Source : New Indian Express
Aditi Krishnakumar is a well-known author and winner of Scholastic Asian Book Award that she won in 2016 for her 32,000-word manuscript Codex: The Lost Treasure of The Indus.
CHENNAI: We all know Aditi Krishnakumar by the Scholastic Asian Book Award that she won in 2016 for her 32,000-word manuscript Codex: The Lost Treasure of The Indus. The author moved from Mumbai to Singapore where she works for a hedge fund. Born in Chennai, she studied in various parts of India and worked in Mumbai for a few years. Aditi was recently in Chennai for the launch of her second book The Magicians of Madh in association with Duckbill books. Her first book titled A Whole Summer Long was launched in 2012. Talking about the eight-year gap between the two books, she says, “I was doing a lot of writing in the interim, but none of it coalesced into the form needed for a book. The Magicians of Madh took a fair bit of editing and rewriting as well. So the gap between the two books isn’t so much a considered decision as something that simply happened.”
The author believes that there’s not a stark line between children’s and adult literature. “There are books and themes that might not be suitable for small children, but I don’t think there are children’s books that can’t be enjoyed by adults. I didn’t start out wanting to write a children’s book with this, but that was the direction the story took,” says Aditi, who has a fascination for Indian mythology.
The Magicians of Madh is a middle-grade fantasy novel featuring two young magicians, a celestial dancer, a few griffons, mad teachers, madder fathers, and many other exciting characters you never want to meet in real life. Speaking about the competitive environment for children’s book authors in the recent times, Aditi says, “There certainly are far more books, and books written in a more contemporary voice, for children to read now than maybe twenty years ago. I think that’s great. Children do want to read and they should have books that speak to them. I don’t think it’s a competitive environment, though liking one book doesn’t preclude liking another, and the more you read, the more you’ll want to read. So it’s good for everyone to have more books coming out that children will enjoy.”
For Aditi, the favourite part about the book was building up the fantasy setting. As a child, she read Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and mythology. She also loves PG Wodehouse and Terry Pratchett. “I did not have a specific inspiration. Some themes are drawn from mythology and classical writings. I’ve always loved books and ever since I knew writing them was a thing one could do, I’ve wanted to do it.
There’s something magical about writing even when you don’t share it with other people, and it’s even more special when you do,” says Aditi. She is working on a couple of things right now. One that’s a kind-of-sort-of sequel to Magicians of Madh and second is to write a proper historical novel. “Magicians was a lot of fun to write and introduced me to an editor who was delightful to work with. I really hope some of that comes through into the book so people have a good time reading it,” the author says. (The Magicians of Madh is available on Amazon for `299. The book launch along with a discussion and Q & A session took place at The Book Office on Sunday.)
