What happens at a book launch event?
Step into the world of literary exploration as a student recounts a captivating journey through a book launch event for Dice of Dreams: A collection of stories/dreams to think, link and sink.
One of the +2 students came forward to make a presentation on the book launch that he attended in our club meeting. For most of us, this would be an interesting presentation as we have never had such an experience. Let me briefly describe.
What he shared with us. Even to him, attending a book launch was a novel experience. He told us that one of his intimate friend's mothers published a book titled Dice of Dreams: A collection of stories/dreams to think, link, and sink!- an anthology of short stories and poems. The function was held in a hall at the heart of the city, and about 100 attendees were present. Since I was with my friend all the time, he introduced me to all his family members and contacts. He mentioned that most of them were his mother's colleagues, friends, and relatives, besides a few reporters from the news media.
The function started with a few dignitaries seated on the stage who were to launch the book. Before its launch, they spoke about the writers unique contribution and the significance of the book for the readers. One of them quoted Francis Bacon, who categorised books into three types: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few are to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention." This title, he credited, belonged to the third category of "chewed and digested."
He then proceeded to justify why he heaped such praise: "It is a combo of stories and poems, as every story is preceded by a poem. The writer directs the readers to read the poem first and to reread it after reading the story. While the poem is read initially, it hardly reveals much, but when reread, after being familiar with the story, we could unravel the interconnectedness of them. A rare quality readers come across and a rarity even among iconic writers, but this author achieved this literary distinction in her debut work itself." Another speaker stressed the author's leniency towards her female characters, whom she portrayed much more intensely and graphically compared to male characters. This also led her to mention the necessity of more women writers to emerge in the male-dominated literary world, delving deep into women's consciousness from their own perspectives. The speaker, citing the authors working context (in a government department), stated it enabled her to shift the setting of her stories from the customary home context dealing with familial issues to the workspace, a fertile unexplored avenue which offered her scope for an intensive exploration of women's concerns. Almost all her female characters are professionals working in different contexts. One of her relatives highlighted the writer's penchant for narrating stories from her childhood onwards. Besides relaying the stories of the films that she had seen, she would also narrate her own stories captivatingly. The speaker was attempting to impress upon the audience the need to encourage creative narration among their children right from a young age onwards, which may facilitate them to become creative writers, like this writer.
The book had a dual launch: one is the physical book, followed by a trailer, which is about nine minutes was able to present the themes of all nine stories digitally very imaginatively. And the audio launch was accompanied by a few interesting samples with Indian voices, establishing an intimacy with them.
The book launch concluded with the writer thanking everyone for the wishes expressed how the occasion generated multiple feelings in her like happiness about her achievement, anxiety about the expectations of her future works, gratitude to those who stood with her, and nervousness about the reception this anthology would receive among the readers. The student ended with a note of happiness about the new experience he had gained and a lingering wish to become a writer himself.
Picture Credit : Google