CHENNAI: Penguin US Black Classics, Penguin UK Black Classics, Penguin Modern Classics, Penguin Indian Classics, Vintage Classics and a selection of Premium Classics — it’s that time of the year when book lovers and enthusiasts, old and young, eagerly look forward to the Classics Festival hosted by Penguin Random House India. The second edition of the month-long festival, titled The Penguin Classics Festival: There Is One For Everyone, kickstarted on November 1.
It’s spread across eight cities — New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, Kolkata, Chandigarh, Hyderabad and Thiruvananthapuram. In a tete-a-tete with CE, Elda Rotor, vice president and publisher of Penguin Classics talks about what’s new this year, reading habits of youngsters, and the future of classics.
Excerpts follow...
What does it take to run and sustain a publishing house in the digital era?
For Penguin Classics, we have always had the competition of free eBooks, so our focus is to provide the best quality editions of classic literature in any format, including print and eBook.
We hope the reputation of the series and our commitment to high standards in editorial, production and design provides readers with a reading experience they deserve. There is room out there in the world for both large publishing houses and self-publishers, sometimes they collaborate on editions together. We are in the same business of nurturing and supporting readers and writers.
What’s new in this edition?
The festival will feature some of the latest US-originated publications that reflect the variety of areas of our classic publishing and our global reach. Some of the highlights from this year include Cane by Jean Toomer, The Women’s Suffrage Movement, The Stonewall Reader, East Goes West by Younghill Kang, Return of the Spirit by Tawfiq al-Hakim, The Power of Nonviolent Resistance by MK Gandhi, The Penguin Book of Migration Literature and The Penguin Book of Mermaids.
Can you tell us about the curation process that goes behind these classic festivals?
We choose the cities based on the retailers’ interests and the region’s appetite for books or classics. We have the Penguin Classics range available for sale at the festival.
What kinds of classics are you currently working on ?
We are interested in continuing to building more titles in sci-fi, fantasy and horror. I love working on editions to serve these reading communities who are so committed and passionate about the authors and their works. Also, these works are endlessly inspiring for adaptations, which draw even more new readers back to the classics.
Are Netflix and other OTT platforms stealing the habit of reading among millennials?
I can’t speak for India but I think with such high-quality television programming, there are more opportunities to have conversations about how they relate or speak to classics. I am obsessed with the TV series Succession and appreciate it even more for the relevant plots and characterisation that remind me of Shakespeare’s plays. It makes for a deeper experience if you understand the context of some modern storytelling with the great TV programming out there.
Do you think contemporary works of literature have the potential to become a classic?
Every generation has the potential of producing classic work. It might not be the most popular works of literature of their time. It is interesting to see what has staying power, or more so, what becomes quite influential in the classroom years later. I would say that librarians and teachers are quite powerful in their choices to influence what younger generations of readers will be reading and studying. I think what we will see is a much more diverse canon of classics, representing a variety of different voices and perspectives, to reflect our readers.
The month-long festival featuring Penguin Classic Books will be held at Odyssey stores in Chennai.