The Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi today held a function at the Central
State Library, Sector 34, to launch the publication of Pilgrimage to
Paradise: Sufi Tales from Rumi, written by Kamla Kapur. The book has
been published by Penguin in India and Mandala in the US.
The author has lived in Chandigarh for several years and is not based
in the US. She got her Bachelor's in English Honors from India, and
her Masters' Degree in literature from Kent State University,
Ohio,USA. She also took classes in creative writing from the
University of Iowa, and the University of California in San Diego.
Since 1985, Ms Kapur has been commuting between the USA and India.She
has recently completed her first novel, The Autobiography of Saint
Padma the Whore, and a fantasy novel, Malini in Whirlwood. She lives
half the year in a remote Kullu Valley in the Himalayas and the other
half in California, with her husband Payson R. Stevens.
Pilgrimage to Paradise presents the author’s passion for Sufi thought.
Inspired by Rumi, Kamla K. Kapur has reworked translations of thirty
of his stories—tales of wit, wisdom, and faith. The basis for Kapur’s
stories is Rumi’s six-volume Mathnawi, as translated from Persian by
Reynold A. Nicholson. Kapur puts her own spin on the stories, yet
remaining true to Rumi’s vision.
Presiding over the session, the noted theatre person, Neelam Mansingh,
who is also a personal friend of the author, expressed her
appreciation of the Kapur’s reworking of Sufi tales.
Earlier, Professor Manju Jaidka, Chairperson of the Chandigarh
Sahitya Akademi, announced that such events are a
routine part of theAkademi’s functioning. Two more book launches will be held in October.
On 7th October Ms S. Kalha will preside over the book launch of Neena
Kahlon’s book at the Library in Sector 34, and on 13th October the
Chandigarh Sahitya akademi will collaborate with Ratnasagar and
Collins Publishers to launch their new illustrated dictionary. The
event on the 13th will be chaired by Prof Rupin Desai of Delhi
University.
