KOCHI: 2022 is living out its final week. And what a year it has been for writers and readers. A frantic, frenzied one. As an official in a bookstore in Kochi says: It is important to make sure that those who entered the world of books during the pandemic, never leave it behind.
Many new writers, who took to writing during the past two years, published their works in 2022. And many readers found new genres to explore. Japanese Manga is becoming popular among youngsters, just as young-adult romance, which is finding eager readers among teenagers and college students. Like last year, American author Colleen Hoover remained a top fav among young readers in 2022, too.
With the release of Mani Ratnam’s Ponniyin Selvan, the historical fiction by Kalki Krishnamurthy became a big seller. Joseph Annamkutty Jose’s new book Sneham Kamam Bhranthu is another hit. However, Ikigai remains the undisputed bestseller.
We, at TNIE, speak to writers about their craft, and readers about what caught their soul.
A lockdown opening up
Aadhi, a budding non-binary author, started writing seriously during the Covid crisis. “It was 2020. And I was actually enjoying my campus life — free to be myself, without hiding my identity,” he says. “However, during the lockdown period, I had to return home. That is when I started posting my poems on social media.” In 2022, Dhwani Books released Aadhi’s poetry collection under the title ‘Pennappan’. As Aadhi began his journey in poetry, he realised “a lack of vocabulary” in Malayalam while trying to convey about himself. “It was poet Vijayaraja Mallika who called me an ‘ezhuthal’ – a person who writes,” he adds. “Most words in Malayalam are around two genders.” (Aadhi is fine with being addressed as ‘he’ or ‘they’.) Born and brought up in Kozhikode, Aadhi came out as a queer while doing PG at the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady. “Before that, I was an introvert,” he says.
“It was in university that I found a community where I could be myself. Though I am out publicly, I am yet to come out to my parents.” Notably, the mother figure is prevalent in many of his works. “Not the romanticised version of the all-giving mother. But a mother who is a woman, who is grey, and has her own identity maybe even multiple girlfriends,” he smiles. Aadhi says he is “still a bit anxious” to open his own book. “ I have to say, more than me, it was my friends who worked hard to get the book published,” he adds. Training to be a teacher, Aadhi is now working on his upcoming project a collection of essays.
Tale of huntings through years
Vinil Pau, 3l, started research for his first book, Adima Keralathinte Adrishya Chitram, as a continuation of PhD study on slavery in Kerala. He delved into history and found documents that spoke about practices that would stun many.
“We had slave markets here; slaves were sent to other countries as well,” he says. “There are proofs of Malayalis being sold to colonies under the British. Within Kerala, the humans who were considered or sold as slaves belonged to downtrodden castes, such as the Pulayas. For trades across the sea, people of various castes, including Nairs, were picked. However, the majority of those who were sold off belonged to Ezhava and Pulaya communities.”
Shortly after the first book, Vinil wrote three more – ‘Mrigaya, Keralathinte Nayattu Charitram’, ‘Dalit Charitradamsanam’, and ‘Manjadikkari’ – in 2022. The latest is Mrigaya. “While researching for the first book I found that, back in 1834, Britishers had hunted and killed more than 60 elephants within four hours during one hunting party. That piqued my curiosity and I delved deeply into our hunting history,” he says. Unlike other parts of India, most Kerala royal regimes didn’t partake in hunting as a sport, he says, but once Britishers came, these families facilitated hunting grounds for them. “In Kerala, no one has looked at environmental issues from a sociological point of view. That is what I attempted with Mrigaya,” he says.
Rekindling passion
Shanoj R Chandran, 40, started writing when he was young. He honed his skills by participating in school festivals and competitions. However, being “an actual writer” happened much later.
“During my pre-degree days, I sent one of my stories for a Vishu edition competition of a literary magazine. It selected three stories as winners – one was by me, one by writer S Hareesh and another by writer R Jishnu,” he recalls. After school and college, he stopped writing. “In 2005, one of my stories was published in ‘Samakalika Malayalam’. However, I didn’t approach writing seriously as I started working as a media professional,” says Shanoj.
When Covid struck in 2020, Shanoj decided to quit his job and concentrate on writing. “During the lockdown, I wrote a short story that had been playing in my mind for a long time,” he says. He named the short story ‘Meente Valel Poomala’. That lockdown reignition of his passion culminated in Shanoj’s first book, Kalodinja Punyalan, a short story collection. “Most of my stories are centred around universal feelings such as loneliness,” he says. “Though characters or most of the inspirations are from the lives of Kuttanad, I intend to make my stories understandable and relatable to all. The Kuttanadan lives have changed vastly after the 2018 deluge. It is a completely different world. We should look at people and their lives differently. They have changed.”
Dystopian diaries
There is something dark and visceral about Aleena’s writings. A recurring horror theme. Hidden in the gore, and the cruel world she paints, is something soft, though. Something like a smile that lights up one’s psyche. “I grew up reading and writing since my school days. For some reason, I like horror themes,” she says.
“We live in a cruel world. Especially as a Dalit woman, I experience and live in a world which is different to the hopeful one many inhabit. You know those dystopian books that talk about a dark future, our world is already like that.”
Aleena’s first book, Silk Route (published by Gooseberry Books), is a collection of 91 Malayalam poems. “I started taking writing seriously after college. During my university time, I loved being known as a writer. Makes one feel special, you know,” she quips.
“I never thought I would be a writer. But people started appreciating my poems. Many of my works started getting published in literary magazines. And, finally, they culminated as a book.” Violence, the supernatural, and politics are the main themes of her poems. Colour, gender and caste are omnipresent in all her works, including her short stories.
Aleena believes she has gained more “acceptance” in society with Silk Route. “There are different layers among writers. The readers are considered beneath the writers, who are also layered as per various measures. Since I published a book, people started listening to me more,” she says. Notably, Aleena wrote lyrics for the song ‘Thee aalum’ in the film Dhanya Catering Service.