If you’ve seen Sam Perera in full editor mode, you might have trouble imagining him striding across a paddy field, mammoty in hand.
As the man responsible for compiling the e-newsletter Culture Vulture every month, Sam seems rooted in the city; and as one half of Perera Hussein Publishing House (Ph) he seems equally comfortable in his role as a publisher. But Sam is a farmer at heart. Every other week, he flees Colombo, heading out to a plot of land that he and his wife Ameena Hussein own.
When they met, Ameena told Sam that she had always dreamt of setting up her own publishing house and of replanting deforested land. Sam committed himself to realising that vision and four years into their marriage, the two founded Ph.
Since it opened its doors in 2003, Ph has published many noteworthy authors, including Yasmine Gooneratne, David Blacker, Manuka Wijesinghe, Carl Muller and Ashok Ferrey. “Although it’s very hard work, publishing relatively unknown authors and providing them with a springboard to fame is quite exciting,” says Sam, adding, “planting trees in drought-ridden Puttalam is another impossible dream, but one that I’m passionate about.” It’s also a rewarding way of reducing their carbon footprint.
But Sam is still plugged in- to Colombo - so much so that when friends complained that there was nothing to do and that events were too expensive, he created Culture Vulture.
“I wanted to show that on any given evening there are at least three different new things you could do and that at least one would be free,” he says (email ph-books@sltnet.lk if you’d like to get on the mailing list). In the middle of all this he finds time to read through several manuscripts a month, looking for “cutting edge fiction which is well written, coherent and error free.”
Next year should be a good one for Ph – among their new titles will be Karen Roberts’ ‘August’ - the sequel to ‘July’ he says, deadpan. Giving in, he reveals the title is actually ‘The Lament of the Dhobi Woman’ and that it has nothing to do with ‘July’. “Keep an eye open for it. It should be a hit.”
What are you reading now?
The best part of my job is that I get to read books long before they go into print. I’m reading about five books that will be published next year. Among the published books, I’m reading ‘A case of Exploding Mangoes’, by Mohammed Hanif.
Are you enjoying it?
Yes, it’s a remarkably well written ‘first book’ and the type of book I’d like Ph to do. It seems like there is a host of articulate and informed journalists who are writing novels, whom we can access with relative ease: Mohammed Hanif writes critically of the Pakistani govt. without ever seeming like he’s delivering a lecture or has a political stance and introduces so much subtle background info that you are drawn into the fear psychosis of that time; and Amit Varma who wrote ‘My friend Sancho,’ with its wacky sense of humour, being able to stay away from exoticising India. Both of them will be at the 2010 Galle Lit Fest. And of course, there’s Fatima Bhutto.
Where do you like to read?
Leisure reading: in bed, everything else, at my desk, more often than not, on my computer. I’m a compulsive editor and can’t help fine-tuning everything I read.
If you could add any three authors to the PH stable, who would they be and why?
Gautam Malkani, Rawi Hage, Indra Simha - all three for their snappy use of contemporary language, fast pace and confident style. The way they take the action forward has me turning pages like there is no tomorrow. So far, Ph has only done the best local authors but we should expand to include the region.
Which is the one book you would never lend? Is there a book you’re particularly grateful someone lent you?
I’m not possessive about books. I give away the ones I’ve read. A friend lent me a Spanish-English dictionary. I was so taken up, I ended up learning the language. True, I’ve forgotten most of it, but languages are like riding bicycles, you never forget completely. So, that’s one book I’m grateful I borrowed.
What rules your bookshelves, genre wise?
Dictionaries, thesaurus, grammar books, writing style guides (I realise this is a boring selection).
2009 is nearly over. What were your favourites among this year’s crop of published novels?
I read these this year and recommend them highly:
A Chinese-English Dictionary for lovers - Xiaolu Guo (This is such a marvellous book, and so cleverly edited. You begin by thinking: what’s going on, hasn’t anyone edited this? and realise as you go on that the narrator’s grasp and command of the language increases with time, and that with time the author finds words to describe her bitter-sweet love story.)
Towelhead - Alicia Erian (A deeply disturbing and hilarious story about child-abuse. I know this sounds like a bizarre contradiction, but this is among the finest provocative fiction that I have read.)
A Golden Age - Tahmima Anam (whom I heard at the last GLF and was so impressed, I had to buy her book. Again, this is a political commentary without over-dramatisation and unnecessary hectoring.)
Half of a Yellow Sun - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (I’m waiting for the day when someone writes about the Sri Lankan conflict with such depth, feeling and balance. This type of powerful story-telling is probably what publishers dream about.)
What was the first book PH published? What made you choose that particular manuscript?
Ameena’s book ZILLIJ. It went on to win the State Literary Award and enabled us to finance other authors. The biggest plus was that I didn’t have to pay Ameena royalties on time and could use that money to make the business grow.
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