Out! Stories from the New Queer India, launched by Ms Nandita Das .The book is published by Queer Ink and edited by Ms. Minal Hajratwala. Mumbai: January 9, 2013: Queer Ink hosted the book launch of Out! Stories from the New Queer India, India’s most awaited LGBT anthology, after the 2009 Delhi High Court Ruling on s377. The book launched by Nandita Das, is edited by Ms. Minal Hajratwala.
The audience was enthralled with the presence of the renowned actor Ms Nandita Das. The audience sat and listened to her with great attention as she strongly expressed and encouraged her views on the book. Also present with Nandita Das, for the launch was Ms. Minal Hajratwala, editor of Out! Stories from The New Queer India.
Joining Minal Hajratwala and Nandita Das, were among the 30 contributors of Out! Stories From The New Queer India, Gazal Dhaliwal, Juthika Nagpal, Meher Pestonji, Raj Rao, Ashish Sawhny who read excerpts from their respective stories.
On this very special occasion, Nandita Das stated “Out! is a collection of 30 stories that are diverse and come from all over India, and even the Diaspora, it is about the experiences and the literary imagination of LGBT people in India.”
At the success of her second book, Ms Minal Hajratwala ecstatically said, “This book is a window into the contemporary LGBT experience in India and one of the very few Indian books that include a whole spectrum of the queer community, not just a particular segment.”
Through their original and unforgettable stories, penned by the community’s master storytellers as well as emerging writers, Out! Stories from the New Queer India offers a glimpse beyond the closet doors – and into the lives and dreams of India’s most misunderstood minority.
About Out! Stories from the New Queer India: In Bengalaru, a law student falls in love as the nation’s highest courts decide whether his love is legitimate. In Mumbai, a film star and a parent discuss their own journeys of “coming out” as advocates of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender movement. In rural Kerala, two girls row a small boat and feel their hearts opening. Some of the other themes that are covered in this anthology are of regret, values, relationships, love and the various steps people in love take just to be together and accepted in this society where homosexuals still find themselves to be a minority in this homogeneous society. Concluding the anthology is a dialogue between Nandita Das and Chitra Palekar who openly talk about LGBT lives that have affected them and helped them grow into advocates for this community.
About Minal Hajratwala: Minal Hajratwala is the author of Leaving India: My Family’s Journey From Five Villages to Five Continents (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009). She is the editor of Out! Stories From the New Queer India, the first anthology of LGBT literature after the decriminalization of homosexuality in India, published in 2012 from Queer Ink Publishing. As a writing coach, Ms. Hajratwala believes language is magical, and she loves helping individuals and organizations access the power to express themselves in words. She has taught writing workshops nationally and internationally at universities, community organizations, and online. As a journalist, she worked at the San Jose Mercury News from 1992 to 2000 as an editor, reporter, and the newspaper’s first reader representative (ombudsperson).
About Queer Ink: Queer ink.com is a unique web retailer providing accessibility to books, films and art that share the queer experience, all at affordable prices. Queer Ink also organizes events to for to discuss and/or perform the queer word. Headquartered in Mumbai and by virtue of being an eclectic centre for queer culture activity, Queer Ink has grown to be active in events such as pride parades and literature festivals. Besides, it also holds writers’ workshops and book-readers interactions regularly.
