Eavan Boland (1944-2020): A tribute to the poet who wrote ‘Quarantine’, from a former colleague

The acclaimed Irish poet, author, and professor died on Monday, April 27, at the age of 75. Saikat Majumdar writes of their association.

Saikat Majumdar

· Apr 28, 2020 · 05:30 pm

In a world of professional critics of art and literature, is there still (or new) room for amateurs?

Multiple models of expertise are at play today, write Aarthi Vadde and Saikat Majumdar in their introduction to the book ‘The Critic as Amateur’.

Aarthi Vadde

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Saikat Majumdar

· Nov 05, 2019 · 07:30 am

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd discusses violence, iconography and aesthetics in Hinduism

A conversation between scholar Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd and writer Saikat Majumdar.

Saikat Majumdar

· Apr 21, 2019 · 05:30 pm

Love, longing and lotus: This novel goes inside a boys’ school run by an order of monks

Saikat Majumdar’s new novel ‘Scent Of God’ brings together desire, religion and politics in an explosive narrative.

Saikat Majumdar

· Feb 06, 2019 · 08:30 am

With Indian liberals under attack, the idea of the free-thinking university is under threat

This collection of essays shows that the illiberalisation of a liberal education is a deeper tragedy in India than perhaps any other place in the world.

Saikat Majumdar

· Jan 12, 2019 · 05:30 pm

‘No Nation for Women’ flows with haunting lyricism born of pain, suffering and violation

Priyanka Dubey’s book ‘No Nation for Women’ is a significant example of the importance of form and style in non-fiction.

Saikat Majumdar

· Dec 29, 2018 · 07:30 am

Jnanpith winner Amitav Ghosh’s ‘The Shadow Lines’ showed how to take the vernacular into English

‘It was like the cast shadow of a Bangla upanyas re-imagined in English with disarming honesty, candour and craft.’

Saikat Majumdar

· Dec 21, 2018 · 08:30 am

Why the polytheism of Hindus (and their texts) leaves the monotheistic West confused

Among other things, the gods represented in polytheism often behave in morally chaotic ways.

Saikat Majumdar

· Nov 02, 2018 · 08:30 am

Can the emotional power of art (and religion) be the answer to the problems of the post-truth world?

Literary debate: A novelist asked questions about the ‘Hindu Left’. A scholar countered his views. Now the novelist writes back.

Saikat Majumdar

· Sep 23, 2018 · 05:30 pm

Is the modern world too close for comfort to write about? Two recent books show how it is being done

Tabish Khair’s ‘Night of Happiness’ and Anjum Hasan’s ‘A Day in the Life’ plunge headlong into the unmanageable contemporary.

Saikat Majumdar

· Jun 09, 2018 · 07:15 am

Why a liberal arts education should not (and does not) exclude the sciences

In his new book a university professor looks at the future of the college.

Saikat Majumdar

· Dec 14, 2017 · 06:30 pm

Fiction pick: God’s fingers (or, a dream debut and a forbidden pleasure)

A chapter from writer Saikat Majumdar’s novel-in-progress.

Saikat Majumdar

· Dec 25, 2016 · 11:30 am