ranjit hoskote – The Metrognome

Bestselling German author Katharina Hagena will read from her book ‘Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen’ today, at the Max Mueller Bhavan.

by The Editors | editor@themetrognome.in

For German author Katharina Hagena (in pic on left), her memories have a taste, a sapidity, an aftertaste, an aroma. Packed with gorgeous imagery and undertones of buried secrets, her book The Taste of Apple Seeds (Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen) is an international bestseller.

This evening, Katharina will read from this and some of her other books at the Max Mueller Bhavan, Mumbai. She will also have a conversation with Ranjit Hoskote and will interact with the audience.

In Der Geschmack von Apfelkernen, when Bertha dies, her granddaughter Iris inherits her house and finds herself back in the home where she and her cousin used to play dress-up in the summer holidays. She wanders through the rooms and garden, a timeless world where red currants turn white overnight, where a tree blossoms twice, villages vanish and women shake sparks out of their fingers. But the garden is now wild and overgrown. After she fell out of the apple tree, Bertha became absent-minded, then forgetful. Eventually, she didn’t even recognise her own three daughters. Iris stays in the house on her own for a week. She cannot decide whether she wants to keep it. She swims in a black lake, receives a visitor, kisses an old friend’s brother and paints a wall.

While she wanders from room to room, she gropes her way through memories and things she had forgotten: What did her grandfather really do before he went to war? Which men were Bertha’s daughters in love with? Who ate his apple with the seeds? Finally, Iris recalls the night her cousin Rosmarie had the terrible accident: What was Rosmarie doing on the conservatory roof? What did she want to tell Iris? Iris senses there are several ways to forget. And remembering is only one of them.

Katharina Hagena will read German and English excerpts from her books. Head to the Library, Max Mueller Bhavan, Kala Ghoda, at 6 pm.

(Pictures courtesy ebookee.org, www.zimbio.com)

Four days of music and readings by city-based poets will take place at Kitab Khana, at Fort, starting September 26.

by Medha Kulkarni

As the third edition of the global movement 100 Thousand Poets for Change gains momentum around the world, Kitab Khana, the well-known book store in South Mumbai, will host a four-day poetry festival starting tomorrow. The event, curated by Mumbai-based writer Menka Shivdasani (in pic on left), takes place between September 26 and 29, 2013, and includes musical performances and readings by city poets. This is the second time that Kitab Khana is hosting the event in Mumbai.

On the first three days, the events take place at 6.00 pm. On Sunday, September 29, the programme begins at 10.30 am.

On September 27, in a programme coordinated by writer and artist Anjali Purohit, the focus will be on women’s lives. This event, entitled Holding up Half the Sky, will have music and poetry based on the three sub-themes of ‘Woman and work’, ‘Being woman’ and ‘Woman as daughter, mother, wife, lover and partner’. There will be musical recitals by Amarendra Dhaneshwar and Mukta Raste and readings by Anjali Purohit, Annie Zaidi, Dileep Jhaveri, Rochelle Potkar, Menka Shivdasani, Smita Sahay and Urvashi Pandya.

On September 28, which is the global day for 100 Thousand Poets for Change this year, classical singer Neela Bhagwat of the Gwalior gharana will perform her interpretations of Tagore’s compositions from her concert ‘Robi Anurag’; this will be followed by ‘Poems for Peace’ readings by city poets, including Ranjit Hoskote, Mustansir Dalvi, Hemant Divate, Anju Makhija, Pallavi Jayakar and Vivek Tandon.

For the final day of this festival, September 29 at 10.30 am, Rati Dady Wadia, a prominent educationist in Mumbai and former principal of Queen Mary School, is coordinating The Music of the Spheres, a programme with children, on the themes of peace and sustainability, along with an exhibition, Wonders of Nature. Students of the Bombay International School, Avabai Petit School, Bandra, JB Petit School, GD Somani School and Gopi Birla School will participate. Poems by Ayra Cama will also be presented.

The global movement, 100 Thousand Poets for Change (www.100tpc.org) began in 2011. An event that began primarily with poet organisers, 100 Thousand Poets for Change has grown into an interdisciplinary coalition with year-round events which includes musicians, dancers, mimes, painters and photographers from around the world.

“Peace and sustainability are major concerns worldwide, and the guiding principles for this global event,” says Michael Rothenberg, Co-Founder of 100 Thousand Poets for Change. “We are in a world where it isn’t just one issue that needs to be addressed. A common ground is built through this global compilation of local stories, which is how we create a true narrative for discourse to inform the future.”

For more information, contact Menka Shivdasani on menka.shivdasani@gmail.com

(Pictures courtesy 100 thousand poets for change on Facebook, www.100tpc.org. Images are from last year’s event at the same venue)