Anu Kumar

Anu Kumar lives in Mumbai, where she works for the Economic and Political Weekly. She has studied history and management and has been writing fiction for some time. Her first collection of short stories appeared in 2002 (In Search of a Raja and Other Stories). Her stories have appeared in the Little Magazine and she was one of the winners of the Commonwealth short story competition in 2004.

Bibliography



The Dollmaker's Island
Gyaana Books, India

Do the elusive dollmakers, on a strange island forever adrift, really exist? What makes the new government and countless others suspicious of them? Are they simply waiting to return and claim their home once again?

Ronen Ghito would give his left hand to find out. But he needs Leela?s help. And Leela is too preoccupied, sitting under the watchful eyes of a cagey government, waiting for her Shyam to turn up on this very mysterious isle that exists on no map. When Leela does decide to co-operate with the government, she does it through long missives and emails, now that her voice is mysteriously lost too, revealing in bits and pieces lost myths and disquieting tales about the dollmakers from the time of the Mughal emperors to the present.

Alice-like in its feel and treatment, The Dollmakers? Island is an interesting perspective on the socio-political scenario in India through the ages. The narrative flows across and over time and space, breaking all barriers. The book is tongue-in-cheek, persistent, and fun to read.

Interview with Anu Kumar at helter-skelter

Letters for Paul
Mapin Publications, Bangalore. Jan 2006

The violence that explodes in Aditi's life one sultry afternoon in a town where nothing ever happens, has unexpected and spiralling consequences. Letters for Paul is the story of Aditi's attempts to understand events in her life that seemingly have no answers. Her search for an answer to this is complicated with the other mysteries she is confronted with. Events that occurred long back in the past, others that have no answers and some that people refuse to answer. Aditi's efforts to understand her changing world, to make sense of the violence hidden in everyday monotony, leave Aditi sometimes convinced of her own powerlessness. She persists with her search, however, conjuring up her own events or writing letters that remain unanswered-all to establish her own presence. Matters end in disgrace but Aditi does find success...of a kind.

Sawnet Review by Swagata Deb

Short review in the Telegraph.

Children's Books



Atisa and the Seven Wonders
Puffin Books, Penguin India, 2008

A strange man crash-landing his even stranger flying machine into Atisa’s home opens a world full of wonders for the fourteen-year-old boy…Full of thrills, chills and spills, Atisa and the Seven Wonders weaves fact and fiction to take you on an action-packed, imaginative and informative exploration of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

The Mahatma and the Monkeys
Hatchette, India, 2009

This book, for today’s kids with an introduction by Anupam Kher, brings together the most interesting incidents that shaped Gandhiji’s life and his most important sayings. From his quest for truth, non-violence, equality and freedom, from the lessons he learned, and from his powerful words, you too can learn to be a little bit like Gandhiji. Through what he did and what he said Gandhiji inspired millions of Indians and made one of the mightiest empires in the world bow to his dream: freedom for India. That’s what made him an uncommon man and the greatest leader of the millennium. And that’s why, even decades after his death, his work and his words matter in today’s world. Mahatma Gandhi never said, “What can I do, I’m only one person.” Instead he said, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” And he did.

In the Country of Gold Digging Ants
Puffin Books, Penguin India, 2009

Astonishing stories about India written by explorers who came to the country as pilgrims, students, traders, voyagers and fortune-seekers from the 3rd century BC till the mid-twentieth century. These visitors left behind fascinating accounts of their perilous journeys in an unknown land; descriptions of what the people ate, wore and thought; who ruled them and how; the strange animals of this land, and many more startling facts which are often the only written historical records of those times. Filled with incredible stories and nuggets of information, In the Country of Gold-digging Ants brings alive the exciting adventures of eleven intrepid men and women, and may just make history your most favourite subject.

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South Asian Women authors
Sawnet Bookshelf
Sawnet