Out of Print Editors: Vandana Devi

We welcome Vandana Devi as an editor at Out of Print. She has interned with us for a couple of years, lending her clear instinct as a reader to our selection process. She is able to evaluate the value and strength of a short story, seeing through to the core of the narrative thread. Many times when I have wavered about a piece, her response has been the deciding factor.

A Master’s degree student in English Studies at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Madras she has a broad perspective and an approach to literature that is informed by her exposure to multiple disciplines. 

A short biographical note about Vandana appears on the Out of Print site.

We are really pleased that she will continue to work with us on the editorial team.

Covers of the Out of Print editions that Vandana has worked on

 

 

Premise: 'The Itinerary of Grief' by Chika Unigwe reviewed by Vandana Devi

The Itinerary of Grief by Chika Unigwe

Reviewed by Vandana Devi

Chika Unigwe from Enugu, Nigeria currently stays in Atlanta, USA. She obtained an MA in English from the Catholic University of Leuven and then her PhD from the University of Leiden. 

In The Itinerary of Grief, Chika’s narrator takes a trip to India after the death of her husband. The story follows the narrator as she tries to escape the house she lived in with her husband, to another country altogether so as to not have to talk about her husband in past tense, and in the hushed manner their friends and family now speak about him in.

The story features a couple who seem out of the ordinary - they’re quite happy about the fact that it’s just the two of them, though everyone around them seems to think differently. The idea that no matter what, there is always a puzzle to solve on the front porch that will bring them both together is also quite romantic. This leaves us feeling all the more emotional when we think of the puzzle left on the porch that isn’t put together.

Like the 19th century novels where landscapes are important characters, Chika too writes a story where the landscape of Delhi plays a central character with her places and people. Delhi becomes the place where the narrator is able to remove herself from loneliness by engaging with the people as well as the places, and finally come to terms with her loss.

Reviewer Vandana Devi is an intern at Out of Print.

#Premise

Premise: 'Supplication' and 'Dual Awakenings' by Neera Kashyap reviewed by Vandana Devi

Dual Awakenings and Supplication by Neera Kashyap

Reviewed by Vandana Devi

Neera Kashyap tugs at our heartstrings when she encompasses her whole stories with the theme of faith. Her belief in a higher power and her appeals to female goddesses and female saints are quite melancholic in nature. So are her stories ‘Dual Awakenings’ and ‘Supplication’.

Both her stories contain historical sites and myths that makes it seem like there is a story within a story. When her characters search for these goddesses and saints, she leaves a trail of description of these religious sites that are quite extensive, leaving us with the feeling that we too have taken a trip alongside these characters to these beautiful places of worship.

In ‘Supplication’, the narrator goes in search of the dargah of a woman saint. She takes the readers along, as she smells the fragrance, feels the silence and sees the dimly lit place. In the prayer room of Mai Sahiba, the reason for her exhaustion is finally revealed and the desperation can be understood deeply when she says ‘I don’t want the courage to cope’. The story is not just about acceptance of fate. It is also about the realisation that faith can give us the strength to accept our fate.

In ‘Dual Awakenings’, the narrator goes on a similar trip to find the idol of a goddess of fertility. Neera Kashyap too evolves as a writer and her prose seems similar, but better. This slightly longer story has beautiful descriptions of caves and seas. The goddess Hariti’s power seems to pour through the writing into the reader as well. She spells out the pain of motherhood and loss with hauntingly beautiful prose.

Neera Kashyap writes strong female characters who are independent in their search for meaning. They have support mechanisms as friends and partners, but they also have a sense of inherent loneliness in them which makes the contexts of the stories more believable.

As a reader, I enjoyed both of Neera Kashyap’s stories because in this day and age, most people especially in urban settings, tend to forget the comfort of faith and this is what these stories remind us.


Reviewer Vandana Devi is an intern at Out of Print.

#Premise