At a time when conversations around identity, citizenship, caste, gender and memory continue to shape public discourse in India, the latest releases from Orient Blackswan arrive as urgent and deeply relevant literary interventions. Spanning political thought, Dalit writing, Adivasi histories, transgender selfhood and wartime memory, these books move beyond conventional academic and autobiographical frameworks to document lived experiences from the margins as well as the centre of power. Together, they map the anxieties, exclusions, resistances and transformations that define contemporary India. From reflections on religion and nationalism to intimate stories of survival, community and self-assertion, this new list foregrounds voices often overlooked in mainstream publishing while opening critical conversations on democracy, belonging and social justice. For readers seeking intellectually engaging Indian non-fiction and translated literature rooted in real histories and lived realities, these titles offer some of the most compelling reads of the season.
State, Nation, Religion: Politics and the Public Sphere in Modern India
By Ishita Banerjee-Dube and Avishek Ray
Price: ₹1240
This incisive edited volume examines the intersections of religion, nationalism and democratic politics in modern India. Bringing together fourteen essays, the book interrogates the blurred boundaries between the secular and the religious, while tracing how colonial histories continue to shape contemporary public life. From debates around citizenship and law to the politics of Kashmir and Northeast India, the collection offers a critical framework to understand the evolving relationship between state power, identity and faith in twenty-first-century India.
Prisoner of War: Testimonio of Suhasini Biswas
By Jayati Gupta
Price: ₹550
Reconstructed through letters, archival fragments and personal notes, this remarkable work retrieves the forgotten story of Suhasini Biswas, a Bengali schoolteacher imprisoned in a Japanese internment camp during the Second World War. Moving between personal memory and transnational political history, the narrative illuminates wartime trauma, colonial tensions and survival from the perspective of a civilian woman caught within the violence of empire.
A Chandalini Speaks
By Kalyani Thakur Charal
Translated by Anurima Chanda
Price: ₹470
A powerful collection of translated non-fiction writings, this volume brings together the voice of one of Bengal’s most significant Dalit writers. Through essays that are personal, political and deeply observant, Kalyani Thakur Charal reflects on caste, labour, ecology, feminism and the erased histories of Dalit women. Rich in lived experience and cultural memory, the collection expands the landscape of contemporary Dalit literature in translation.
Life of a Raavulan
By P. K. Kariyan with Fazeela Mehar
Translated by V. Prathiba
Price: ₹500
Translated from the Malayalam Oru Raavulante Jeevithapusthakam, this autobiographical narrative chronicles the life of renowned Gaddika performer and activist P. K. Kariyan. Blending folklore, political history and personal testimony, the book revisits the struggles of Kerala’s Adivasi communities while foregrounding questions of land, dignity, cultural preservation and resistance. It is both a life story and a record of collective memory.
No Blushes
By Renju Renjimar with Sonya J. Nair
Price: ₹545
In this candid memoir, celebrity makeup artist and transgender activist Renju Renjimar traces her extraordinary journey from social exclusion and financial hardship to professional success and self-definition. Through stories of resilience, friendship, love and identity, No Blushes also documents the wider struggles of Kerala’s transgender community and the ongoing fight for dignity, visibility and rights in contemporary India.
