Japan’s Nobel-winning novelist Kenzaburo Oe dies at 88

Podcasts have been around and have assimilated into our daily lives for a while now. There is a podcast for the morning, for the commute, for the afternoon hump, for running, and so on. Unfortunately, book podcasts have been few and extremely hard to sustain due to quality dips. Well, until now!

The Nerdist Podcast - Booknerds Podcast is all set to fill that gap by showcasing some wonderful books, authors, and engaging stories.

Booknerds, a literary startup based out of Dehradun, brought its podcast from online to inperson and shot its first season of sit-down conversations with some of your favorite authors, editors, and publishers. The podcast has something for everyone whether you adore books or not! This season is packed with information for every kind of reader. They have fantasy, fiction, contemporary, non-fiction, and so much more.

The Booknerds team recorded the podcast at a boutique bookstore, Kunzum in the heart of Delhi in Jorbagh. Kunzum has the aesthetics, the beautifully curated bookshelves, and delicious coffee and is becoming book lovers' favorite haunt in the Delhi-NCR region.

Season 1 Guests

You can listen to the conversations with the stellar line up which included Ajay Jain, author, photographer, traveler and founder of Kunzum, a chain of boutique bookstores set up in mid-2022, the Habit Coach

Ashdin Doctor whose newly launched debut book 'Change your habits, Change your Life', which is truly a brilliant mentor for people to inculcate habits to become our best version, Editor and Book Influencer Shreya Punj, best selling author Stuti Changle, author, columnist and podcaster Vasudha Rai, Publisher at Om Books International Ajay Mago, astrologer and author of '91 Predictions' (he predicted the downfall of Adani) Greenstone Lobo, and author, speaker and youth influencer Yash Tiwari. The podcasts are thoughtprovoking, carefully curated, and well-rounded. You will imbibe the podcast guests' personal experiences, industry details, what to do as a new author, and a lot more.

Podcast Host

The host of the podcast is a seasoned podcaster, reader, and co-founder, of Booknerds, Rohan Raj who has moderated over 250 book sessions since the inception of Booknerds, a literary startup that he co-founded with his wife Neha Raj in October 2015 to revolutionize how book lovers read and engage with authors. In the past eight years, he has interviewed eminent authors like Namita Gokhale, Anand Neelakantan, Deepak Ramola, Vir Sanghvi, Devdutt Pattanaik, Mayank Shekhar, Alan Rosling, Easterine Kire, John Keay, Kevin Missal, Moin Mir, Andy Griffiths, Kabir Bedi, Rashmi Bansal, Sudha Murty and many more on the online avatar of the Booknerds Podcast. The resident booknerd read the books page to page and made sure to bring you what you desire as a reader as well as a writer.

The podcast is streaming now on Booknerds Youtube and the audio version shall stream on Spotify in April.

Lucknow Book Fair will also exchange old books for new

Rampur Raza Library will be a part of the fair.

Convenor of the LBF, Manoj Chandel, said that the fair, which intends to give bibliophiles an opportunity to update their book shelves, will offer free entry.

Tokyo, March 14 (IANS) Japanese author and Nobel Prize laureate Kenzaburo Oe has died at the age of 88, local media reported.

According to publisher Kodansha Ltd on Monday, Oe died of old age in the early hours of March 3. Born in Japan's Ehime prefecture in 1935, Oe graduated from the French literature department of the University of Tokyo. He was the author of several works including "The Catch", "A Personal Matter" and "The Silent Cry", and won the 1994 Nobel Prize in Literature, Xinhua news agency reported.

In his 70s, Oe said he intended to continue living as a novelist until he died and that the aim of his life's "late work is to write grotesque novels that defy the present time and society," Kyodo News reported.

As a leading figure in Japanese literature after World War II, Oe had long opposed the revival of Japanese militarism and actively advocated peace.

The peace-loving author had also made unremitting efforts in promoting cultural exchanges and friendship between Japan and China.

Lucknow, March 15 (IANS) The 10th edition of the Lucknow Book Fair (LBF) this year, will have a unique feature -- it will give customers an option to exchange their books with new ones at a nominal cost, apart from also buying new ones.

The book fair will be held from March 17-26. Spread in a 10,000 square feet waterproof and air-cooled hanger, the book fair will house about 30 book stalls.

Several famous publishers and booksellers like Amar Chitra Katha, National Book Trust, Osho Tapovan, UP Hindi Sansthan and

"The main idea behind providing people an opportunity to exchange their old books is to help them get new ones at an affordable price. For the book exchange the visitors will be required to speak to the organizers," said Chandel.

The theme of the fair is the G20 summit. Various cultural programmes and youth related competitions on the theme will be organized during the fair.

This year, the city residents will also be able to connect with Indian Book Market, which is a free platform launched by a chest specialist from