Press Coverage
Ajay Kamalakaran's books have been widely reviewed in the press. Check out a sample of recent articles, interviews and profiles below. For media inquiries, please get in touch.
Outlook India reviews A Week in the Life of Svitlana
Outlook
"The author packs gentle humour in Svitlana’s reflections and curiosities about the new trends emerging in Moscow with the opening up of the economy, even as she navigates her life through the treacherous landscape of propaganda news, street vigilantism and street crime, arrogance of the nouveau riche and her encounters with urban poverty." Read more here.
A review of the novella from Chennai
The New Indian Express
"A week in the life of Svitlana is Ajay Kamalakaran’s ode to modern Moscow, an earnest attempt to offer the world a glimpse of the cold city’s ordinary people and their everyday lives. Between 120-odd pages and seven days in the fictional world, he makes sure you get to know quite a bit about the place — it’s architecture (old and new), subway system, civic vigilantism, the divide between the haves and have-nots, the increasing influx of migrants and their place in the way of life, the polarisation over Ukraine and the instability of the Russian ruble." Read more here.
Russia Beyond reviews Globetrotting for Love
Russia Beyond
Sakhalin was home to Russia’s largest penal colony, and Chekhov called it "hell." On 19th century Sakhalin, the famous writer encountered lice and bedbugs, starvation, suicide, floggings and forced prostitution, but also found time to describe the velvety grass and salty sea mists.
More than a century later, RBTH’s Guest Editor for Asia Ajay Kamalakaran repeated Chekhov’s journey and tried to depict the island that balances between negative aspects of modern life (poor roads, bureaucracy, corruption, cold), and the fleeting moments of happiness and beauty. Read more