Sunday December 30, 2007
Davidar in a nutshell
David Davidar was born in Kerala, India, in 1959. He is a graduate of Madras University and Harvard, where he obtained a diploma in publishing.
After working as a journalist and while still in his mid 20s, Davidar founded Penguin India with a budget of just US$10,000.
The company published a mere six titles in 1987, but later became one of Asia’s biggest publishing houses with revenues running into millions.
Davidar’s first novel, The House of Blue Mangoes, published in 2002, is a sweeping epic, which chronicles three generations who witness major events in the history of India.
Not wanting to take advantage of his publishing connections, Davidar sent out the novel under a pseudonym, only coming clean when an agent expressed a wish to meet the author.
The book was a critical success and has been translated into 16 languages. It was also a New York Times Notable Book in 2002.
In 2004, Davidar transferred to Penguin Canada where he orchestrated a similarly remarkable turn-around in the company’s fortunes.
Authors that Davidar has published include Salman Rushdie, Kiran Desai, Arundhati Roy, Vikram Seth, Rohinton Mistry, William Dalrymple, Shashi Tharoor, Philip Roth, Zadie Smith, Khaled Hosseini, Hisham Matar and Alice Munro.
His new novel, The Solitude of Emperors, was released in September.
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