When the present weighs heavily on a teacher of history

New Delhi, April 15 Bloomsbury India's Literary and Translations Publisher Sivapriya R has acquired World All Languages rights to Anjum Hasan's 'History's Angel' - a tale of the past and the present colliding - from Jacaranda Literary Agency in a three-way auction. This will be a worldwide publication for Bloomsbury Publishing, with Allegra Le Fanu acting as editor in the UK and Grace McNamee acting as editor in the US.

Alif is a middle-aged, mild-mannered schoolteacher of history, living at a time when Muslims in India are seen either as hapless victims or hostile aggressors. His profession sees him occupied with the past, but the present weighs heavily on him. One day, on a school trip to a glorious Mughal monument, a Hindu student needles Alif about being Muslim. In a fit of anger, he twists the boy's ear. Suddenly Alif is out of a job. His life descends into chaos. His home city, too, is engulfed by the shadow of violence.

Anjum Hasan is the author of three novels and two short story collections, which have been shortlisted for the Indian Academy of Letters Prize, the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Hindu Best Fiction Award and the Crossword Fiction Award. She was longlisted for the Man Asia Literary Prize and the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature. She is a recipient of the Homi Bhabha Fellowship, and in 2021 received the New India Foundation Fellowship. She was recently hailed by First Post magazine as a 'genius ... one of the finest Indian writers'.

Sivapriya R said: "Anjum Hasan is one of the best Indian writers at work now. Her writing is unflashy and lovely, marked by clarity of thought and depth of feeling. 'History's Angel' captures the glory and gloom of India past and present like no other novel. We are incredibly excited for it at Bloomsbury. It is not often we get to publish a novel that is engrossing, troubling and entertaining in equal measure."

Anjum Hasan said: "I am absolutely thrilled that that everyone at Bloomsbury and Jacaranda have put their faith in 'History's Angel'. It's a strange and lonely time to be a thinking person in India and I'm fighting my corner as a novelist here, asking what happens if people still cling to those once vaunted novelistic qualities - irresponsible daydreaming, intellectual pride, ethical doubt and love of language.