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blaft

@blaft@mastodon.social

South Indian indie publishing house. Tamil pulp fiction, Urdu detective novels, & Nigerian soyayya in translation. Comics. Ladies with monster boyfriends. More.
https://blaft.com

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blaft, (edited ) to folklore
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Editing a story for our Anti-Caste SF book, I have just been alerted to the fact that the colloquial expression for a "sunshower"--in languages ranging from the southern tip of India all the way to Korea and Japan--is "a wedding of foxes/jackals".

My mind is a little blown!

In the Philippines, it's a wedding of Tikbalangs!

There's a cool-looking academic paper about how this might have been transmitted, but it's in Korean

https://www.kci.go.kr/kciportal/ci/sereArticleSearch/ciSereArtiView.kci?sereArticleSearchBean.artiId=ART003068703

#sunshowers #folklore

blaft,
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@eternaltyro Apparently some people say kakaikkum kuruvikkum kalyanam

blaft, to random
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Supernatural love stories from Mizoram (featuring the bride-gobbling Phungpuinu), country tales from Tamil Nadu (featuring a naughty & dirty section), and ghostlore from all over the country (featuring 300+ demonic entities). Pick up some folklore today!

https://www.blaft.com/collections/new-arrivals

Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India by Rakesh Khanna & J. Furcifer Bhairav
Mizo Myths by Cherrie Lalnunziri Chhangte

blaft, to random
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New in our "Other Indies!" section: Comic zines by Sunny Kumari (a.k.a. Sunny Goes Bananas)

https://www.blaft.com/collections/other-indie-stuff-1

blaft, to random
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APPUPEN is one of India's most prolific graphic novelists. His work ranges from hallucinogenic fantasy to dystopian cyberpunk nightmare to biting political satire. Check out his first graphic novel MOONWARD, which we brought out in 2009:
https://www.blaft.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/moonward

Some of his more recent self-published work is available on our "Other Indies" page:
https://www.blaft.com/collections/other-indie-stuff-1

blaft, to random
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New in the Blaft webstore: Zines by Larchtongue!

We met Larchtongue at their Indie Comix Fest tables in Mumbai and Bengaluru and we love their work! These zines explore serious topics like queer marriage, the compulsion to create art even though you're broke, and the politics of privilege--but it's all expressed through wiggly lightning-vine lettering and shimmery cackling demons

https://www.blaft.com/collections/other-indie-stuff-1/larchtongue

Institutionalised by Larchtongue

blaft, to random
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Somehow missed this beautifully illustrated review of Kuzhali Manickavel's latest collection till just now

Buy CONVERSATIONS REGARDING THE FATALISTIC OUTLOOK OF THE COMMON MAN

https://t.co/H3hg7RgPdk

blaft,
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blaft, to random
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STUPID GUY GOES TO INDIA by Yukichi Yamamatsu now available in Europe! Free shipping!

https://www.sendaieditora.com/loja/p/india

blaft, to random
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G. Sandhwani illustrations for H.N. Golibar's Gujarati supernatural thriller novel "Kaal Kundali" (The Coils of Fate), 1993.

Translation to be included in The Blaft Anthology of Gujarati Pulp Fiction. Pre-order now!
https://www.blaft.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/the-blaft-anthology-of-gujarati-pulp-fiction

A policeman aims a rifle -- a couple argues over a ring - an old man looks distressed
A man attacks another man with a knife -- a woman in a sari attacks the first man from behind with a lamp
A figure looms over a doorway -- a woman screams -- a hand dangles a pair of handcuffs

blaft, to sciencefiction
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A favourite at Indie Comix Fests: PORTALPETTAI by Avakkai & Chukka is a portrait of a diverse South Indian community and its resilience in the face of an alien life force intrusion. In the sequel TROUBLE IN PORTALPETTAI, the gang goes to visit the Geargleplex! And in SAMUDRA RANI & THE MAA-LEES, a group of gardener robots are marooned on a distant asteroid, centuries in the future...

