Reading on May 7

Toto Funds the Arts

in association with Suchitra's Centre for Film and Drama

is pleased to invite you to a discussion with the poet

Arundhathi Subramaniam

Arundhathi ' will read from her work and discuss the rewards and challenges of writing 'spiritual literature', speaking more specifically of her experience (as a seeker, rather than as a scholar) of writing about two mystics (The Book of Buddha and Sadhguru: More Than A Life), one dead, one alive!

She will be in dialogue with Lata Mani

Venue: Suchitra Film Society, #36, 9th Main, B.V.Karanth Road , BSK II Stage, Bangalore – 560070, Tel: +91-80-26711785

Date and time: Saturday, 7 May 2011, 6 p.m.

Arundhathi Subramaniam is a poet, editor, critic and cultural curator. She is the author of three books of poems, the most recent being Where I Live: New and Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Publishers, UK, 2009). She is also the author of two prose works, The Book of Buddha (Penguin, 2005) and Sadhguru : More Than A Life (Penguin, 2010), and co-editor of Confronting Love (Penguin, 2005), an anthology of contemporary Indian love poems. She is the Editor of the India domain of the Poetry International Web. Arundhathi has curated Indian classical dance and an interactive arts forum at the National Centre for the Performing Arts for several years.

Lata Mani writes on issues in spiritual philosophy, contemporary culture and politics. Her most recent book is SacredSecular: Contemplative Cultural Critique, Routledge 2009.

For those interested: The Book of Buddha (Penguin, 2005), Sadhguru: More Than A Life (Penguin, 2010) and SacredSecular: Contemplative Cultural Critique will be available at the venue.

Reading on May 6

Toto Funds the Arts

is delighted to invite you to a reading of her poetry by

Arundhathi Subramaniam

The poet will be in conversation with Arshia Sattar

Venue: Crossword Bookstore, ACR Towers, Ground Floor, 32 Residency Road, Bangalore - 1

Date and time: Friday, 6 May 2011 at 6.30 pm

Arundhathi Subramaniam is a poet, editor, critic and cultural curator. She is the author of three books of poems, the most recent being Where I Live: New and Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Publishers, UK, 2009). She is also the author of two prose works, The Book of Buddha (Penguin, 2005) and Sadhguru: More Than A Life (Penguin, 2010), and co-editor of Confronting Love (Penguin, 2005), an anthology of contemporary Indian love poems. She is the Editor of the India domain of the Poetry International Web. Arundhathi has curated Indian classical dance and an interactive arts forum at the National Centre for the Performing Arts for several years.

Arundhathi’s poetry has been published in national and international anthologies and journals, and translated into several languages, including Hindi, Tamil, Italian and Spanish.

Arshia Sattar is a writer, critic and translator based in Bangalore. Her widely acclaimed translations from the Sanskrit of tales from the Kathasaritsagara and the Valmiki Ramayana were published by Penguin Books in 1996. Arshia is a co-founder and director of Sangam House, an international writers’ residency programme that brings together writers from across the world to live and work among their peers in a safe, supportive and nurturing space.

Book Launch on April 15

Toto Funds the Arts

is pleased to invite you to

the launch of Aditya Sudarshan’s second novel,

Show Me A Hero

After the reading, Dr Arul Mani will be in conversation with the author

Venue: Crossword Bookstore, ACR Towers, Ground Floor, 32 Residency Road, Bangalore - 1

Date and time: Friday, 15 April 2011 at 6.30 pm

Aditya Sudarshan graduated from the National Law School in Bangalore in 2007, and has been writing fiction full-time since 2008. His first novel, A Nice Quiet Holiday, was published by Westland Books in 2009. His short stories have appeared in Penguin India's First Proof anthology, the Scientific Indian's Science Fiction anthology, Kindle Magazine, Reading Hour Magazine, and others. He also writes literary criticism for various papers, including The Hindu Literary Review, Biblio, Outlook and Tehelka. His second novel, Show Me A Hero, was published this January by Rupa and Co. Novels and short stories apart, Aditya is a regular scriptwriter for NDTV's political comedy show, "The Great Indian Tamasha", and the author of two stage-plays. He now lives in Mumbai.

Dr Arul Mani is a writer, literary critic and Reader at the Department of English,St Joseph’s College, Bangaore.

About the book: ‘Show Me A Hero does a fine job of ignoring the hazy line between literary and genre fiction’ –– Jai Arjun Singh

‘Perceptive and thought-provoking ….’ –– Saaz Aggarwal

‘It's the sort of book which forces the reader to put it down after every dozen pages and reflect.’ –– Epic India Magazine

‘Thankfully this “coming-of-age” novel isn’t about love, campus, girls, and the “regular” experiences of writers. This one is “hatke”.’ –– Book Chums