Homeward: Towards A Poetics Of Space, edited by Soibam Haripriya

Homeward brings together writers, artists, poets and photographers to question presumptions of home and nation. Homes are thought to be a place of comfort and familiarity, yet there are often conditions of violence that determine our relationship with the people who share our homes. Homeward focuses largely on the Northeastern states of India and the roles that politics and geography play in creating homes.

The Comrades and the Mullahs : China, Afghanistan and the New Asian Geopolitics, Stanly Johny and Ananth Krishnan

The withdrawal of the United States from Afghanistan has permanently altered Afghanistan’s future and Asian geopolitics. China has stepped in to become a key player – especially by establishing relations with the Taliban. In The Comrades and the Mullahs, Ananth Krishnan and Stanly Johny scrutinise Afghanistan’s role in China’s quest to become a formidable power in global politics. The book also focuses on China’s alliance with Pakistan and how this increasing closeness might have serious consequences for India, especially in Kashmir.

Rahul Bajaj: An Extraordinary Life, Gita Piramal

Rahul Bajaj was a farsighted businessman, the chairman emeritus of the Bajaj Group, and a former member of Parliament. Rahul Bajaj is a definitive biography of one of the most prominent industrialists of modern India and a pioneer of innovation, self-reliance, and plain speaking. But above all, it is a lesson in perseverance, courage, and what patriotism truly means.

The Worlds Within You, Shreya Ramachandran

Ami Shekar, a first year university student in the UK, has decided to take a break and visit her home in Chennai. But home is not what it used to be – Ami is stuck, and finds herself restless and retreating into her own head. She knows the thing that ails her has a name and that her struggles aren’t only her own. Debut author Shreya Ramachandran explores mental health, identity, memories, and belonging in The Worlds Within You.

Tomb of Sand, Geetanjali Shree, translated from the Hindi by Daisy Rockwell

Eighty-year-old Ma slips into a deep depression after the death of her husband, and then resurfaces to gain a new lease on life. She strikes up a friendship with a transgender person and insists on travelling to Pakistan. This is Ma’s attempt to confront the unresolved trauma of Partition, and to re-evaluate her roles as a mother, daughter, woman, and feminist. Geetanjali Shree’s Tomb of Sand (Ret Samadhi) is a protest against the destructive impact of borders and boundaries, within and outside of ourselves. Innovatively translated into English from the Hindi by Daisy Rockwell, Tomb of Sand is one of the thirteen titles and first Indian book to be longlisted for the International Booker Prize.

Malloban, Jibanananda Das, translated from the Bangla by Rebecca Whittington

Set in North Calcutta in the winter of 1929, the novel features an eponymous protagonist in the form of a lower-middle-class office worker living on College Street with his wife Utpala and their daughter Monu. The novel follows the family through a series of everyday dysfunction and discontent as the couple bickers about bathrooms and budgeting, family trips to the zoo and the films, visits from family, and the appearance of a frequent late-night visitor to Utpala’s bedroom. Jibanananda Das’s Malloban is his best-known work of fiction, representing modernist anxieties and aspirations.

Telugu: The Best Stories of Our Times, edited by Volga, translated from the Telugu by Sridhar M and Alladi Uma

Harper Perennial’s first collection in what is planned as a series, Telugu: The Best Stories of Our Times, offers the readers a kaleidoscopic vision of the current literary landscape in the Telugu language. Authors celebrate their histories and identities in these beloved stories from the state that have not been translated into English until now.