Mumbai:Nobel laureate V.S. Naipaul has flatly declared he would no longer write about India or its people, giving a shock to the who’s who of Mumbai’s literary circles and glitterati at the ongoing five-day literary festival here.

The Trinidadian-British Naipaul, of Indian origin, also broke down when asked a question about his significant literary creation ‘A House For Mr. Biswas’, penned over five decades ago.

As author Farrukh Dhondy asked him about the ‘big novel’ published way back in 1961, and how he started his literary career, Naipaul, 80, first did not reply and then broke down.

‘I have told this story so many times, but it is very moving…,’ he trailed off on the query about the book based on the life of father.

Intervening, his wife Nadira, who was present in the audience, requested Dhondy to proceed to the next question, at the well-attended Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest, where he (Naipaul) was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award late Wednesday night.

After that, Naipaul engaged in a moving discussion on the challenges of travel writing, his early struggle as a budding author, his experiences and exploration of India, and the death of his pet cat Augustus, presented by Dhondy last year.

‘My background is Indian and I have always been interested in it (India),’ he said on his decision to travel in India in 1962 for his next book ‘An Area of Darkness’.

‘When I started writing, I wanted my experiences to stay with me… I didn’t want the time to pass… the book was based on my internal discovery of India,’ he said.

Naipul then shocked and saddened the audience with his next remark. Saying he has written three books on India – two novels and one essay ‘as thick as a book’, he declared he would not write on it any longer.

‘I have written enough,’ he said.

The Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LifFest with master classes, literary sessions, workshops and performances opened Wednesday and will go on till Nov 4.

Top Indian writers and literary figures and experts from different fields will be speaking on variety of topics, while there will also be performances on plays or dramas by leading literary figures.

Some of the participants during the festival include Inua Ellams, Girish Karnad, Tanika Gupta, Anish Trivedi, and Chris Larner.

Kozhikode: Novelist, woman activist and environmentalist Sara Joseph has been chosen for this years prestigious Padmaprabha Literary Prize. The award consists of a cash prize of Rs.75, 000 and a citation. The award would be presented in a function to be held in Kalpetta during December 2012 and noted writer and veteran journalist Kuldip Nayyar will present the award. The jury comprising KP Ramanunni as president and Vijayalaskhmi and Rafeeq Ahmed as members elected Sara Joseph.

Sara Joseph worked as lecturer in Sree Neelakanda Verma Govt Sanskrit College, Pattampi and Government Victoria College, Palakkad and in Government College , Thrissur. Her major novels are Alahayude Penmakkal, Mattathi, Athi, Othappu and Oorukaval.

Kolkata: One of India’s most eminent writers and a stalwart of Bengali literature, Sunil Gangopadhyay, died of a heart attack in the early hours of Tuesday at his residence in Kolkata. He was 78.

Gangopadhyay, who was the President of the Sahitya Akademi, had a fall on the night of October 22 at his residence and hurt his shoulder. He passed away at 2:05 AM. Gangopadhyay’s body was taken to the funeral parlour ‘Peace Haven’ from the hospital where it will preserved till his cremation on Wednesday, according to a report on the Bengali news channel ABP Ananda.

Born on September 7, 1934, in Faridpur district of present day Bangladesh, the prolific poet and novelist was a connoisseur of Bengali literature. The author of short stories, novels, plays, critical commentary, travelogues and children’s literature had always maintained that poetry was his first love. His Nikhilesh and Neera series of poems are hugely popular.

Gangopadhyay, who used the pen-names ‘Nil Lohit’, ‘Sanatan Pathak’, and ‘Nil Upadhyay’ won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1985 for his extensively researched novel ‘Sei Samay’. His notable and best-selling works also include ‘Pratham Alo’ and ‘Purbo-Paschim’.

He was the winner of the Bankim Puraskar in 1982 and the Ananda Puraskar twice – in 1972 and 1989. Reacting to the news of his death, veteran Bengali poet Nirendranath Chakraborty said he has ‘lost his younger brother.’

