India is one of the few places in the world where the printing industry is experiencing double digit growth. This contradicts the standard Western perception that the print industry is dying, given the growing demand for news and views online. Different sets of observers have tried to explain this contradiction in their own ways but nothing explains it better than the large number of literary festivals (estimated to be over 100) across the country that are doing well year after year. Some of these literature festivals like the Jaipur Literature Festival, Kolkata Literature Festival, Hyderabad Literary Festival, Tata Literature Live and the Times Literary Carnival have acquired international fame and attract story-tellers, opinion leaders and book lovers not just from all over the country but also from the world around.
India’s literary tradition Â
As an ancient civilization with a strong literary tradition, India is fortunate that this aspect of its culture has not only survived the turbulence of history but has also thrived and sustained its highly creditable image of being the largest consumer of literature in the world. It is important to note that this craving for literature occurs naturally to most Indians who reportedly read more in a single day than any other demographic.
The contemporary world of literature has its own structures built around the hard realities of the printing and publishing market where literary awards and prizes have come to play a very important role in the making multi-million dollar bestsellers. This structure took time to grow in India but like many other marvels of the modern world, they manage to leapfrog and make good for lost time once they find their feet in this country.Â
Growing world of book awards in India Â
The Crossword Book Award, the first such award from the private sector in India, was instituted in 1998 by the Indian book chain, Crossword, to compete with the likes of the Booker Prize and Pulitzer Prize. Similarly, The Hindu Prize, instituted by the Hindu newspaper group in 2010, is today another major literary prize that Indian writers in English look up to. Patronage of literature is not confined just to businesses in the printing and publishing domain as the DSC Prize, instituted in 2010 by the construction company, DSC, shows.Â
Similarly, many other literary prizes of repute have arrived to provide impetus to writers to come up with great literary work that the ever eager Indian reader is waiting for. On their part, governments at both the union and state levels have supported this literary tradition since independence with prizes like the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Janpith Award. Today, there are many awards for writers at different levels of acclaim including some for absolutely new writers.Â
Book publishing in India is thriving and will continue to grow in the near future and beyond if the Indian love affair with books is any indication. It is another matter that the per capita consumption of paper in India is merely one-sixth of what it is in China, yet it is Indians who reportedly read more in a single day than any other demographic. Such indicators are music in the ears of publishers who are thronging in large numbers to the scores of literature fests and award functions in addition to book fairs across India.
