Writer's Corner: ‘Barefoot and Pregnant' author Shinie Antony on Bengaluru's calming effect, publishers take on short stories

Indian Express

29-04-2025

Shinie Antony is an editor, writer, and compiler all rolled into one. For those Bangaloreans with an abiding interest in literature, she is also a prominent face as one of the original movers behind the Bangalore Literature Festival that draws bibliophiles every December.
Like many other writers from Bengaluru, Antony has noted the influence of the city on her work. As she puts it, in an email to The Indian Express, 'Bengaluru has had a calming effect on me, like coming home. I was here in the early 90s, and left for Mumbai, coming back here from Delhi in 2007. Immediately the city lay a cool palm on my forehead. My little desk is situated in some corner of this city and faces a particular view. I like the sameness of my days here and hope that grounding infuses what I write.'
She forayed into the world of writing through short stories. Antony recalls that early in her writing career, around 2002, publishers were of the opinion that short stories 'don't sell'.
She recalls, 'I had once interviewed Shashi Deshpande and she had told me to start with short stories, go on to long short stories, then short long ones and finally to long long ones…..I have no memory of how my first collection of stories, Barefoot and Pregnant, got published except that it seemed impossible.'
Antony has also delved into compiling volumes of short stories for publication, with multiple authors contributing to a theme.
She says, 'Any theme, like life itself, is treated differently by everyone. No two authors grasp an idea the same way, they bring so much of who they are and their own styles into it. Whether the theme is revenge or the whole business of being a woman, reader curiosity lies in studying what a writer comes up with'.
Like many veteran authors, her writing routine is whimsical – as she puts it, lingering over phone calls until she finally switches on her computer. According to her, 'I meet deadlines first, then go to the one or two files that contain half-done stories. If the stories do not meet me halfway, I listen to music. I love Tamil and Malayalam folk songs, also old Christian hymns. These then either distract me completely or bring me back in some mysterious way to my story.'
One of the major contributions of Shinie Antony to Bengaluru's literary scene is the two-day Bangalore Literature Festival. As every year draws to a close, authors and fans of books from around the world assemble at the Lalit Ashok Hotel, the venue of the Bangalore Literature Festival, which is a mere stone's throw from where Mahatma Gandhi himself held court before his disciples in 1927.
In the initial years, the event faced several challenges, which were largely financial. Once that problem was solved, after every festival, the focus shifted to preparing for the next edition.
'Grand visions and curation were the easy part, but funds had to be real, countable. But once the festival became community-funded, it took on a dreamlike quality. No ads, no sponsors, only people. Every year, we must unlock a secret: 'What does Bangalore want to read now?' The festival has grown beyond its organisers, it belongs completely to the city. The preparations are yearlong. We are always hearing of this book or that book, and we are not fixated only on the latest or the newest. The team is filled with passionate readers, and this translates into loud rows or giggles during the planning stage,' she says.