1955-2004

“The conceptual genesis of WRITERS WORKSHOP (WW) was in 1955. Immediately on passing my M.A. in English Literature from Calcutta University in 1953, I joined St Xavier’s College, Calcutta, as Lecturer in the Department of English. Among my students in the 1st year B.A. batch were Kewlian Sio and Deb Kumar Das, both writing poems and stories. I decided to form a writers’ group. The plan materialised in 1958 when Pradip Sen, Jai Ratan, Anita Desai and William Hull joined and a formal “constitution” was drafted by Deb Kumar Das. A next-door neighbour of mine in Lake Gardens, P. K. Aditya, installed a hand-operated treadle printing machine, and the first books of WW writers began appearing, with Kewlian Sio, Deb Kumar Das and myself as the three pioneer authors.”

P. Lal