Ep 322: The Life and Times of Mita Kapur
The Seen and the Unseen - hosted by Amit Varma
The Myopic Nature of Indian Publishing
"There are some great books coming out. In fiction, in nonfiction, lesson short stories and poetry," he says. "A mass of books which don't even sell and they are just terrible." He adds: 'If it's not furthering your business, if it's not helping the writer then where are we at?'
She's been an author, an entrepreneur, a literary agent, an organiser of events and a mother -- but her finest achievement is perhaps her making of herself. Mita Kapur joins Amit Varma in episode 322 of The Seen and the Unseen to talk about the life she has lived, and what it has taught her. Much talk of writing, food, patriarchy and motherhood. (FOR FULL LINKED SHOW NOTES, GO TO SEENUNSEEN.IN.) Also check out: 1. Mita Kapur at Siyahi, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and her own website. 2. The F Word -- Mita Kapur. 3. Siyahi -- A Literary Consultancy. 4. The Prem Panicker Files — Episode 217 of The Seen and the Unseen. 5. Sara Rai Inhales Literature — Episode 255 of The Seen and the Unseen. 6. Objects Speak to Annapurna Garimella — Episode 257 of The Seen and the Unseen. 7. The Business of Books — Episode 150 of The Seen and the Unseen (w VK Karthika). 8. Lessons from an Ankhon Dekhi Prime Minister — Amit Varma's column on reading. 9. The Life and Times of Nilanjana Roy — Episode 284 of The Seen and the Unseen. 10. Harry Potter, Twilight and the Rick Riordan books. 11. Mills and Boon on Wikipedia, Amazon and their own website. 12. Writer, Rebel, Soldier, Lover: The Many Lives of Agyeya — Akshaya Mukul. 13. Enid Blyton and Nancy Drew on Amazon. 14. Arthur Hailey, Nathaniel Hawthorne, TS Eliot, Leon Uris, Harold Robbins and James Hadley Chase on Amazon. 15. Wheels -- Arthur Hailey. 16. Lady Doctors: The Untold Stories of India’s First Women in Medicine — Kavitha Rao. 17. Kavitha Rao and Our Lady Doctors — Episode 235 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Kavitha Rao). 18. The Incredible Curiosities of Mukulika Banerjee — Episode 276 of The Seen and the Unseen. 19. The Nurture Assumption — Judith Rich Harris. 20. South India Would Like to Have a Word -- Episode 320 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nilakantan RS). 21. Varun Grover Is in the House — Episode 292 of The Seen and the Unseen. 22. René Girard on Amazon and Wikipedia. 23. Wanting — Luke Burgis. 24. The Loneliness of the Indian Man — Episode 303 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Nikhil Taneja). 25. The Life and Times of Mrinal Pande — Episode 263 of The Seen and the Unseen. 26. This Be The Verse — Philip Larkin. 27. The Life and Times of Shanta Gokhale — Episode 311 of The Seen and the Unseen. 28. India Moving — Chinmay Tumbe. 29. India = Migration — Episode 128 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Chinmay Tumbe). 30. Chuck Palahniuk and Susan Sontag on Amazon. 31. Kitchen -- Banana Yoshimoto. 32. Amitava Kumar Finds the Breath of Life — Episode 265 of The Seen and the Unseen. 33. Karthika Nair and Sampurna Chattarji on Amazon. 34. The Rooted Cosmopolitanism of Sugata Srinivasaraju — Episode 277 of The Seen and the Unseen. 35. My Top 10 Tips for Aspiring YouTubers — Ali Abdaal. 36. Imposter Syndrome. 37. In a Silent Way -- Episode 316 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Gaurav Chintamani). 38. Pavan Varma on Wikipedia and Amazon. 39. Make Me a Canteen for My Soul -- Episode 304 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Sameer Seth and Yash Bhanage). 40. Choco Butterscotch Barks — Amit Varma’s favourite dessert of all time. 41. Daastan-e-Dastarkhan: Stories and Recipes from Muslim Kitchens -- Sadaf Hussain. 42. Kishore Kumar, Hemant Kumar, Suzanne Vega, Tom's Diner, Rufus Wainwright, Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk, Harry Styles and Sam Smith on Spotify. 43. The Book of Goose -- Yiyun Li. 44. A Thousand Years of Good Prayers -- Yiyun Li. 45. Valeria, The Cook of Castamar, Daughter From Another Mother, Gentefied and Velvet Colección on Netflix. Check out Amit’s online course, The Art of Clear Writing. And subscribe to The India Uncut Newsletter. It’s free! Episode art: ‘A Girl and Her Books’ by Simahina.
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