In Search of Kudos

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For a copy of "The Remix of Orchid" order-mail to nanda_lit@hotmail.com (nanda underscore lit at hotmail dot com)
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Even before “The Remix of Orchid” is formally launched, I’ve to think about its review. Or that’s what everybody says. But if I’m to recall what all happened to my earlier book “In Harness”, I don’t think I’m experienced enough. “In Harness” was my book of poetry, published in 2004 by a reputed publisher, the Writers Workshop, Kolkata. Even that publishing house could not do anything material to secure a review for the book. When I asked its proprietor Mr P. Lal about this a few months after its publication, he had practically nothing encouraging to share. On the other hand, he gave me to understand that the editors of newspapers of repute do not usually like to be contacted for review. So I kept quiet.

But that was a book of poems, my first attempt at creativity. Now I should act like an experienced fellow, more so when I’ve decided to self-publish my book. So the first thing I’ve to do now is to forget what I was told about the review business: editors do not like to be influenced. It’s a different matter that I’ve no reach for the cherished world of review. In fact nothing workable has come my way so far in this respect excepting the offer from a website to carry a review.

Everything about this will look up if I decide to help myself, and I’ve already decided to do that precisely. For the present I should concentrate on who should review my book rather than where it should get published. That’s where I have something to share today.

Yes, I’m talking about Professor Jatindra Kumar Nayak. He teaches English at Utkal University, Bhubaneswar. He won the Katha Translation Award, 1971 and Hutch Crossword Indian Fiction Translation Award, 2004. He is associated with an organization named RUPANTAR that publishes quality books of translation from Oriya to English. The institution has a website too, with a link http://www.rupantar.net/ where we can find the books published by it. A few books edited by Professor Nayak are: “From Bondage to Freedom”, ISBN 81-901759-4-7; “Meeting the Mahatma”, ISBN 81-901759-7-1.

And Professor Nayak has agreed to review my book “The Remix of Orchid”. What a nice thing to share in this blog!

With his review in my hand, I should be able to convince a newspaper fellow to publish it. So, can kudos for the book be far behind?

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By
A. N. Nanda
Bhubaneswar
26/04/2007
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