Stories we build, stories we tell

When poet Prathibha Nandakumar’s autobiography Anudinada Antaragange was to be published, there weren’t many publishers lining up.

. When Akshata Humchadakatte of Aharnishi Prakashana came forward, Prathibha half-jokingly said: ‘You will lose your money!’ But Akshata went ahead anyway, and is glad she did.

. “Because of Prathibha’s autobiography, many women felt validated that their inner worlds are as important as that of men,” says Akshata.

. The disdain with which women writers are treated is not new. V S Naipaul had once infamously said that he can find out within a paragraph or two if a piece was written by a woman. No woman, apparently, was a match for him.

. It seems, the case is the same with publishing, where women are not taken seriously.

. More than a hobby?

. There is sadness in Akshata’s voice when she says “No one sees you as professional. Just a hobbyist. The amount of time you put in however, is basically the same as any full-time job. I have not only given my days, but also many nights for my book publishing. More than money, I have spent my energy on it.”

. Akshata began Aharnishi in 2008, when she could not find any publisher who was willing to publish her poetry collection. Till date, out of 87 books published, 25 are of first-time authors.

. In the last four decades, women like Vijayamma (Ila Prakashana), Hema Pattanashetty (Ananya Prakashana), R Poornima (Vikasa Prakashana), Hanumakshi Gogi (Mahila Sahityika), Indira Halambi (Sandeepa Sahitya Prakshana), Sudha Chidananda Gowda (Suyodhana Prakashana) have contributed to the world of Kannada books. But not every publishing house has managed to survive, given the size of the market. Since the readership of Kannada books, especially the literary ones is rather small, one cannot expect to make a living from publishing books alone.

. Hence, many schemes were established by the government, which indeed led many women towards publishing. In fact, R Poornima of Vikasa Prakashanam points at these government schemes for the influx of many new women publishers to the industry. Not only in Kannada but all Indian languages.

. In Kannada, not more than 1,000 copies are published in the first print. Most of these, if not all, are purchased by the Department of Public Libraries and zona libraries at the district-level. This has made the industry a lucrative, less-risk business - which has also led to corruption and other malpractices, including men running the business in their wives’ names.

. A passionate affair

. It is ironic then that the first woman publisher was someone who had lost her husband as a child of 14. Following her husband’s death, Nanjangud Tirumalamba (1887-1982) was educated by her father. Soon, she would become a writer, publisher and journalist. Through her publication house Sathi Hitaishini, she advocated for women. Her first book Sushile sold more than 7,000 copies and saw four subsequent editions.

. Women who came after her like R Kalyanamma (1894-1965) of Makkala Koota fame and Giribale (1913-1994) used publishing as a creative outlet and a medium for women’s voices. This was at a time when women’s participation in public life was frowned upon.

. The multiple roles of writer, publisher and journalist juggled by these women were the norm rather than an exception. As Hema Pattanashetty says, “This is not only my publication journey, but also my journey as a writer.” The separation of the roles of writer and publisher only happened post 1990.

. Established in 1979, Ananya Prakashana belongs to a time when these roles were handled by a single person. One of the oldest functioning publishing houses, it has published over 90 books till date and has plans of publishing six books this year.

. “By 1978, I had just quit my job as a lecturer. I wanted to do something of my own.” That’s how Ananya Prakashana was born, from the money Hema received from Musukidee Mabbinali , her first book as a writer.

. Despite coming from a family of known publishers, Hema felt suffocated when her brothers would stop her from freely moving around.

. Hence, much like her female predecessors in the industry, she sought the refuge of literature, which eventually led her to establish her own publishing house.

. It was Ananya that published the books of Kannada literary stalwarts like Shanthinatha Desai. They even published Jayanth Kaikini’s first book of short stories, Teredashte Bagilu (1982).

. R Poornima too was born in a family surrounded by literature and music. Her father ran Veena Printers. After more than three decades in journalism, she embarked on the journey of publishing through Vikasa in 2013, publishing 35 books till date.

. This year, she is planning to publish 10 books.

. “It is a passion for me, not a business,” says Poornima. “It has given an identity to me,” says Akshata. Hema Pattanashetty is proud to have survived for 40 years, constantly adapting to changing technology: moving from letterpress printing, where screws had to be manually arranged, to the age of computers.

. World of men

. Today, the number of women publishers is also unknown. “Less than 10,” says Prakash Kambathalli, President of Karnataka Book Publishers Association. “Karnataka Book Authority (KBA) had a plan to register book publishers, but it hasn’t been done as of yet.”

. R Poornima says that the publishing industry should be inclusive and should encourage more women participation. Since major buyers of Kannada books are government libraries, it is essential that publishers are up-to-date with the library notifications. To support women publishers, Poornima created a woman-only space: Prakashakiyara Balaga.

. Akshata agrees. “The whole system is not made for women. For marketing our books, we need to go to seminars and sammelanas. But these spaces are not built thinking that women will come. In Sahitya Sammelanas, you can’t even find a proper toilet.”

. In her capacity as the President of Karnataka Lekhakiyara Sangha, Dr Vasundhara Bhupathi organised a workshop for women publishers in 2016.

. Journalists and writers who were interested in publishing attended the workshop to learn not just the theoretical but also the practical aspects of publishing.

. “Many new women writers are exploited by the industry. Let alone paying an honorarium that they rightfully deserve, many a time, the writers themselves have been asked to pay for their books to get published,” she says. Sometimes copies of their own book are not given, and women have lost the money too. She says there have been instances of sexual harassment too. These and several other transgressions are tolerated simply so writers can get the title of a ‘published author’.

. Eventually, Vasundhara also became the President of Kannada Book Authority — the first woman president in 25 years of its history.

. “It is not enough to sit in the chair. A woman has to know how to wield that power,” she notes, emphasising that wherever changes have been seen after years of stagnancy, it is usually a woman who leads the charge.

. As someone who believes that every woman’s story needs to be heard, Vasundhara organised a programme called Loka Kaanada Loka where working-class women from KSRTC, BMTC, BBMP, civic work and police departments were invited to share their experiences with women writers.

. The resulting stories would then be published as a book. Whether the pieces would be fiction, non-fiction or journalistic were left to the writers themselves.

. When asked were these women comfortable with sharing their stories so that it can be used as fodder for the writers, she said, “In fact, women were happy that they were seen as something more than beneficiaries of a government scheme.” Unfortunately, the government changed and so did KBA’s presidency. The book never materialised.

Stories we build, stories we tell

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