Goan Writing in English
Goa,1556 (together with Broadway Book Centre, as co-publishers) released three books on Goan writing in English on January 30, 2010. A full-house crowd came to welcome the release of an anthology, a novel and a critical appraisal of recent Goan writing.
Panel Discussion, Saturday, January 30, 2010
Goan Writing in English:
How Vibrant and Relevant Is It Today?
Panelists: Norma Alvares, Maria Aurora Couto, Vidyadhar Gadgil, Margaret Mascarenhas, Damodar Mauzo
Moderator: Victor Rangel-Ribeiro
Some questions to think about:
How would you define a Goan writer?
- Someone born in Goa?
- A writer of Goan descent, born anywhere in the world?
- A writer of Goan descent, domiciled anywhere in the world?
- A writer of Goan descent, who writes about Goa?
- A writer of whatever ancestry, domiciled in Goa?
- A writer of Goan descent or domicile, who writes about Goa sympathetically?
- A writer of Goan descent, even if he denies or ignores his Goan roots?
About "The Sting of Peppercorns": Antonio Gomes’s novel deals with the ouster of the Portuguese from Goa in 1961 and the impact it had on one particular affluent and aristocratic Goan family. Although a new social structure emerged with liberation, yet old ideas of caste and social prejudice continued to shape and shatter lives, but one son managed to survive and tell the tale.
The author (Dr Antonio Gomes, right) signs copies for an anxious audience, at the end of the well-attended function, Clube Vasco da Gama, Panjim. Photo: FN
About Our Distinguished Panelists: Padma Shri awardee Norma Alvares brings to the panel her vast background as publisher, distributor, and co-founder of the influential Other India Press and Bookshop; Maria Aurora Couto, also a Padma Shri awardee and author of Goa: A Daughter’s Story, brings to the discussion her wide knowledge of literature in English as well her researches into our immediate past; Margaret Mascarenhas, author of Skin and more recently of The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos, and Damodar Mauzo, former Sahitya Akademi executive board member and author of the award-winning Karmelin, are distinguished novelists well qualified to defend the vibrancy and relevance of their art; long-time editor, reviewer and outspoken columnist Vidyadhar Gadgil can speak to the role of the press particularly as it relates to the nurturing of writers and literature. The day’s proceedings were in two parts: a session with panelists debating the issues will be followed by a second session where the moderator invited questions and comments from the audience. Moderator Victor Rangel-Ribeiro, is himself a novelist of note.
NOTE: All books are available via mail-order from goa1556@gmail.com and, in Goa, from Broadway Book Centre on 18th June Road in Panjim.
Next page: The Sting of Peppercorns