HarperCollins India to publish Girish Karnad's memoir, This Life At Play, on 19th May 2021
- On the 83rd birth anniversary of one of modern India's greatest cultural figures, HarperCollins is proud to announce the publication of This Life at Play: Memoirs By Girish Karnad
- Releasing on 19th May 2021 from Fourth Estate, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
NEW DELHI, April 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- HarperCollins India is delighted to announce that it will soon be releasing the keenly anticipated memoirs of Girish Karnad, one of modern India's greatest cultural figures. Publishing under the prestigious Fourth Estate imprint and set for release on 19th May 2021, the 83rd birth anniversary of Girish Karnad, This Life at Play provides a glimpse into the life of an accomplished actor, a path-breaking director, an innovative administrator, a clear-headed and erudite thinker, a public intellectual with an unwavering moral compass, and above all, one of the most extraordinarily gifted playwright of his times.
This Life at Play, translated from the Kannada in part by Girish Karnad himself and in part by award-winning translator Srinath Perur, covers the first half of his remarkable life - from his childhood in Sirsi and his early engagement with local theatre, his education in Dharwad, Bombay and Oxford, to his career in publishing, his successes and travails in the film industry, and his personal and writerly life.
Moving and humorous, insightful and candid, these memoirs provide an unforgettable glimpse into the life-shaping experiences of a towering genius, and a unique window into the India in which he lived and worked.
The memoir has garnered glowing praise ahead of its publication, and here are some of the notable endorsements:
'A sparkling, unputdownable memoir by a towering literary and theatrical genius.' - Amitav Ghosh
'Not just the story of an exceptional writer but a manifesto for the roots of our contemporary culture.' - Arshia Sattar
'An autobiography as vividly theatrical as any of this titan's works.' - Baradwaj Rangan
'Karnad at his captivating best.' - Gopalkrishna Gandhi
'A mesmerizing and magical account.' - Maria Aurora Couto
'What an extraordinary man. What an extraordinary life.' - Nagesh Kukunoor
'Warm, witty, and deeply insightful.' - Ramachandra Guha
'Dense with people, places, events, enquiry, insight, observation and, above all, creative expression.' - Shanta Gokhale
'A candid and intimate account of a life rich in achievements and friendships.' - Shashi Deshpande
'By turns humorous and moving, and always insightful, This Life at Play reminds us of the life and times of one of our greatest national treasures.' - Shashi Tharoor
Pre-order This Life at Play here: https://amzn.to/3ap5bVo
About the author:
Girish Karnad (1938-2019) was a playwright, actor and director. His notable plays include, among others, Yayati, Tughlaq, Hayavadana, Naga-Mandala and The Dreams of Tipu Sultan. He worked in films and in TV across various languages - Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, English and Assamese - and in a number of capacities, including as actor, screenwriter and director. He served as director of the Film and Television Institute of India (1974-75), chairman of the Sangeet Natak Akademi (1988-93), and director of the Nehru Centre, London (2000-3). His work brought him numerous honours including multiple National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards, the Kalidas Samman, the Sangeet Natak Akademi Award, the Padma Shri, the Padma Bhushan and the Jnanpith Award.
About the translator:
Srinath Perur is the author of If It's Monday, It Must Be Madurai (2013) and the translator of Vivek Shanbhag's Ghachar Ghochar (2015).
About HarperCollins Publishers India:
HarperCollins Publishers India is a subsidiary of HarperCollins Publishers. HarperCollins India publishes some of the finest writers from the Indian Subcontinent and around the world, publishing approximately 200 new books every year, with a print and digital catalogue of more than 2,000 titles across 10 imprints. Its authors have won almost every major literary award including the Man Booker Prize, JCB Prize, DSC Prize, New India Foundation Award, Atta Galatta Prize, Shakti Bhatt Prize, Gourmand Cookbook Award, Publishing Next Award, Tata Literature Live Award, Gaja Capital Business Book Prize, BICW Award, Sushila Devi Award, Prabha Khaitan Woman's Voice Award, Sahitya Akademi Award and the Crossword Book Award. HarperCollins India has been awarded the Publisher of the Year Award three times: at Publishing Next in 2015, and at Tata Literature Live! in 2016 and 2018. HarperCollins India also represents some of the finest publishers in the world including Egmont, Oneworld, Harvard University Press, Bonnier Zaffre, Usborne, Dover and Lonely Planet.
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