Art and artists: Pune based organisation launches book ‘Unread’
The Pune edition of the book launch was hosted with Kala Ramesh and Siddharth Dasgupta, authors, as the chief guests at Koregaon Park had a very interactive and knowledgeable discussion about everything related to publishing with them
In an interactive art project, 99 writers from 30 cities such as Pune and Mumbai have come together to create Unread, a book. The book contains unpublished literary work by established authors, poets, and storytellers from across the country.
Sharanya Rajgopal from Terribly Tiny Tales (an online narrative platform); Kopal Khanna from Tape A Tale (a YouTube channel featuring storytellers ); Foram Shah from Spill Poetry (a YouTube channel featuring poets); Ajitabha Bose, author; Vinati Bhola, author; and Srishti Tehri, Instagram influencer are a few known names among artists who are part of this unusual project.
The equation behind the book is 99 + You = Unread. The 100th page of the book is blank. Kshitija Sarda, chief executing officer (CEO) and co-founder of Pune-based organisation, Platform For Artists, and the brains behind the Unread initiative said, “We have painters, illustrators and photographers who have created art on the 100th blank space. Unread is going to be more than just a book, because we want to go beyond featuring 10,000 artists now. We want artists from every corner of the country to be a part of this initiative and we hope it makes a difference in their life. That’s how Unread was born. The book is a dream come true for so many artists out there and our reward lies in their pride.”
The book was launched by Taapsee Pannu, actor, and Shweta Shalini, entrepreneur and advisor to the chief minister of Maharashtra in Mumbai, in the presence of contributors and their families. Post this, an Unread city tour is on where the team plans to cover 15 cities every months (month) across the country and host open mics, writing workshops, book reading sessions for the public as a part of the initiative.
The Pune edition of the book launch was hosted with Kala Ramesh and Siddharth Dasgupta, authors, as the chief guests at Koregaon Park had a very interactive and knowledgeable discussion about everything related to publishing with them. Ramesh said, “The most essential gift for a good writer is a built-in, shock-proof, shit detector.” Dasgupta gave valuable tips about how to proceed about putting work out into the world, how to get published and how to step back when one has a creative block.