#Quirk #ScienceFiction #Zines #Dinosaurs #AndhraMeals #Robots #Vines #GiantLeeches

https://www.blaft.com/products/portalpettai

blaft, to random
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Now in our webstore -- A collection of books by other great Indian independent publishers and comics artists. Find titles from @bakarmax_ , @WorldOfHalahala, and @studioekonte. We'll be adding more indie comics and zines soon!

https://www.blaft.com/collections/other-indie-stuff-1

blaft,
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@ashwink 😁 😜

blaft,
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@ashwink @Sablebadger This seems to be the preferred method of browsing the book, and we endorse it 👻 glad y'all are enjoying

blaft, to random
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Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India -- an illustrated guide to the folkloric fiends of the subcontinent. Yakshis, yetis, yatudhanas, yamadutas, and much more!

India edition:
https://www.blaft.com/collections/new-arrivals/products/ghosts-monsters-and-demons-of-india

Watkins edition:
https://watkinspublishing.com/books/ghosts-monsters-and-demons-of-india/

Arakkan, a Tamil demon, illustration by Shyam
Newand Dokka - A chameleon demon from Chattisgarh. Illustration by Appupen
Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India front cover

blaft, to random
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We have a new section of our webstore for comics published by other Indian independents -- including the redoutable Bakarmax, a crew that started out doing webcomics about literal turds with magic powers, and has graduated to making smart, satirical graphic novels about the Maoist insurgency in India's Red Corridor and the Kashmir conflict.

Check it out!

https://www.blaft.com/collections/other-indie-stuff-1

Amar Bari Tomar Bari Naxalbari
Karejwa
Icchadhari Tatti

blaft, to random
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"A story in the Hausa language ended up entertaining me while also infinitely exasperating me."

Kalpana Mohan on SIN IS A PUPPY THAT FOLLOWS YOU HOME by Balaraba Ramat Yakubu

https://kalpanamohan.substack.com/p/sin-is-a-puppy-that-follows-you-home

(Buy the ebook:
https://www.blaft.com/products/sin-is-a-puppy-that-follows-you-home-ebook )

blaft, to random
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Earlier this month we took a trip to Ahmedabad, where we met with veteran pulp authors H.N. Golibar, Bansidhar Shukla, and Ekta Doshi, all of whom will be featured in our Gujarati Pulp Fiction anthology, scheduled for December.

Pre-order here: https://www.blaft.com/products/the-blaft-anthology-of-gujarati-pulp-fiction

The meeting with H.N. "Atom" Golibar and family was especially amazing!
🧵

blaft,
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Golibar told us a story about how in the early 1990s, he took a break from the magazine to go to Arabia on Hajj. In preparation for his leave, he speed-wrote a few weeks' worth of chapters for the novel that was currently being serialised. So attuned were his readers that they immediately noticed the rushed work and difference in style, and the magazine was met with a flood of complaints!

blaft,
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Magazine production was largely a family affair, involving H.N.Golibar's cousin Aslam Memon (who contributed a weekly ghost story), his son Mohsin Golibar (who wrote a science news column), and his wife Nazma Yunus Golibar, who wrote under the nickname Fatakadi ("Firecracker").

blaft,
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One of my personal favourite bits is Atom & Fatakadi's weekly Q&A column, which always features a cartoon of Fatakadi beating her husband up, often with a rolling pin or cricket bat.

blaft,
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Atomji and Fatakadi today:

blaft,
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Atom-ji's granddaughter Nausheen Golibar recounted to me how in the weeks leading up to the Diwali special edition, the whole family would be absent from home, sleeping at the office for days on end as they rushed the issue into print.

blaft,
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The magazine features incredible illustrations, many of them by the late G. Sandhwani, who lived several hours away in Jamnagar. Atom-ji recounted how he and Sandhwani used to send instructions for the illustrations, drafts, corrections, and final products back and forth between Jamnagar and Ahmedabad using the government bus driver as a courier. (He was paid in free copies.) Look at these beauts:

G Sandhwani Illustration from "The Magical Hammer"

blaft, (edited )
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The magazine went on indefinite hiatus during the pandemic, but there's talk of it starting up again. It was a real pleasure and honour for us to meet the royal family of Gujarati pulp fiction who were behind it for so many years. Many thanks to them for meeting and spending time with us--and also to Kickstarter campaign contributor Bharg Mankodi, who came along to act as interpreter!

blaft,
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@Loerwyn By the illustrious Nabi H. Ali!

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