Hilary Mantel - Man Booker Prize winner 2012

Finally the announcement has been made. It is Hilary Mantel, who wins the Man Booker Prize for the year 2012, for her book 'Bring up the Bodies'. In the ceremony that is being broadcasted live on BBC News, Mantel just finished her speech, which she wrapped up by thanking her publisher formally. The prize was announced during a dinner ceremony at London's medieval Guildhall. The winning author will receive a £50,000 prize, in addition to the £2,500 awarded to all six shortlisted writers.

Mo Yan sold out...

With Mo Yan winning the Nobel Prize in Literature for the year 2012, his books are selling like hot cakes. Within half an hour after the announcement was made, his books were sold out in China. 

 Mo's novel "Big Breasts & Wide Hips", which has been translated by Howard Goldblatt into English, narrates the tale of a mother, who goes through a period of intense struggle and numerous hardships; and also talks about the intertwined fates with Chinese people in the 20th century. One of Mo Yan's more recent work 'Frog' has quite explicitly and openly criticized his country, China's one-child family policy. This policy is said to have aided in controlling China's population explosion on the one side but on the flip side has spelled doom for the rural residents in the span of past 60 years. 

It is as if there is complete turn of tide in the direction of Mo Yan. First of all, is the 'sold out' tag that he earned within half an hour of his being declared as the winner of the most coveted literary prize, Nobel Prize in Literature - 2012. Second, it has been decided that his short novel, 'A Transparent Carrot', written in the year 1985, will be studied by senior students of high schools as part of their school curriculum. the novella describes the lives and inner worlds of ordinary Chinese people with the backdrop being countryside. The novella is famous for Mo's stylistic features used in writing. And it is for this very reason that it gained fame very quickly when it was published. The books boasts of sharp descriptions that are covered in fantastical light by the author. 

Some important points that need to be pondered upon by all the readers in every part of the world: Why does an author need to win a prize to get noticed and read? Why is that the author, who has been called as a man "who has no principles", is suddenly fit to be read in schools?

Nobel Prize in Literature 2012

The Permanent Secratary Press Release 11 October, 2012 The Nobel Prize in Literature 2012 Mo Yan The Nobel Prize in Literature for 2012 is awarded to the Chinese writer Mo Yan “who with hallucinatory realism merges folk tales, history and the contemporary”.

Parwaz - An Exhibition of Sculptures

'Parwaz' was an exhibition of Sculptures organized by Harminder Singh Boparai, a sculptor with a keen artistic sense, creativity and soaring imagination. His art pieces are his mouthpieces that speak volumes about his being an artist of high calibre. The following will highlight his achievements so far:

PARTICIPATION/EXHIBITION
# National Level Annual Exhibition by Indian Academy of Fine Arts (ASR), 2007, 2008, 2010
# Annual Exhibition by Lalit Kala Academy, Chandigarh 2008
# Annual Exhibition by Lalit Kala Academy, Punjab, 2010, 2011
# All India Exhibition Shimla 2011
# International Art Exhibition by SODEFA IN Chandigarh, 2012

GROUP SHOW
# Welcome Palace, Ludhiana, 2004
# Srijan, 2005 at Tac Art Gallery, Ludhiana
# Artist of Ludhiana, 2010
 # Kaleidoscope Group Show in Jalandhar, 2011
# Ireo Water Front, Ludhiana, 2012




AWARDS
# Gold Medal in Zonal Level Competition in 2001, 2002, 2003 by Punjabi University, Patiala
# Gold Medal in Inter-zonal competition 2002 held in Punjabi University, Patiala
# Awarded by Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Committee, 2006 Appreciation Award by Lalit Kala Academy, Chandigarh, 2011

Now let us have a look at the works at display in 'Parwaz' organised at Randhawa Art Gallery at P.A.U. campus in Ludhiana.