It was an intellectual affair at the British Council of India(BCI) library where British authors Joanna Kavenna and Adam Foulds had an interactive session with the audience. The two authors who are recognized as the best British novelists under 40 by Granta magazine in UK are in the city for a series of talks, workshops and panel discussions as part of the initiative by Granta magazine and BCI.
The session saw the authors being quizzed on the Indian literary scenario, their thoughts on contemporary poets and their forthcoming works. A creative workshop by Joanna was held at the library for those in attendance while Adam interacted with students at Bhavans Vivekanada college and English and Foreign Language University earlier in the day.
Talking about what inspired her to become a writer, Joanna says, “After I finished my university, I decided to travel to the Scandinavian countries. I thought it will be a good idea to write about my experiences so I decided to write the book.” Joanna’s first book The Ice Museum captures the essence of the countries she travelled to in first person narrative wherein she investigates the travellers myths and yarns along the way focussing on the ancient Greek stories.
After the success of her first book, the 40-year old followed it up with novels Inglorious, The Birth of Love and Come to the Edge on contemporary themes like urban dislocation and dystopian future.
On whether she has read any Indian authors and her thoughts on their works, she feels, “The Indian authors are doing a very good job if the likes of Salman Rushdie are anything to go by.”
Joanna’s opinion on the Indian literary scenario is something advocated by Adam Foulds as well. “I have read a lot of Indian novels. Some of my favourite authors are Amitav Ghosh and Anita Desai. I find them very interesting.”
Author of novels like The Truth About These Strange Times, The Quickening Maze and the poem The Broken word, Adam Fould is one of those few writers who strays outside his comfort zone with the variety of themes he has written on. His most famous and lauded work The Quickening Maze follows the story of young British man in the second world war and vacillates between reality and fiction. The authors who are in the city for a week will continue their journey onwards to Chennai and Bangalore