When I was asked to recommend five books for The Bangalore Review, I, of course, said yes. I can recommend five books at the drop of a hat, on any given day — I can recommend a set of five books every day. It was easy, I thought. Then it dawned on me — like everything else, sharing your preference too is a political act. So, I needed to pick up a theme, a focus.

First, though I read a lot of books originally published abroad (mostly fantasy fiction and graphic novels), I will have to recommend books published in India. If we don’t talk about our books, who will?

And since I run a small, independent publishing venture, I decided that instead of specific book titles, I should focus on five independent publishers, highlighting one of their best titles.

My first stumbling block was this very label — independent. Simply, an independent publisher is defined as one that operates on its own, rather than as part of any large corporation or conglomerate. But there is a difference in degree. Speaking Tiger is an independent publisher. So is Red River. But can we discuss them together? I think not. So, I decided that there are major independent publishers and there are minor independent publishers. (I am aware the nomenclature is not adequate).

My goal changed again. Now, I wanted to highlight the “smaller” independent publishers. So, entities, such as Speaking Tiger, Roli Books, Om Books, Seagull Books did not make it to my primary list.

Still, I had a long list of names to choose from and oh, what a joy it was revisiting their catalogues.

Then I heard about the closure of Westland Books, and I had to mention Funeral Nights published by Context. This is a modern epic and a rare publishing feat — imagine a mainstream press publishing a thousand-page long novel set in the Khasi hills by a writer from Shillong! I wanted everyone to get a copy before the book disappeared from the market.

I had just four slots and so many names.

Now that the piece is out, I feel accountable to mention the other independent publishers that I would happily recommend on any other day, on any other list.

Here goes, without any particular order:

1. Blaft Publications: Blaft’s electric list includes translations of Tamil Pulp fiction, Indian and Pakistani crime novels, experimental writing, pulp art, science fiction, speculative fiction, graphic novels, and so on. I would recommend Ghosts, Monsters and Demons of India, by J Furcifer Bhairav and Rakesh Khanna — an encyclopedia of evil entities and folkloric fiends from across the country, from Ladakh to Kerala, Lakshadweep to Nagaland, Naraka to Tuchenkwaka.

2. Panther's Paw Publications: Established by Yogesh Maitreya in Nagpur, Panther's Paw publishes Dalit writing with a cause. If nothing else, you should be invested in Panther's Paw just for Maitreya’s passion and grit, his die-hard attitude, and his dedication for his community. I would recommend Savitribai Phule and I by Sangeeta Mulay, a semi-historical fictional book aimed at young adults. Full disclosure: I designed the book.

3. Tara Books: Started in 1994 by Gita Wolf, Tara Books is such an oddity — it combines its love for indigenous art forms with socio-cultural issues with such abandon that each Tara Books title is a joy to behold — each title is special. I would recommend its latest release — A Stitch Out of Time by Anaïs Beaulieu. The book features images of French artist Anaïs Beaulieu’s embroidery on throwaway plastic bags, typically used for disposing waste. The book plays with two powerful themes: environmental degradation symbolised by the ubiquitous take-over of our surroundings by plastic and the slow time of creation, whether of a tree, or a piece of embroidery.

4. Leftword Books: The New Delhi-based publishing house seeks to reflect the views of the left in India and South Asia. It publishes critical and analytical works on a range of subjects, and pays special attention to works on Marxist theory. My recommendation is Halla Bol: The Death and Life of Safdar Hashmi by Sudhanva Deshpande.

5. Tulika Books: Apparently, there are two publishers with the same name. One, based in Chennai, publishes children’s books (we need a separate list for independent publishers of children’s books), and the other, based in Delhi, publishes scholarly and academic books in the arts, humanities and social sciences from a broadly left perspective. My recommendation is Sair-ul-Manazil by Sangin Beg, which, according to the Publishing Next Industry Awards, offers “a glimpse into the multicultural roots of the city that is Delhi.”

6. Bee Books: Based in Kolkata, Bee Books has released some fascinating titles in the last couple of years. My recommendation is The Anger of Saintly Men by Anubha Yadav. You may have already read it. It got some very good press last year.

7. Hawakal Publishers: I am so excited to follow the growth trajectory of this fascinating publishing venture, run by Kiriti Sengupta and Bitan Chakraborty. Started in Kolkata, it now operates from Delhi and publishes a range of titles in English and Bengali. You must check out its poetry catalogue, including the series, Yearbook of Indian Poetry in English. The second edition is on its way. I would recommend Kakka: A Dalit Novel by Vemula Yellaiah, translated from Telugu by K Purushotham and Gita Ramaswamy.

