This anthology presents perceptive articles on the major Indian English writers including novelists, dramatists and poets who have enriched the realm of letters. The thematic concerns of these writers range from the mythical to the mundane; the colonial to the post-colonial; the social to the individual and the psychological to the satirical. The anthology is, therefore, polyphonic in nature.
The writers studied in the fourth Volume of this anthology represent all the three generations: A.K. Ramanujan, Jayanta Mahapatra, Nissim Ezekiel, Kamala Das, Rabindranath Tagore, Manjula Padmanabhan, R.K. Narayan, Bhabani Bhattacharya, Arun Joshi, Vikram Seth, Boman Desai, R.P. Jhabvala, Kamala Markandaya, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Rama Mehta, Shobha De, Arundhati Roy and Jhumpa Lahiri.
The contributors to this Volume include Bhagabat Nayak, Niranjan Mohanty, Bijay Kumar Das, Mithilesh Pandey, Amar Nath Prasad, Anita Singh, Vinita Jha, Gur Pyari Jandial, Basavaraj Naikar, G.A. Ghanshyam, Vasumati Nadig, N. Sharada Iyer, T.M.J. Indramohan, Jean D’Souza, Kh. Kunjo Singh, Asha Susan Jacob, Asha Choubey, Chandrashekhar Kulkarni, N.K. Neb, Sanjay Kumar, Chhote Lal Khatri and Shubha Tiwari.
Basavaraj Naikar (b. 1949), M.A., Ph.D., D.Litt. (California), Professor and Chairman, Department of English, Karnatak University, Dharwad is a bilingual critic and creative writer. He has published several reviews and research articles both in Kannada and in English in national and international journals. He reviews the Indian literary works regularly for World Literature Today (Oklahoma, USA). He has translated many works from Kannada into English and vice versa. His specialisations in teaching and research include Indian English Literature, Indian Literature in English Translation, American Literature, Commonwealth Literature, Anglo-Indian Literature, Religious Literature, Translation Theory and Practice and Creative Writing. He has a passion for music and philosophy in general. His The Thief of Nagarahalli and Other Stories was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Fiction Prize for the Best First book from Eurasia in 2000. His second collection of stories, The Rebellious Rani of Belavadi and Other Stories and first historical-political novel, The Sun behind the Cloud dealing with the colonial encounter between Bhaskararao Bhave of Peshwa dynasty and the East India Company’s authorities around 1857 have captured the attention of readers and critics.
His Kannada publications include Paduvana Nadina Premavira, Kollada Neralu, Huchchuhole, Jogibhavi (staged, broadcast, telecast and prescribed as textbook for B.A. degree), Nigudha Saudha, Govardhanaram, Asangata, Kannada Asangata Natakagalu, Samrachanavada, Beowulf, Gilgamesh Mahakavya, Vatsalya and Bharatiya English Sahitya Charitre. His English publications include Sarvajna: The Omniscient Poet of Karnataka, Critical Articles on Nirad C. Chaudhuri, Musings of Sarvajna, Shakespeare’s Last Plays: A Study in Epic Affirmation, The Folk-Theatre of North Karnataka, Sparrows, Sandalwood, SangyaBalya, Fall of Kalyana, Kanakadasa: The Golden Servant of Lord Hari, Indian Response to Shakespeare and Indian English Literature, Vols: 1-4.
