Frontlist | Irwin Sealy to pen imagined memoir of Ashoka The Great

Author Irwin Allan Sealy will come out with an imagined memoir of Ashoka The Great, the emperor who went from masterminding one of the biggest and deadliest wars to becoming one of the most profound advocates of non-violence. ASOCA: A Sutra will be released under Penguin Random House’s Viking imprint in July. In the book, Sealy aims to transport readers to a time and place that is remarkable with his prose. “With Asoca, I’m delighted to be back with old friends at Penguin,” says Sealy. Earlier, Penguin had published the 30th-anniversary edition of his debut novel The Trotter-Nama. Ashoka The Great ruled most of the Indian Subcontinent and played a pivotal role in the spread of Buddhism from India to other parts of Asia in the 3rd century BC. Manasi Subramaniam, executive editor and head of literary rights at Penguin Random House India, terms the book as an incendiary, powerful work that appears to combine the very best of Sealy’s preceding books. “Slipping easily from mock gravitas to straightforward humour, his infinite variety is on full display here. It’s a rich, dark-but-whimsical parable about nationhood and violence and religion and personal dilemmas,” she says. Sealy is a Padma Shri and Sahitya Akademi Award winner. His Trotter-Nama, which was published in 1988 by Knopf, tells the story of seven generations of an Anglo-Indian family. Read More: From a translation of Sane Guruji’s Shyamchi Aai to Yashaswini Chandra’s The Tale of the Horse, our picks Source: Indian Express