As the adage by Stephan King goes, a short story is like a kiss in the dark from a stranger. Short story anthologies offer a riveting experience to readers with their little sparks of electrifying mental experiences, and the anthology in question is no different. All living things are believed to contain a certain energy that aids in keeping them alive, and this energy is what is referred to as ‘life-force’, or ‘dynami zois’. Similarly, creative people brim with an indescribable, quivering, vibrating energy of their own- a “life-force” which gives wings to their artistic ambitions, helping them in the creation of awe-inspiring works of art. Dynami Zois, a collection of twenty-eight incredible short stories by national and international writers, is a perfect example of this creative “life-force”, as it highlights the zenith that can be reached when this creative life-force is paid a collective heed to.
The book comes in paperback with a brilliant cover art illustration by Partha Pratim Roy wherein the myriad notions associated with the term “life-force” blend ceaselessly into the paradigm of art. The multi-layered cover art, or a collage of sorts, depicts ‘creation’ by human beings from a paradigmatic point-of-view. The frame illustrates ancient sculptures and modern architecture, eventually zeroing in on the darkness that will envelop us all- death- in the form of the figure of a man buried face-down under a sprawling tree, and an epitaph that reads “the creature that lives here for good is a human”. “And yet there was nothing strange about it”... (The Elephants of Mihiragula)
Published by Virasat Art Publication, the anthology has been edited by Anindita Bose and Dr.Amit Shankar Saha. The brilliant foreword has been written by Miss Sharmila Ray. Dynami Zois offers to the readers a conglomeration of stories that offer a rich insight into the question of different spaces- public, personal, and also psychological and imagined. On reading the stories, one will observe that the stories span across different themes, but the common link is the “Petrichor of the thought”, a pulsating, throbbing heartbeat, and the life that comes alive in reflection and pondering, and in crisis and conflict. On a whole, the book successfully attempts to create a space of its own which transcends all physical boundaries.
The diversity and breadth of the writing voices, owing to the presence of twenty-eight different writers with enormously varying writing styles, is what accords a unique, distinctive voice to the anthology. Thus, while reading The Drought will take the readers away from reality, into a world of magic realism and genies and the Garden of the Endless ocean, reading Swapna will offer a more grounded, closer-to-life reading experience. Each story is sure to offer its own unique flavour to the readers, eventually adding to their personal truths and intertwining with their individual life-forces to create a unified extraordinary experience. The readers are thus advised to take it slow, one story at a time, and relish it while it lasts.
-WordWitch