and 4G). It comes with a 7-inch glare free display with a pixel per inch density of 300 ppi. The new Kindle comes with a new colour adjustable front light that allows the Kindle Oasis readers to customize the colour tone of their Kindle readers from cool to warm for easy transitioning from daytime to night time.

As a part of the launch offer, Amazon is offering three months of Kindle Unlimited at Rs 2 to all 10th generation Kindle Oasis users. After three months, users will be able to access millions of books in Amazon’s library via Kindle Unlimited for just INR 169 per month. Additionally, all customers who pre-order the all-new Kindle Oasis will get 100 percent off (up to Rs 500) on the purchase of any one e-Book.

Get it here.

Accessories for Bibliophiles

Necklace – I Am I Am: Sylvia Plath inspired necklace from BooksnBeyond’s PROSE collection. The pendant comes with a long chain. Get it here.

Enamel Pin – Patronus: Are you a Harry Potter fan? Do you enjoy collecting all sorts of cute merchandise? Then we have something for you! Show off your Patronus with BooksnBeyond’s Patronus Enamel Pin. Get it here.

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Akhila Menon

Akhila Menon

Akhila is a connoisseur of hurriedly written poems and random facts. She is often found in the natural habitat of her bed with an open laptop or earmarked book, headphones in and a scalding mug of hot chocolate.

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