@blaft@mastodon.social
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blaft

@blaft@mastodon.social

South Indian indie publishing house. Tamil pulp fiction, Urdu detective novels, & Nigerian soyayya in translation. Comics. Ladies with monster boyfriends. More.
https://blaft.com

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blaft, to sciencefiction
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A favourite at Indie Comix Fests: PORTALPETTAI by Avakkai & Chukka is a portrait of a diverse South Indian community and its resilience in the face of an alien life force intrusion. In the sequel TROUBLE IN PORTALPETTAI, the gang goes to visit the Geargleplex! And in SAMUDRA RANI & THE MAA-LEES, a group of gardener robots are marooned on a distant asteroid, centuries in the future...

#Quirk #ScienceFiction #Zines #Dinosaurs #AndhraMeals #Robots #Vines #GiantLeeches

https://www.blaft.com/products/portalpettai

blaft, to random
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Now in our webstore -- A collection of books by other great Indian independent publishers and comics artists. Find titles from @bakarmax_ , @WorldOfHalahala, and @studioekonte. We'll be adding more indie comics and zines soon!

https://www.blaft.com/collections/other-indie-stuff-1

blaft,
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@ashwink 😁 😜

blaft,
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@ashwink @Sablebadger This seems to be the preferred method of browsing the book, and we endorse it 👻 glad y'all are enjoying

blaft, to random
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Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India -- an illustrated guide to the folkloric fiends of the subcontinent. Yakshis, yetis, yatudhanas, yamadutas, and much more!

India edition:
https://www.blaft.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/ghosts-monsters-and-demons-of-india

Watkins edition:
https://watkinspublishing.com/books/ghosts-monsters-and-demons-of-india/

Arakkan, a Tamil demon, illustration by Shyam
Newand Dokka - A chameleon demon from Chattisgarh. Illustration by Appupen
Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India front cover

blaft, to random
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We have a new section of our webstore for comics published by other Indian independents -- including the redoutable Bakarmax, a crew that started out doing webcomics about literal turds with magic powers, and has graduated to making smart, satirical graphic novels about the Maoist insurgency in India's Red Corridor and the Kashmir conflict.

Check it out!

https://www.blaft.com/collections/other-indie-stuff-1

Amar Bari Tomar Bari Naxalbari
Karejwa
Icchadhari Tatti

blaft, to random
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"A story in the Hausa language ended up entertaining me while also infinitely exasperating me."

Kalpana Mohan on SIN IS A PUPPY THAT FOLLOWS YOU HOME by Balaraba Ramat Yakubu

https://kalpanamohan.substack.com/p/sin-is-a-puppy-that-follows-you-home

(Buy the ebook:
https://www.blaft.com/products/sin-is-a-puppy-that-follows-you-home-ebook )

blaft, to random
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Earlier this month we took a trip to Ahmedabad, where we met with veteran pulp authors H.N. Golibar, Bansidhar Shukla, and Ekta Doshi, all of whom will be featured in our Gujarati Pulp Fiction anthology, scheduled for December.

Pre-order here: https://www.blaft.com/products/the-blaft-anthology-of-gujarati-pulp-fiction

The meeting with H.N. "Atom" Golibar and family was especially amazing!
🧵

blaft,
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The highlight for us was learning about the history of the Gujarati magazine and pop culture institution Chakram Chandan--founded as "Chakram" in 1949 by N.J.Golibar, a member of Ahmedabad's Kutchi Memon Muslim community. Before getting into publishing, the senior Golibar began his career selling sweets known as "Goli"; he got his name from his hawker cry, "Ek anna, goli bar" (12 golis for 1 anna).

blaft,
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When N.J. died in 1966, his son H.N.Golibar took over the magazine--at the tender age of 15 (!)--managing operations while he was still in school. In 1970, after finishing his studies, H.N.Golibar added "Chandan" to the magazine's title, and soon started serialising his own science fiction and supernatural thriller novels in the pages, earning the nickname "Atom".

