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For Now, It Is Night by Hari Krishna Kaul

15 September 2023

is proud to announce the release of

For Now, It Is Night

by Hari Krishna Kaul

translated from the Kashmiri by

Kalpana Raina, Tanveer Ajsi, Gowhar Fazili & Gowhar Yaqoob

Releasing 24 September 2023

Fiction | Short Stories | Translation

216 pp | Rs 399

 

About the Book

Hari Krishna Kaul, one of the very best modern Kashmiri writers, published most of his work between 1972 and 2000. His short stories, shaped by the social crisis and political instability in Kashmir, explore – with an impressive eye for detail, biting wit, and deep empathy – themes of isolation, individual and collective alienation, corruption, and the social mores of a community that experienced a loss of homeland, culture, and language.

In these pages, we will find: friends stuck forever in the same class at school while the world changes around them; travelers forced to seek shelter in a battered, windy hostel after a landslide; parents struggling to deal with displacement as they move away from Kashmir with their children, or loneliness as their children leave in search of better prospects; the cabin fever of living through a curfew…

Brilliantly translated in a unique collaborative project, For Now, It Is Night brings a comprehensive selection of Kaul’s stories to English readers for the very first time.

*

Kalpana Raina, translator, says: ‘My uncle, Hari Krishna Kaul, was a major fiction writer and dramatist. Everyone of a certain age in Kashmir grew up with his iconic characters and memorable dialogues. It is profoundly gratifying to bring this selection of his works – which captures the entire trajectory of his fictional themes and narrative styles – to a wider audience through this unique collaboration. It is my hope that this will provide an impetus for more translations from the Kashmiri literary canon.’

Rahul Soni, Associate Publisher, HarperCollins India, adds: ‘It’s been a privilege to be involved with this translation, right from its beginning as part of the Yali Project at Sangam House, and through to publication at HarperCollins under our Perennial imprint. Four first-time translators, all native Kashmiri speakers but representing a diversity of gender, age, experiences, and religious identity, coming together to work on the oeuvre of a canonical modern writer … The quality of the stories was apparent from the earliest drafts, but over two years of collaborating, editing, revising, Kalpana Raina, Tanveer Ajsi, Gowhar Fazili and Gowhar Yaqoob have created a translation that truly does justice to the nuances and complexity and wit of the original. I’m really excited that such a substantial selection of Hari Krishna Kaul’s stories will now find a larger audience through this translation.’

 

Praise for the Book

‘A valuable introduction to one of contemporary Kashmir’s most distinguished, if unsung, literary voices … This volume makes itself indispensable to the ways in which we seek to understand the vexed recent past of Kashmir.’

– SANJAY KAK

‘Masterful … The frustrations and disappointments of the people, both Muslims and Pandits, are sensitively felt and fearlessly depicted.’

– NEERJA MATTOO

‘Kaul’s portrayal of ordinary lives reveals visionary insights … an extraordinary writer.’

– MIRZA WAHEED

‘Tenderly told and beautifully translated, these tales, both fabled and realistic, conjure a lost time.’

– FARAH BASHIR

‘Sets a new standard for translations from Kashmiri even as it calls attention to a remarkable writer.’

– SUVIR KAUL

 

About the Author

Hari Krishna Kaul (1934–2009) was born in Kashmir and lived there for most of his life. He taught Hindi literature in various colleges of the University of Kashmir until he was forced to leave in 1990. Kaul started his literary career writing short stories in Urdu and Hindi but switched to writing in Kashmiri in the mid-1960s. His first collection of short stories in Kashmiri, Pata Laraan Parbat, was published in 1972 and immediately established him as a major writer. Three other collections of short stories and numerous television and radio plays followed, cementing his position as an important figure in the modern literary landscape of Kashmir. His only novel, Vyath Vyatha, was published in 2005. He was the recipient of many awards including the Sahitya Akademi Award for Kashmiri fiction in 2000.

 

About the Translators

 

Kalpana Raina was born in Kashmir and lives in New York. She is a senior executive, board director and adviser with over thirty years of experience in both corporate and not-for-profit sectors. This is her first work of translation.

Tanveer Ajsi is an independent art historian and cultural theorist. He has written extensively on theatre, performing arts, visual arts and literature, besides translating and directing plays, and curating and conceptualizing exhibitions.

Gowhar Fazili teaches political science and sociology. His writing has appeared in various journals and edited volumes, and a monograph based on his doctoral thesis is slated to be published soon.

Gowhar Yaqoob is an independent research scholar based out of Srinagar. Her research practice focuses on the medieval and modern history of literature with special focus on Kashmir.

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For reviews, excerpts, author interviews and more information,

please contact Nandini Tripathi at nandini.tripathi@harpercollins.co.in


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