THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: On the concluding day of Hay Festival, the literary enthusiasts of the city were gifted with a poetic tribute on God’s Own Country by British poet Simon Armitage who was evidently moved by the rain-drenched nature that greeted him on arrival. The poet read works selected from his collections. The best editors are those who work from the point of view of their writers and a debut writer would feel very secure working with such editors, said publisher, writer, and editor David Davidar, the man who single handedly changed the publishing scene in India. As the head of Penguin Books he also exhorted the young to do whatever they felt strongly about without fearing the reaction of the society. Davidar was in conversation with Indian writer Namita Gokhale on his books and thoughts on the concluding day of the Hay Festival at Kanakakunnu Palace. He talked about his latest work of fiction ‘Ithaca’, which is an account of international publishing based on Davidar’s own experiences. The author also digressed to his childhood in Kerala and Tamil Nadu when he was introduced to the world of books by his grandfather. He said that the publishing scene has changed tremendously in many ways in which one could publish. The discussion on Women’s fiction in Malayalam raised several points of contest with author K R Meera calling for a gender-based tag for fiction written by men. “Why is it that the works of M T Vasudevan Nair or M Mukundan or other male writers are seen as the canonical literature while women’s writing is bracketed within tags? If there is ‘pennezhuthu’, its counterpart should be tagged and scrutinised under the tag of ‘aanezhuthu’,” she said. Author Chandramathi, on the other hand, stated that she was a feminist though not a radical one. “I have always maintained that I am moderate feminist.” I am writer and a woman, but I don’t like a combination of both as a tag for my writing, she said. Academician G S Jayasree put the discussion in its theoretical perspective by referencing to early feminist writers such as Lalithambika Antharjanam and K Saraswathy Amma. As an interesting corollary, academician and writer J Devika called out to representatives of DC Books among the crowd. Finding none, she made the open statement that if the publishing giant which held the translating rights of Sarawathi Amma’s stories did not come out with a collection in English in another five years, she would take the task upon herself. African story teller Jan Blake’s voice reverberated through the sunny afternoon as it changed into moods of joy, awe and agony in quick succession. Chinese author Jung Chang, known for her biography of Mao and memoir Wild Swans, talked about her milieu. The Festival concluded with the screening of a documentary by New-York and London-based director Liz Mermin, ‘Shot in Mumbai’.
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