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A few determined indie poets and publishers have taken up the curation and publishing of this genre

Indie verse: Vivek Narayanan is the co-publisher of poetry at Almost Island Books; and (below) S. Anand of Navayana has published volumes by poets Cheran and Meena Kandasamy. (Vivek Narayanan is the co-publisher of poetry at Almost Island Books; and (below) S. Anand of Navayana has published volumes by poets Cheran and Meena Kandasamy.)Premium
Indie verse: Vivek Narayanan is the co-publisher of poetry at Almost Island Books; and (below) S. Anand of Navayana has published volumes by poets Cheran and Meena Kandasamy.
(Vivek Narayanan is the co-publisher of poetry at Almost Island Books; and (below) S. Anand of Navayana has published volumes by poets Cheran and Meena Kandasamy.)

I will make you buy my book," declared Tenzin Tsundue, self-published Tibetan poet, writer and activist, at New Delhi’s Yodakin book-store launch of Tsen-Gol , a mix of prose and poetry comprising his fourth book. He was explaining how publishing poetry at a grass-roots level literally sustains his activism. “Mine is a model of persistent personal entrepreneurship anyone can use; it’s my food."

This determined small-scale salesmanship vivifies the small group of publishers who comprise India’s independent poetry scene today.

Sidelined, as always, by the country’s publishing boom of the last five years, poetry is still a vocal player in its tough corner of the market. For this decade’s independent publishers—Poetrywala Publications, Almost Island Books, Pratilipi Books, Harbour Line Press, Navayana Publishing, Yoda Press and Zubaan Books (of these, only Poetrywala Publications and Harbour Line Press publish solely poetry)—the effective dissemination of the genre still comes first; before profits that they wouldn’t mind, but cannot reasonably expect.

Being ignored as well as sometimes blindly adored by the masses is the birthright of poetry. Even dedicated readers do not always have time for it. Out of everyone reading the books pages, a few might read this piece. But poetry also possesses the viral kind of cultural power usually commanded by socio-political causes.

Take writer Meena Kandasamy, who burnt a path to the many op-eds she writes today with Ms Militancy, her slim 2010 volume of potent verse. Or Kamala Das, whose career in Malayalam prose ran parallel to her rise in Indian English poetry. Debuting as a poet in 1965, she was still speaking to younger generations several decades later, through Only the Soul Knows How to Sing, selected poems tastefully produced in 1996 by Kottayam-based DC Books (a major Malayalam language publisher but a small English language one, particularly of poetry). None of these would have sold more than a few thousand copies, yet they were sent out into the world and spoken about with a zeal that belies the small print runs.

Numbers have always been low, impact wide. Poetry publication in the 1960s had Kolkata’s Writers Workshop, founded in 1958, and the Sahitya Akademi, founded in 1954 and working quietly on state subsidy—both are less prominent today. In the 1970s and 1980s, outfits like Clearing House, the ephemeral Mumbai poetry collective founded by senior poets like Adil Jussawalla and Arvind Krishna Mehrotra in 1976, left a significant influence. The indies who took over in the noughties, after the reign of mainstream press Rupa & Co. in the 1990s, have had to be inventive to survive.

Tsundue, 37, uses a basic publishing plan to ensure his verse is read. Imperial Printing Press, Dharamsala, prints 2,000 copies—usually on reused newspaper and with handmade, recycled covers—at a cost price of roughly 8 per copy, so he can sell them at an unrivalled 50. This suits his politics and minimal lifestyle. “Mainstream publishers often cannot wait for five years for a book. But I am completely independent; I can produce more as I like, I have the copyright."

Are these one-man lyrical empires a necessary model?

“The scene is so emaciated, you can’t plug into something that is already there. You have to multitask and build the whole edifice: writing, publishing, editing, criticism," confirms Delhi-based poet, publisher and editor Vivek Narayanan, 39. “You have to make your own scene; poetry has always worked this way."

In April, he helped bring back Khari Boli, a performance featuring Hindi poets and English translators whose work later appeared in a limited edition of 100, as co-editor of online literary journal Almost Island . Founded by writer Sharmistha Mohanty, it holds an annual international writers dialogue in the Capital and debuted an eponymous poetry list in 2011 with Trying to Say Goodbye, Jussawalla’s first in 35 years.

Narayanan, whose own second book of verse is forthcoming, says it cost only 20,000-25,000 to produce this print run of 500 priced at 300. “If you want to be published, publish someone else’s poems—it’ll come back to you," he suggests.

For the poet-publisher, editing is also a creative activity. He lingered over and savoured the publication of his first the way a major publisher, with its many babies, cannot.

“My concern remains with small presses: There is a sense of cooperation, of working with people who care," says Jussawalla, who keeps the memory of the Clearing House days alive. “The question is sustainability; small presses have their own natural life."

Indeed, funding might be what dissolves many a small poetry press—but no one ever does it for the money. “What we need are prizes and recognition for poetry like those for fiction, high visibility," says S. Anand, 39, journalist and co-founder of Navayana Press, a publisher focused on caste. “At the moment, grants, often from outside, and foreign rights help keep poetry publishing alive."

Navayana has published six stylish poetry books for under 200 each—one or two a year—since it began in 2003, featuring non-mainstream voices like N.D. Rajkumar, a daily wage worker in Nagercoil. Ms Militancy is a top seller, at 1,000 copies in 18 months, and earned review attention rare for poetry.

Anand tells of his first collaboration—now legendary in poetry circles—with Marathi poet Dilip Chitre, who translated Dalit poet Namdeo Dhasal, and to whom he offered an unheard-of advance of 10 000; poets do not get advances, only due royalties. “Over three nights of wonderful drinking and merrymaking, we (Chitre and Anand) did the whole book; after 6pm we drank, and around 1 or 2am came the serious work. I woke up early and edited, then Chitre woke up—and it began all over again." Indie poetry is this alternatively rewarding kind of party.

“Poetry is compressed art. You can pay nothing for it or 5,000," explains Anand. Reminding me that poetry reportedly constitutes only .04% of the world’s books, he adds, "How many bookshops, though, have a contemporary poetry shelf, forget contemporary Indian poetry?"

Popular online book store Flipkart is the answer for Hemant Divate, 45, a Marathi poet, translator and editor who began self-funded Poetrywala Publications 10 years ago. “We focus on quality new voices," he says. The largest independent poetry publisher today, Poetrywala Publications has released 40 books, including noted younger poets such as Sampurna Chattarji and Anand Thakore, and plans 8-10 titles this year. Each has print runs of 500 and sells over four-five years, ranging from 700 for Chitre’s 364-page book, to just 80.

Ultimately, though, Narayanan reminds us, “Poetry is the last un-commodified art form." He narrates the tale of a Chinese prisoner who hand-copied verse from his journal in the ultimate limited edition. “We’ve been trying for more than a century to turn it into a commodity, " he says, “and haven’t succeeded."

Should we be trying now?

A few determined indie poets and publishers have taken up the curation and publishing of this genre

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Published: 26 Oct 2012, 12:57 PM IST
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