Almost every famous author—Hemingway, Virginia Woolf, Toni Morrison, Marquez and many before and after them—has written memorable short stories.
The short story has long been celebrated as an important part of literature, and in my view any effort to defend it as such is unnecessary.
My guest today is Indira Chandrasekhar—a writer of short stories. She is also a scientist and the editor of Out Of Print, a literary magazine.
I have known Indira for many years. We were in college in Bangalore, at about the same time. But the similarity ends there.
Indira made something of college. She went on to a doctorate in science and became a bio-physicist, like Jagdish Chandra Bose or James Watson.
But evidently, she likes what I do, more.
So she quit messing with membranes and macromolecules and about 12 years ago, she started a literary magazine called Out Of Print.
Out Of Print is published once in three months, online. Each issue carries fewer than 10 short stories, with a focus on writing from the Indian sub-continent.
Carefully curated, every one of the short stories in each issue is a tribute to craft, skill and style.
A 10th anniversary anthology of Out Of Print is available in bookstores and was a delight to sink into. As was her book of short stories, Polymorphism—that passage you heard in the beginning was Indira reading from this book.
To discuss science, literature and the polymath nature of old Bangalore, it is my pleasure to introduce my friend, Indira Chandrasekhar, to The Literary City With Ramjee Chandran.
ABOUT INDIRA CHANDRASEKHAR
Dr. Indira Chandrasekhar is a scientist, a writer, a literary curator and the founder and principal editor of Out of Print, one of the primary platforms for short fiction bearing a connection to the South Asian subcontinent.
Indira’s short stories have won awards and appeared in literary journals published in different parts of the world.
Her publications include, Out of Print : Ten Years – An Anthology of Stories (ed.), Context Books, the literary imprint of Westland Publishing, 2020; Polymorphism, HarperCollins, 2017; Pangea: An Anthology of Stories from Around the World (ed.), Thames River Publishing, 2012.
She serves on the councils of the Bangalore International Centre, the International Music and Arts Society Bangalore, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival Mumbai and the G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture Mumbai.
Out of Print: Ten Years : An Anthology of Stories: https://amzn.to/37vgqgx
Polymorphism: Stories: https://amzn.to/3xxvWmV
Out Of Print magazine: http://outofprintmagazine.co.in
WHAT'S THAT WORD?! - THE SHORT STORY
Co-host Pranati "Pea" Madhav joins Ramjee Chandran in the segment "What's That Word?", where they discuss the history of the short story, and present a trivia section of the shortest stories ever written, such as Hemingway's 6-word novel.
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