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Courtesans Don’t Read Newspapers

Courtesans Don’t Read Newspapers

Literary Indian Short Stories | Raw & Real Tales of Power, Poverty & the Quiet Politics of Survival | By the Bestselling Author of Nagarvadhuyein Akhbar Nahi Padhtin

Anil Yadav
,
Vaibhav Sharma
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Nothing is as it seems, yet it is more so . . .

Anil Yadav chooses to tell stories that force you to stretch your emotions, question the world of privilege as the characters begin to find their way somewhere deep within you.
In Courtesans Don’t Read Newspapers a reporter faces the moral dilemma of reporting a conspiracy threatening the existence of a colony of prostitutes. Lord Almighty. . . is a socio-political take on the condition of those on the fringes of society where a riot can both destroy and save them. In The Magic of Certain Old Clothes vanity is explored very subtly through secondhand clothes. The Folk Singer’s Swan Song tells the story of a singer where his music gets inextricably linked to politics and power. R.J. Saheb’s Radio delves through the themes of past and present, the rich and the poor, The road to the other world is a poignant tale of loss, a story of a memory.
Strange things make complete sense in Yadav’s stories. You imagine that this is a different world, but it’s the same world with a deeper, sharper, more focused lens.

Imprint: Ebury Press

Published: Aug/2025

ISBN: 9780143468301 (Paperback)

Length : 224 Pages

MRP : ₹299.00

Courtesans Don’t Read Newspapers

Literary Indian Short Stories | Raw & Real Tales of Power, Poverty & the Quiet Politics of Survival | By the Bestselling Author of Nagarvadhuyein Akhbar Nahi Padhtin

Anil Yadav
,
Vaibhav Sharma

Nothing is as it seems, yet it is more so . . .

Anil Yadav chooses to tell stories that force you to stretch your emotions, question the world of privilege as the characters begin to find their way somewhere deep within you.
In Courtesans Don’t Read Newspapers a reporter faces the moral dilemma of reporting a conspiracy threatening the existence of a colony of prostitutes. Lord Almighty. . . is a socio-political take on the condition of those on the fringes of society where a riot can both destroy and save them. In The Magic of Certain Old Clothes vanity is explored very subtly through secondhand clothes. The Folk Singer’s Swan Song tells the story of a singer where his music gets inextricably linked to politics and power. R.J. Saheb’s Radio delves through the themes of past and present, the rich and the poor, The road to the other world is a poignant tale of loss, a story of a memory.
Strange things make complete sense in Yadav’s stories. You imagine that this is a different world, but it’s the same world with a deeper, sharper, more focused lens.

Buying Options
Paperback / Hardback

Anil Yadav

Anil Yadav is a writer and a journalist well renowned for both his fiction and non-fiction, the novella Gausevak and the travelogue Keeda Jadi being his best-known works. For the former, he was awarded the coveted Hans Katha Samman in 2019. For his research centred on Naxalism and tribal life, he travelled to remote regions in the north-eastern part of India. He was also awarded a media fellowship by the Centre for Science and Environment. His other published
works include Is That Even a Country, Sir!, an account of his travels in North-east India; Sonam Gupta Bewafa Nahi Hai, a collection of editorials; and Anya Kahaniyan aur Aprem, a short story collection. He has translated Indians: A Brief History of a Civilization into Hindi as well. Courtesans Don’t Read Newspapers is his second work to appear in English.

Vaibhav Sharma

Vaibhav Sharma is the translator of Under the Night Jasmine (2024) and Courtesans Don’t Read Newspapers (2025). He was selected for the 2023 NCW Emerging Translators
Mentorship Program and was mentored by International Booker Prize-winner Daisy Rockwell. His work has been published in Out of Print, Words Without Borders, Hans, Modern Poetry in Translation, Nayi Dhara, The Bombay Literary magazine and Himal magazine. He was shortlisted for both the 2023 and 2026 iterations of the Armory Square Prize for South Asian Literature in Translation. He was also
shortlisted for the Mozhi Prize in 2024. He is currently working on a translation of Kamleshwar’s novel Ek Sadak Sattawn Galiyaan.

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