Harper Collins bags publishing rights of 3 Amitav Ghosh books

PTI, Jan 6, 2020, 4:11 PM IST

New Delhi: Jnanpith Award winner Amitav Ghosh will come out with three books beginning this year including a verse adaptation of an episode from the epic of the Sundarbans, the legend of Bon Bibi.

Harper Collins Publishers India will publish the three books in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

The first book “Jungle-nama” is a verse adaptation of an episode from the epic of the Sundarbans, the legend of Bon Bibi.

“This legend is at the heart of ‘The Hungry Tide’ and is also referenced in ‘Gun Island’. ‘Jungle-nama’ will be published as a fully illustrated edition in July 2020 and as a graphic novel later in the year,” says Ghosh.

The second book is a new collection of essays, while the third is a work of non-fiction based on his research for “The Ibis Trilogy.”

“It is an account of the opium trade between India and China in the colonial period and the transformative effects of this trade on India and the world. It will cover, amongst much else, the impact of the opium trade on patterns of migration and settlement in India, on Indian business practices, and indeed the visual landscape of the Indian subcontinent. This book will also be fully illustrated,” Ghosh says.

Two of these new books will depend heavily on design and graphics.

According to Udayan Mitra, Publisher (Literary) at Harper Collins India who acquired the books and will be their overall editor, “Amitav Ghosh is a truly exceptional writer; every new book from him is a publishing event and a delight for booklovers everywhere. It is a great privilege for us at HarperCollins India to be publishing his next three books which are going to make for fascinating reading.”

Ghosh, who has recently published with Penguin Random House, says he has had a “long relationship with HarperCollins India, which has held the paperback rights to two of my books, ‘The Glass Palace’ and ‘The Hungry Tide,’ since the time of their publication.”

He says the legend of Bon Bibi is an important thread in “The Hungry Tide” and hopes the connection will bring new readers to both the novels.