Brought out by publisher HarperCollins India,
Longform: An Anthology of Graphic Narratives, a 400-page thick volume of stories, is the first of its kind in India. The brainchild of four experts in the field of narratives -- Sarbajit Sen, Debkumar Mitra, Pinaki De and Sekhar Mukherjee --
Longform Volume 1 brings the genre to the forefront and initiates the conversation about comics in India with a strong footing, besides bringing lesser-known artists into the limelight.
To be published annually as an anthology of graphic tales,
Longform aims to 'establish comics as a permanent feature on a reader’s shelf'. This unique collection of stories features 30 artists from various places, with their own discrete narrative techniques. The stories range from quirky to sophisticated. Whether it's South Korean artist Heeseon Kim’s “The River”, Promit Basu’s “Fairness Cream”, or Nikhil Chaudhary's "Saline Intrusions", every story reflects the contemporary reality and presents the truth in a direct, uncomplicated way. Each tale illustrates a different idea and merges with the ecology that the artist creates in the story.
Longform seeks to carve a niche in the Indian reading space, where graphic novels are still considered as an outrageous genre. With the Man Booker Prize longlisting a graphic novel for the first time, 2018 has proved to be a landmark for the genre, and the publication of the first volume of
Longform shows it's time for us to pay attention to this unique form of storytelling.
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