blaft, (edited )
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In 1976, a colleague told him that a weekly magazine could never survive without selling space for advertisements. Golibar took it as a challenge--he stopped running ads and kept Chakram Chandan completely ad-free for another 45 years. (Remember: not monthly, but weekly!!!)

blaft,
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At its zenith, during the serialisation of Golibar's bestselling supernatural thriller Jantar Mantar, the magazine had a circulation of 1,25,000 copies. Chakram Chandan was especially popular in Bombay, where it was championed by Golibar's close friend Abid Surti, creator of the Hindi comic superhero Bahadur. Special orders of the magazine came in from as far away as Khartoum, Sudan, where 30 or so Gujarati families used to congregate in the community hall at the Indian embassy for a group read.

blaft,
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Golibar told us a story about how in the early 1990s, he took a break from the magazine to go to Arabia on Hajj. In preparation for his leave, he speed-wrote a few weeks' worth of chapters for the novel that was currently being serialised. So attuned were his readers that they immediately noticed the rushed work and difference in style, and the magazine was met with a flood of complaints!

blaft,
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Magazine production was largely a family affair, involving H.N.Golibar's cousin Aslam Memon (who contributed a weekly ghost story), his son Mohsin Golibar (who wrote a science news column), and his wife Nazma Yunus Golibar, who wrote under the nickname Fatakadi ("Firecracker").

blaft,
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One of my personal favourite bits is Atom & Fatakadi's weekly Q&A column, which always features a cartoon of Fatakadi beating her husband up, often with a rolling pin or cricket bat.

blaft,
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Atomji and Fatakadi today:

blaft,
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Atom-ji's granddaughter Nausheen Golibar recounted to me how in the weeks leading up to the Diwali special edition, the whole family would be absent from home, sleeping at the office for days on end as they rushed the issue into print.

blaft,
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The magazine features incredible illustrations, many of them by the late G. Sandhwani, who lived several hours away in Jamnagar. Atom-ji recounted how he and Sandhwani used to send instructions for the illustrations, drafts, corrections, and final products back and forth between Jamnagar and Ahmedabad using the government bus driver as a courier. (He was paid in free copies.) Look at these beauts:

G Sandhwani Illustration from "The Magical Hammer"

blaft, (edited )
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The magazine went on indefinite hiatus during the pandemic, but there's talk of it starting up again. It was a real pleasure and honour for us to meet the royal family of Gujarati pulp fiction who were behind it for so many years. Many thanks to them for meeting and spending time with us--and also to Kickstarter campaign contributor Bharg Mankodi, who came along to act as interpreter!

blaft,
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@Loerwyn By the illustrious Nabi H. Ali!

blaft, to random
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Back in stock:

Yukichi Yamamatsu's STUPID GUY GOES TO INDIA

Kuzhali Manickavel's THINGS WE FOUND DURING THE AUTOPSY

Ki. Rajanarayanan's WHERE ARE YOU GOING, YOU MONKEYS? -- FOLKTALES FROM TAMIL NADU

Avakkai & Chukka's PORTALPETTAI

We ship worldwide!

https://www.blaft.com/collections/new-arrivals

blaft, to random
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“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”

Happy Malcolm X Day

blaft, to random
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Last day for this!

(If you have a pitch for a translation, the translation doesn't have to be complete!)

https://www.blaft.com/blogs/news/call-for-submissions

blaft, to random
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Reprinted and back in stock on our website: STUPID GUY GOES TO INDIA, an autobiographical manga chronicling the adventures of Yukichi Yamamatsu, whose missionary zeal for spreading manga culture inspired him to leave Japan for the first time at the age of 56 to move to Delhi, without knowing any English or Hindi, and try to start a publishing company. Hilarious hi-jinks ensue!

https://www.blaft.com/products/stupid-guy-goes-to-india

Translated by Kumari Sivasubramanian

blaft,
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@sahil Try again with a refresh?

blaft,
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@MidniteLibrary @misty ha!

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