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Zubaan Books

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Zubaan Books
Parent companyKali for Women
StatusActive
Founded2003
FounderUrvashi Butalia
Country of origin India
DistributionPenguin Random House India (India trade)
Cambridge University Press (India academic)
University of Chicago Press (international print)
Diversion Books (international e-books)[1]
Nonfiction topicsconflict studies, health, human rights, gender justice, history, cultural studies, and feminist and queer theory
Fiction genresMany
ImprintsMany
Official websitewww.zubaanbooks.com

Zubaan Books is India's second feminist publishing house, set up in the year 2003.[2][3][4] It is based in New Delhi and publishes fiction, nonfiction, academic and children's books for, by and about women in South Asia.[5] It was founded by Urvashi Butalia and is an imprint of Kali for Women.[6]

History

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In 1984, Urvashi Butalia and Ritu Menon founded Kali for Women, India's first feminist publishing house. Its objectives were to publish quality work which meet international standards. Over the years it has become an important publishing house nationally and internationally.[4] As a successor to Kali for Women, Urvashi Butalia founded Zubaan in 2004.[citation needed] In 2011, Urvashi Butalia and Ritu Menon were jointly conferred the Padma Shri award, for their contribution to the nation by Government of India.[7]

In 2020, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zubaan worked to create PDFs of their entire collection, opening their ebookstore in August 2020.[8] They organised meetings and discussions on Zoom, including sessions on the impact of COVID-19.[8] They also had virtual photo exhibitions, writing workshops, and more.[8]

Meaning of Zubaan

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The word 'Zubaan' comes from Hindustani and means, literally, tongue, but it has many other meanings, such as voice, language, speech and dialect.[9]

Genres and imprints

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Zubaan has a considerable list of academic books examining issues of gender. It has a growing list of autobiographies of women, the best known of which is A Life Less Ordinary by Baby Halder. As part of its initiative to publish broadbased popular books, Zubaan regularly publishes fiction by women writers. Genres range from literary fiction to science fiction to speculative fiction. Under the imprint of Young Zubaan, there is also a growing list of fiction for the age group 6 to 18 including books like Riddle of the Seventh Stone.[3]

Zubaan also publishes general books: fiction as well as non-fiction that focuses on themes such as conflict studies, health, human rights, gender justice, history, cultural studies, and feminist and queer theory.[5]

The publishing house has also made efforts to promote writings from women authors from the Northeast region of India, for example, the anthology, Centrepiece: New Writing and Art from Northeast India, which features 21 artists and writers within the Northeast region.

Authors

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References

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  1. ^ "Distribution | Zubaan". Retrieved 12 February 2018.
  2. ^ Smruti Koppikar (16 August 2013). "Noted feminist to step down as director of Zubaa". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 16 August 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  3. ^ a b Ghoshal, Somak (20 January 2019). "Urvashi Butalia | I want to prove that feminist publishing can survive commercially". Live Mint.
  4. ^ a b "A Note from Zubaan Books". sacw.net. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  5. ^ a b "World Book Day: Here Are Five Independent Publishers Making A Mark In India". Outlook India. 29 April 2022. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  6. ^ Bahuguna, Urvashi (22 July 2017). "What winning the Goethe Medal means for feminist publisher Urvashi Butalia". Scroll.in. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  7. ^ "Padma Awards Announced" (Press release). Ministry of Home Affairs. 25 January 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  8. ^ a b c Zubaan, Urvashi Butalia and Team. "2021, The Year That Was: How Zubaan Books learnt to get back on its feet". thepunchmagazine.com/. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  9. ^ "ज़बान", Wiktionary, the free dictionary, 19 August 2023, retrieved 25 October 2023
  10. ^ Datta, Sudipta (21 July 2023). "Interview with Anungla Zoe Longkumer on editing The Many That I Am an anthology on Nagaland". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
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