Tapaalu Mani

Author: T P Ashoka

Vaidehi Kathana is the first full-length literary critical study of the fictional, non fictional and poetic narratives of Vaidehi, who is considered to be one of the most celebrated contemporary Indian writers in Kannada. This work reviews, introduces, discusses and interprets all the writings of Vaidehi, which include short stories, poems, essays and a novel. The book examines how this great Indian writer has been reacting and responding to her time and space for the last four decades. The book shows how Vaidehi’s poetics has so subtly blended with her politics thereby creating some of the outstanding masterpieces in poetry and fiction of our times. The book discusses the special features of Vaidehi’s feminist perspectives as well as the uniqueness of her narrative skills. Arguing that Vaidehi’s spiritual triumph is demonstrated in her technical triumph, the book draws the attention of the non-Kannada readers to the entire body of Vaidehi’s writings. Lucidly translated into English by the noted translator O L Nagabhushana Swamy, T P Ashoka’s Vaidehi Kathana provides a meaningful opportunity for the non-Kannada readers to familiarize themselves with one of the greatest contemporary writers of India. T P Ashoka’s Vaidehi Kathana is a significant contribution to modern Indian literary criticism. The book provides an interesting reading not only to the students of literature, researchers and teachers but also appeals to the general readers.

Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.

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Author: Prabhaker Acharya

Dhvani and Epiphany examines the work of major Indian poets like Nissim Ezekiel and Arun Kolatkar; the struggle of young poets to find an audience; and the art of fiction. But its main focus is on the nature of creativity. How does an artist communicate his meaning? What makes a work genuinely creative? Through a sensitive exploration of poetry- ranging from the simple poems of a child, Poorna Prajna, to the complex “Byzantium Poems” of Yeats- the first seven essays try to show how a poem comes to life when it speaks to us and we listen to its dhvani and respond.

Even in fiction, it is not all realism. There is irony in exploring the paradoxical nature of reality; events taking on symbolic overtones; and epiphany, moments of illumination and insights – when surprising correspondences are seen. Writers cannot surprise and delight their audience if they themselves are not surprised and delighted by such insights.

Interested readers may write to us at mup@manipal.edu about purchasing the book.

Also available on