"I am an aquatic creature who can be terrestrial" - Author Yumlam Tana

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Yumlam Tana belongs to the Nyishi tribe of the state of Arunachal Pradesh. He is also a former member of the General Council of Lalit Kala Akademi, New Delhi and his poems have appeared in anthologies such as First Proof-4 by Penguin India (2008), Anthology of Poetry from Northeast India by Northeast Hills University (2003) and Border Lands of Asia by Cambria Press, Amherst, New York,2017. Besides, he has to his credit two books of verse ‘The Man and The Tiger’ and ‘The Wind Also Sings’ and two volumes of comics on Nyishi Folk Tales. At present, he lives in Jully village, Itanagar with his wife and three children.

INTERVIEW:

Q. Characterize Yourself in one word?

Wishful

Q. Please describe what the story/book is about in one sentence.

Unlearning our tribal past to understand our present and the future.

Q. Briefly, what led you up to this book? What were you writing (getting published, if applicable) before breaking out with this book?

I had always harbored a secret dream to write a novel and it was a fulfillment of the wish. I was writing poems some of which were featured in very respectable anthologies in India and abroad. It kind of gave me a push and egged me on to complete this book.

Q. What has been your biggest achievement?

Not any so far but hopeful and WISHFUL.

Q. Looking back, what did you do right that helped you break-in?

I am a state government employee and to finish writing this book when an opportunity came to get a posting where I would not be so busy with my official works I jumped at it and have not regretted ever since. I could write without any distractions for a few months.

Q. Did you have a platform in place? On this topic, what are you doing to build a platform and gain readership?

Honestly, I am still a novice in this field and have not much idea about having a platform and building readership.

Q. Favorite book?

Was “A farewell to Arms” till I graduated and lately I have really loved Hillary Mantel’s “Wolf Hall’.

Q. Something personal about you people may be surprised to know?

I am an aquatic creature who can be terrestrial.

Q. Future of SALISMANIA.com through your eyes.

Looks promising and hope it turns out to be the right place for genuine readers to find and read books. My best wishes to the promoters of SALSMANIA.com.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

"Revenge is a dish best served cold." Who would understand this better than the ancestors of the Nyishi tribe of Arunachal Pradesh who lived in a vicious circle of revenge.

A slave falls in love with the favourite wife of his old master. A pair of hornbills courts each other and seeks a nesting place on a tree deep inside the canopies of a tropical forest. A shaman who has been bested in love by a village bumpkin let loses a bloodbath out of spite for his rival in love.

A young man taking advantage of the development process with the coming of the Hariangs (non-tribals) wants to embrace modern life after availing good educational opportunities.

Their lives get intertwined in the version of the story narrated by one of them; where the quotidian and bizarre, natural and supernatural are blended together in this surreal and cautionary tale of love, longing and existential angst under a changed circumstance of the tribe's history.

PUBLISHER: Leadstart Publishing Pvt Ltd

PAGES: 205

GENRE: Anthologies

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