8. Dhauli Books: Established by Manu Dash and based in Bubaneshwar, Dhauli has a varied and eclectic list, including poetry, fiction, translations. But what I admire the most is its commitment to publishing plays, a genre most publishers wouldn’t touch. My recommendation is Cast Out and Other Stories by Sucharita Dutta-Asane. The book is special, and extraordinary.

9. Poetrywala: Run by Hemant and Smruti Divate, Poetrywala established today’s poetry publishing landscape from ground up, and we are grateful that it did. Without Poetrywala, there will be no Red River. In recent years, it has published a series of Selected/Collected Poems of major authors. Each title is worth your time and money. But I would recommend Collected Poems by Gieve Patel. Reading Gieve Patel is a rare joy.

10. Copper Coin: Established by Sarabjeet Garcha in 2013, Copper Coin is an independent, multilingual publishing company committed to celebrating the finest voices in Indian as well as world poetry, nonfiction, and fiction. It is very selective about what they publish, so that you don’t have to — you can trust that every Copper Coin book is worth a read. My recommendation is Pointillism by Sophia Naz.

11. Readomania: Established by Dipankar Mukherjee, Readomania has an exhaustive list of first-rate commercial fiction, and what I find the most inspiring is Mukherjee’s tireless efforts to push its authors to find as many readers as possible. My recommendation is Princesses, Monsters and Magical Creatures, a translation of Thakurmar Jhuli, a collection of Bengali folk tales by Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar.

12. Almost Island: My recommendation is Madagh, Rahul Soni’s translation of the Shrikant Verma classic, one of the finest poetry translations I have ever read.

13: Niyogi Books: There is so much to recommend here — from translations to original fiction to coffee table books, but let me just mention Elegy for the East: A Story of Blood and Broken Dreams by Dhrubajyoti Borah, the first part of a trilogy, written in Assamese by Borah himself, one of the finest novels ever written in Assamese.

14. RLFPA Edition: Established by Linda Ashok, RLFPA Edition has published some fine volumes of poetry. I would recommend Betelnut City by Shalim M Hussain.

15: Vitasta: Founded in 2004, Vitasta identifies pressing issues — human, social and national and understands their significance in the perspective of the overall well-being of mankind by giving voice to authors and supporting their passion and vision. I’d recommend Amit R Baishya’s translation of the landmark Assamese novel, Jangam.

There are more.

16. Yavanika Press

17. Fingerprint Publishing

18. Half Crow

19. Jaico Publishing House

20. Vishwakarma Publisher

Thank you for reading. Thank you, Maitreyee Bhattacharjee Chowdhury and Sucharita Dutta-Asane for asking me to do the list for The Bangalore Review.

https://bangalorereview.com/2022/04/tbr-recommends-april-2022/

UPDATE

22. Mapin Publishing: The Ahmedabad-based publisher is reputed for illustrated books on India’s art and culture. Its publishing programme covers a broad spectrum: fine art, architecture, archaeology, crafts, design, exhibition catalogues, museum collections, performing arts, photography and more. I would recommend an old collection of odd, fascinating sci-fi collection of short stories by my former teacher Aniket Jaaware — Neon Fish in Dark Water (2007).

23. Vadehra Art Gallery: Established in 1987, the Delhi-based gallery ventured into publishing in 1996, finding a crucial need for adequate documentation, critical writing, and quality reproduction of images in Indian art. Over the last two decades, the gallery has published several books and monographs in collaboration with major publishing houses like Penguin and Prestel, as well as hundreds of illustrated exhibition catalogues, in addition to contemporaneously producing literature on ongoing exhibitions and artist projects.

24: South Asia Press: Established by a group of senior publishing professionals who came together to craft a business that allowed them to create knowledge the ethical way in today’s fast-paced, competitive environment while aiming at quality-focused publishing. I would recommend Smouldering Horizons, the new English translation of Sharankumar Limbale’s landmark Marathi novel, Upalya, by Parnal Chirmuley, with a foreword by Anand Teltumbde.

25. Vishwakarma Publications: Based in Pune, in the last couple of years, Vishwakarma has published some interesting fiction and non-fiction titles. My recommendation is Bombay Hangovers by Rochelle Potkar

26. Barkweaver: Established by the author Easterine Kire and others, Barkweaver is a small publishing house being set up initially to publish the folktales of the Nagas in a series of volumes. It hopes to proceed from there to publishing and making Naga Literature available to a global audience.