As we get ready to mark International Women’s Day, let’s take time off to explore the world of women’s words. Our theme for the issue is ‘Women and Writing’, which we have explored through fiction, non-fiction and poetry, as well as an interview and a public poll.
In an interview with Spark, literary agent-author Kanishka Gupta discusses the status of women’s writing in India, the new boundaries women writers are setting and the cliches that remain in the publishing space, and what he hopes for the future.
We asked people to name their favourite female character in any book they’ve read, and why. Here’s what we got!
Women have been bleeding their hearts out on paper for long, but our narrative, as women, has recently evolved as our voices have become our own. Mara Ziyad explores her thoughts around what writing means to women and men, and of women as readers and women as writers.
A tormented writer, who pens stories to keep herself together, receives a series of messages that send her over the edge. Is this a well-wisher or a stalker? Megha narrates a story of two precarious people who almost connect, but not quite.
A woman writing is a way of occupying and creating history, says Vani Viswanathan.
A river of words, words of women from the world over. Tarangini represents the writing voice of women. A poem by Anupama Krishnakumar.
Extracts from a diary maintained almost a hundred years ago by Savitri Amma, a young woman belonging to an orthodox Tamil-Brahmin family, throw light on her skilful wielding of the English language and her passionate love for writing and literature. Sudha Ratnam shares her findings from her grandaunt’s diary.