What are the challenges faced by Indian writing in English today?
Well, I can’t answer this question for anyone else specifically, and my own challenges may well be challenges faced by many writers all over the world, whether Indian or not. My primary challenge lies in finding time to write fiction in between writing columns, teaching creative writing and completing editing jobs, all of which bring in the real money so far. Secondly, there is the challenge of being ‘typecast’, if you will. I am presently working on two novels – one set in Venezuela, the other set in California, France and Palestine. I was recently told by my editor at Penguin-India that they probably wouldn’t be able to carry either of these, since the main character is not Indian. (Why should Indian writers be compelled to write about Indians or India???) Thirdly – and this is particularly true for Indian writers published by branches of mainstream Western publishing houses (Penguin, Harper Collins, etc) – very little marketing is done for my work by my publishing house. From the be
