Collected in this anthology are 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 postcolonial; the social to the individual and the psychological to the satirical. The anthology is, therefore, polyphonic in nature.
The writers studied in this anthology represent all the three generations : G.V. Desani, Mulk Raj Anand, Raja Rao, Chaman Nahal, Arun Joshi, Basavaraj Naikar, Amitav Ghosh, Nayantara Sahgal, Anita Desai, Shashi Deshpande, Namita Gokhale, Arundhati Roy, Girish Karnad, Jayanta Mahapatra and T.R. Rajasekharaiah.
The contributors to this volume include Basavaraj Naikar, S.N. Vikram Raj Urs, Shankar Prasad Singha, Aroonima Sinha, P.D. Dubbe, M.R. Verma, Asha Choubey, N.B. Masal, Kuldeep Kumar, Gajendra Kumar, G.A. Ghanshyam, M.A. Nare, R.K. Gupta and Binod Mishra.
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 are forthcoming.
His Kannada publications include Paduvana Nadina Premavira, Kollada Neralu, Huchchuhole, Jogibhavi (staged, broadcast and telecast), 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, Sangya-Balya, The Fall of Kalyana, Kanakadasa and Indian Response to Shakespeare.
