Sirigannada: Contemporary Kannada Writing

by Vivek Shanbhag (Editor)

A compilation comprising the most incisive, original and evocative voices to come out of Karnataka in the last two decades.

Genres: Short Stories

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 30, 2009

Reviews

[Saritha · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this collection provided invaluable insights into the wealth of writing by some of the most renowned Kannada writers, I found it a little difficult to switch between fiction, essays, plays and poetry.

[Ravinder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of short stories/extracts from Kannada novels that have been translated into English.

The only ones that did not strike a chord with me were the extracts from plays. My favourites from this collection, in no particular order were:

1. Ooru Keri by Siddalingaiah
2. An Indentured Spirit by K.P. Poornachandra Tejaswi
3. Excellence, an Obsession by K. V. Subbanna
4. Comrade and Umma by Abdul Rashid
5. Imprints of Little Feet by Sunanda Prakash
6. Crossing the Stream by Shrinivas Vaidya

The translation has been done by various folks- as such there is no consistency - but that does not deter from the quality of the collection. Reading this makes one wish to be able to read the originals, but for being illiterate in the language.

[Pranav · Rating 4 out of 5]

The translation work is fantastic.
A few stories suffer from a lack of context, though they can be enjoyed without it.
The anthology does a good job capturing the vastness of the contemporary Kannada literary sphere.

[Rishabh Thakur · Rating 3 out of 5]

Didn't exactly finish it but my copy has 30 odd pages missing. Certainly has turned me on towards stalwarts like Ananthamurthy and Karnad, along with someone not known outside Karnataka like Lankesh.