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Indian authors watch Kaavya story unfold
Published on Sat, Apr 29, 2006 at 13:36, Updated at Sat, Apr 29, 2006 in Entertainment section
Tags: Opal Mehta, Kaavya Vishwanathan , New York
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Kaavya was Harvard's Ms Popular
Well before she became famous as the Harvard student plagiarising Kaavya Viswanathan was the kind of person others noticed.
New York: Kaavya Viswanathan's publisher Little, Brown may have withdrawn her book How Opal Mehta Got Kissed, Got Wild, and Got a Life and cancelled her promotional tour to London, but that hasn't restricted the buzz in literary circles.
As the debate over plagarism does the rounds, Indian writers in the United States are nervously watching the story unfold.
The community of Indian writers in America has been closely following the controversy over charges of plagiarism.
The general view is that established authors will not be hurt, but aspiring novelists may face some blowback.
Says author of An Obedient Father, Akhil Sharma, "I think with the new writers it might cause some problems. Because you begin thinking this person has, sort of, muddied the waters. It'll be hard to get press because people will say, 'Oh, we've already covered a novel like this and that novel had this controversy or stigma attached to it.' So I think the woman has done harm to other Indian writers."
Author Suketu Mehta refused to comment on this issue since he shares his literary agent, Suzanne Gluck of William Morris, with Kaavya Viswanathan.
Others are equally reluctant to talk about it because they are concerned this has exposed the "dirty" underbelly of publishing.
Some, like Kiran Desai, the author of The Inheritance of Loss think the controversy will blow over.
"It is after all just one book. It doesn't mean we're all cheats, I'm not saying she's a cheat. The truth is probably extremely complicated," says Desai.
This book may no longer be available in American book stores, but the impact it'll have on Indian writers will outlast its shelf life.
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