Is there a trend of writers from Europe and America coming to India to get their books published and earn recognition?
The question got new focus at the launch of Canadian writer Merlaine Hemstraat's new novel "Peacocks among the Tamarind Trees", a love story involving two doctors from Canada and India, here recently.
"Writers from other parts of the world come here looking for a bigger audience and accolade," says veteran journalist Dilip Bobb who attended the launch of Hemstraat's book published by New Delhi-based Palimpsest.
Indian writers would throng the West to get their books published but with e-books posing an ever-increasing challenge to publications there, industry experts indicate a reverse flow may have just begun.
The big and burgeoning Indian book publishing market and the country's effervescent literary culture have begun to attract both established and new writers from the either side of the Atlantic.
"If Jeffrey Archer came here to promote his new book earlier this year, now it is Hemstraat's turn to launch her book in India," says Bobb.
The trend, he says, was going to get stronger in the coming days.
"Indeed, India has emerged as the third biggest publishing hub after the US and the UK. If the title and story of Hemstraat's book are anything to go by, India looms large over the literary landscape as an influence," says the veteran writer.