‘I know Sunil since he was 15. He was like a young sapling then. Bengal not only lost a great author, but I have lost my younger brother,’ Chakraborty told the news channel.

His novels ‘Pratidwandi’ and ‘Aranyer Din Raatri’ were adapted into feature films by legendary filmmaker Satyajit Ray.

London: British author Hilary Mantel Tuesday won the Man Booker Prize for the second time for her best-selling novel “Bring Up The Bodies”.

She beat five other shortlisted titles including Will Self’s “Umbrella”, which was the bookmakers’ favourite, The Telegraph reported Tuesday.

Mantel, 60, received a cheque for 50,000 pounds at the event at Guildhall, London.

“Bring Up The Bodies” chronicles the downfall of Anne Boleyn through the eyes of Thomas Cromwell, chief minister to Henry VIII.

Peter Stothard, chairman of the judges, hailed Mantel as “the greatest English prose writer” of modern times.

Only two writers have won the prize twice before: JM Coetzee and Peter Carey, who hail from South Africa and Australia respectively.

Mantel last won the prize in 2009 for her novel “Wolf Hall”. Over 100,000 copies of “Bring Up The Bodies” have been sold so far in Britain

Thiruvananthapuram: This year’s Vayalar Rama Varma Literary Award was bagged by well known poet Akkitham for his poem `Anthimahakalam’. The award carries Rs 25,000, a silver plate and a plaque by the famous sculptor Kanayi Kunjiraman. The award would be presented to Akkitham on Vayalar Rama Varma’s death anniversary on October 27.

The Vayalar Award is given for the best literary work in Malayalam. The award was instituted in 1977 by the Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust in memory of the poet and lyricist Vayalar Ramavarma.

New Delhi: A Sethumadhavan, veteran Malayalam fictional writer, has been appointed as the chairman of National Book Trust (NBT).

Kabil Sibal, Minister of Human Resource Development, has signed the appointment order.

It is the first time a Malayalam writer is given the post after late Sukumar Azhikode.

Sethu has published more than 30 books.

He received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi awards in 1982 and 1978 for his works “Pandavapuram” and “Pediswapnangal”; and Vayalar Award for “Adyalangal” in 2005.

Sethu’s other literary works include “Pandavapuram”, “Velutha Koodarangal”, “Pedi Swapnangal”, “Thaliyola”, “Kiratham”, “Niyogam”, “Sethuvinte Kathakal” and “Kaimudrakal”.

He also served as the chairman of the South Indian Bank.

London: Women are more likely to be Facebook addicts and they have their genes to blame for it, a new study has claimed.

The study by researchers at the University of Bonn has shown new evidence of a genetic variant linked to Internet addiction, and the link occurred most frequently in women, the Daily Mail reported.

Lead author of the research Dr Christian Montag said it showed that Internet addiction is ‘not a figment of our imagination’.

The researchers interviewed 843 people about their Internet habits, eventually whittling the group down to 132 online addicts.

The addicts were then compared to a ‘healthy’ control group, and it emerged that the 132 subjects displaying problematic Internet behavior were more likely to be carriers of the genetic variation.

Those affected were most likely to be female.

“The sex-specific genetic finding may result from a specific subgroup of Internet dependency, such as the use of social networks or such,” Montag was quoted as saying by the paper.

Montag suggested that the popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter among women could be behind the trend, but added that further studies would be needed.

“It was shown that Internet addiction is not a figment of our imagination,” Montag, who is based at the Department for Differential and Biological Psychology at the University of Bonn, said.

The study showed that the thoughts of the addicts revolve around the Internet during the day; and a belief that their well-being is severely impacted if they have to go without access to the Internet.

The same genetic variation found to occur frequently in online addicts has already been linked to other forms of addiction, including nicotine addiction, and to loneliness and depression.

“What we already know about the nicotine acetylcholine receptor in the brain is that a mutation on the related gene promotes addictive behavior,” Montag said.