| Gandhi |
Posted
on 04-Nov-01 09:48 PM
We discussed in lengh about Samrat's book in the past in more than one thread. Here comes good news about this guy and another Nepali fello:
Samrat wins literary award for ‘Arresting God in Kathmandu’
By Akhilesh Upadhyay
NEW YORK, Nov 3 – Samrat Upadhyay has been named among the best emerging writers for the year by the Whiting Foundation, which annually selects 10 young writers of exceptional talent. The award follows favorable reviews Upadhyay’s first story collection, "Arresting God in Kathmandu," received in the United States.
The Whiting Writers’ Awards, which carries an individual purse of $35,000, have been given to aspiring writers since 1985.
The 2001 Whiting recipients draw on disparate worlds: from Kathmandu, to a remote Montana cattle ranch, an Austrian village between two World Wars, to Delhi. "These writers are remarkably distinctive in sensibility and subject matter," said Barbara Bristol, Director of Writers’ Program. "Most of them have recently published a first book, or soon will, and we hope his award will help to bring them the recognition they deserve."
On October 25, the recipients were announced at a ceremony at the Pierpont Morgan Library in New York City where the distinguished poet, Stanley Kunitz was the keynote speaker. Kunitz was America’s Poet Laureate in 2000.
Akhil Shrama is another 2001 Whiting recepient whose story is set in South Asia. An Obedient Father tells a story of a corrupt official in the Delhi school system. Sharma’s book was also named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
What follows is Samrat Upadhyay’s interview where he talks about the readers’ feedback, intimate treatment of sex in his stories, and his upcoming novel.
Q - How do you feel about getting the Whiting Award? How do you compare it with your inclusion among the best American short stories writing in 1999?
Samrat - I feel surprised and happy about the award. To learn that a select group of writers, editors and scholars think that my work is worthy of attention is uplifting. When I compare this award to the inclusion of my story in Best American Short Stories (BASS) 1999, I find that the BASS inclusion was much more of a landmark for me, because
that caught the attention of the American public in a way that publishing in literary journals here and there never could. It was even more surprising at that time because the story, "The Good Shopkeeper," was set entirely in Kathmandu, with no American elements.
Q - What are your strengths as a writer? How do you feel about your background, and that you write with a different sensibility and that your readers are largely Americans?
Sarmat - I will let my readers decide what my literary strengths are. As far as I know, I enjoy writing stories, creating fictitious characters, who, after a few paragraphs, start taking on lives of their own.
I am perfectly comfortable in my role as a Nepali writing in English—for an audience that is more international than Nepali. This is not without precedent, as we have seen with writers from India. English has become a global language, albeit with a postcolonial flavor, and I think there’s a new generation of writers emerging from Nepal who reflect this duality in
their identities—this battle between their Nepali sensibilities and their Western influences or academic interests.
Q. How have Nepalis reacted to your stories? One area that has sparked a lot of interest among the readers is intimate treatment of sex in your stories?
Samrat – Most of the reactions in the US and in Nepal have been positive. A Nepali in the US wrote to me to say that it was one of the best books he’d ever read. I was also heartened to read Narayan Wagle’s review of the book in Kantipur, the first Nepali review of my work. On my book tours here, many Nepalis have come up to me and said that they thoroughly enjoyed the book. In Minneapolis especially I was received very warmly—momo dinner at the Nepali restaurant Everest On Grand, then an evening out with a bunch of fun, young Nepali professionals. A US-based friend recently informed me that at a local Dashain party even those who hadn’t read my book seemed to have opinions on it!
As for the sexual scenes, none of the Nepalis I met on my tour directly commented on them. But I can tell you that I feel extremely comfortable
writing them. In fact, I enjoy writing about sex. There’s a harsh realism in delving into the nitty-gritty of what people, in a conservative society
like ours, do in their bedrooms that makes them wonderfully human. It might shock some readers, but sexual depiction in Nepali literature is nothing
new.
Q. Are you overwhelmed by the response – and now this award?
Samrat - No, I don’t feel overwhelmed by it. It’s been a very exciting period in my
life, and, if you’ve seen me read my work, you know that I
thoroughly enjoy interacting with the audience. It’s all a big
conversation, and the discussions are spontaneous and fun for me. I even enjoy when people say odd things. One Indian reader in New York objected to my using the word "God" in the title, whereas, according to her, the title came from only one deity, Indra, from one of the stories in the book. My attempt to reason with her failed utterly, and in the end I just smiled at
her and said, "I chose the title because I liked how it sounded."
Q - What are your plans now? You are working on a novel?
Samrat - Today I finished the first draft of my novel. It’ll probably go through a couple more revisions before I try to send it to the market. Since the book might take a different route in the months to come, it’s not helpful to talk of its contents. But it’s a novel about a small family in Kathmandu struggling with itself and against the society to find its place. A school teacher falls in love with one of his students.
Copy: The Kathmandu Post, November 4, 2001.
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