EXCLUSIVE RELEASE: The Goa Arts + Literary Festival team is delighted to host the India launch of 'The Gypsy Goddess', the debut novel by acclaimed poet/writer/activist Meena Kandasamy, at International Centre Goa (www.internationalcentregoa.com/) at 6pm on June 15. All are warmly invited.
'The Gypsy Goddess' will be released by Norma Alvares of Goa Foundation (goafoundation.org), along with her husband and co-campaigner Claude Alvares. Meena Kandasamy will read from the book, followed by a brief conversation, questions from the audience, and book signing. 'The Gypsy Goddess' will be on sale at the venue. THE GYPSY GODDESS A MIGHTY THUNDERCLAP of a novel BY MEENA KANDASAMY Tamil Nadu, 1968 Village landlords rule over a feudal system that forces peasants to break their backs in the fields or suffer beatings as punishment. In the misery of their daily lives it is little wonder that the Communist Party begins to gain traction, a small spark of defiance spreading from villager to villager. As communities across the region begin to take a stand against the landlords, the landlords vow to break them; party organizers suffer grisly deaths and the flow of food into the marketplaces dries up. But it only serves to make the villagers’ resistance burn more fiercely. Finally, the landlords descend on one village to set an example to the others… Brilliantly original, ferociously angry and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny, The Gypsy Goddess is both a novel about a true-life massacre and a novel about the impossibility of writing a novel about a true-life massacre. Treading the line between powerful fiction and fearsome critique, Meena Kandasamy leads us through a rapidly modernizing India and, along the way, points out injustices of privilege, hypocrisies of authority and the unforgiveable politics of turning a blind eye. Fiction/ Hardback/ 300pp/ 499/- Meena Kandasamy (born 1984) is a poet, fiction writer, translator and activist based in Chennai. She has published two collections of poetry, Touch (2006) and Ms. Militancy (2010). She holds a PhD in socio-linguistics from Anna University, Chennai, has represented India at the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program and was made the Charles Wallace India Trust Fellow at the University of Kent, Canterbury. The Gypsy Goddess is her first novel. See 'The Gypsy Goddess' reviews: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/may/31/gypsy-goddess-meena-kandasamy-review http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-gypsy-goddess-by-meena-kandasamy-book-review-class-war-exposes-indias-dark-heart-9252244.html -- #2, Second Floor, Navelkar Trade Centre, Panjim, Goa Cellphone 9326140754 Office (0832) 242 0785