Muse India has announced its shortlist for the Young Writers Award 2011 and we are delighted that of the 7 books shortlisted, 5 are Writers Workshop, India, publications. The following Writers Workshop books have been shortlisted:

Semeen Ali, Roses and Ashes (published in 2009)
Amrita V. Nair, Yours Affectionately (published in 2009)
Nileen Putatunda, Annya (published in 2009)
Vivek Sharma, Saga of a Crumpled Piece of Paper (published in 2009)
Shilpa Vinay Viswanath, Alias Da-ugh-ter (published in 2010)

Another shortlisted writer, Navkirat Sodhi's first book of poems, Un, was published by Writers Workshop in 2007.

Muse India's award this year focuses on poetry and the encouragement and support they are giving poets through this initiative is laudable since poetry remains a neglected genre of Indian writing in English.

We congratulate all the writers who have been shortlisted for this award and wish them the very best in their future endeavours.

Writers Workshop, India would like to support one exceptionally talented poet this year, who may not be in a position to make an advance payment of 100 copies of his or her book. We are therefore looking for donations towards this endeavour. Any contribution will be appreciated and will be acknowledged in the published book. Poets find it much harder than writers of fiction to publish their collections because of lack of financial support and a scarcity of publishing houses that publish poetry. Please email us if you would like to make a donation.

We are very happy to announce that Dr. Pradip Bhattacharya has agreed to transcreate the 1.5 volumes of the Mahabharata that Professor P. Lal was unable to complete before he passed away. Professor Lal's last completed volume of the Mahabharata was Part 1 of The Santi Parva. Dr. Bhattacharya will therefore complete Part 2 of The Santi Parva as well as the whole of The Anushasana Parva.

Dr. Bhattacharya's agreeing to complete what Professor P. Lal started holds a deeply personal significance for all of us at Writers Workshop as well, which is not entirely possible to convey in words. Apart from being a student of Professor Lal, he was more closely connected and familiar with Professor Lal's transcreations than anyone else we know. Therefore we are very grateful to him for having taken on this endeavour.

Dr. Bhattacharya was an officer with the Indian Administrative Service. He has a PhD in Comparative Literature for his research on the Mahabharata and has published books on the same, including Pancha-Kanya The Five Virgins of Indian Epics: A Quest in Search of Meaning with Writers Workshop, India. Additionally, he is a member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta) and is on the editorial board of its Journal of Human Values. He is India’s only International HRD Fellow (awarded by Manchester University and the Institute of Training and Development, UK) and has an MD in Homeopathy.

Writers Workshop, India, is pleased to announce the publication of the Jaiminya Ashvamedha Parva. Translated shloka by shloka by Shekhar Kumar Sen, this is Jaimini's version of The Asvamedhika Parva, in The Mahabharata. The book is nearly 500 pages long and has 5 colour miniatures from Emperor Akbar's commissioned translation of The Ashvamedha, a long detailed scholarly introduction and very useful glossaries of war weapons, trees and plants and other material in Jaimini's work. The price of the book is Rs 800 (excluding registered postage charges within India, if applicable). For customers living outside of India, the price is $50 (USD), which includes registered postage charges.

A review of the book can be read here.

In February 2009 Writers Workshop, India, received an email from Kulpreet Yadav -- a senior officer with the Armed Forces, based in Ghaziabad. He wished to be involved with Writers Workshop. On learning more about the work we do, he expressed his desire to give Writers Workshop an annual donation. We are deeply touched by his generosity and kindness. This post is a small token of appreciation for his warm gesture.

Mr. Yadav has named his donation Spirit of Kosli. It is his belief that this will serve to motivate youngsters from villages to be a part of the literary world. Mr. Yadav hails from Kosli -- a village in Haryana.



The picture shows Mr. Yadav with his daughter at Kosli.