ARCHIVED MEDIA RELEASE
PA/05/07 9 February 2007
AUSTRALIA AS FOCUS COUNTRY
2007 Kolkata Book Fair
Australia is Focus Country at the rescheduled 2007 Kolkata Book Fair.
Leading Australian author, Booker Prize-winner Tom Keneally, best known for his novel Schindler’s Ark (the basis for the film Schindler’s List), and who has been in Kolkata for the past over a week as part of the Australian Books and Writers Program, will be a star attraction at the Book Fair. Mr Keneally will inaugurate the 2007 Kolkata Book Fair and deliver the Ashok Sarkar Memorial lecture.
Mr Keneally also visited Delhi to participate at a conference on “Cultural Diversity, Governance and Policy: India-Australia”, organised by the Australia-India Council and the Indira Gandhi National Open University. In Delhi, he also spoke at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, which teaches Australian literature at post-graduate and research levels, including a book by Keneally called The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith.
Other Australian writers who will be in Kolkata during the book fair include Graham Reilly and Kirsty Murray. The Australian authors will participate in a number of engagements, including in dialogue sessions with their Indian counterparts on their writings and literature.
“We are glad that the Kolkata Book Fair is taking place as it is one of the most awaited events for the people of Kolkata. Our participation at the Kolkata Book Fair as focus country is indicative of the increasing cultural linkages between Australia and India. The visit of eminent Australian authors will strengthen the literary connections between the two countries,” said Mr David Holly, Australia’s Deputy High Commissioner to India.
“Australia has also hosted an “Australian Books and Writers” program in Kolkata ahead of the Book Fair. The 10-day display of books and presentations by authors at the National Library gave the people of Kolkata an opportunity to get a flavour of Australian writing as well as to interact with Australian authors. The rescheduled Book Fair gives the opportunity for us to showcase our literature to an even wider audience,” added Mr Holly.
The literature program in Kolkata is being brought under the auspices of AusArts India: film, arts, literature, a two- year cultural promotion program presented by the Australian government in India. This program has featured major presentations of Australian film, literature and performing arts at key Indian festivals over the past year.
Australia’s Kolkata Book Fair program will include author and publisher presentations, readings and workshops and the pavilion will feature a diverse range of Australian books and resources including some for sale at local prices.
The authors represented in Kolkata include:
Tom Keneally is perhaps best known for his Booker prize-winning novel, Schindler’s Ark, the basis for the film Schindler’s List. A two time winner of Australia’s prestigious Miles Franklin Award, and thrice shortlisted for the Man Booker, Keneally has also written screenplays, memoirs and non-fiction. In 1983 he received an Order of Australia for his services to literature. While many of his recent books deal with Australian history and society, Keneally has also tackled topics such as the American Civil War and famine in Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Graham Reilly emigrated from Glasgow to Melbourne with his family when he was 13. He has worked as a cook, carpet shampooer and meatworker, but for the last 20 years has been a journalist mostly for The Age. His first novel, Saigon Tea, is based in Vietnam where he lived for several years. His other books are Sweet Time, an affectionate look at Melbourne’s western suburbs and A return to Saigon with Five Oranges.
Kirsty Murray writes for young people with an emphasis on historical fiction. Whether the book is a contemporary novel, time travel, or historical fiction, each one of her stories is set in the real world and connects to real people, events and places. While Kirsty lives in Melbourne, she spends a great deal of her time travelling and talking with children all over the world.
For further information, please contact Mr Anthony Ellis, AusArts Project Manager on 098180 99496.
Australia’s participation at the Kolkata Book Fair is a part of AusArts India – Celebrating Australian art and culture 2006-2007, a two-year cultural promotion program in India supported by the Australian Government. AusArts India: film, arts, literature is supported by the Australian Government through the Australia International Cultural Council an initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in partnership with Australian Film Commission and the Australia-India Council.