Above The Fold

Meet the new literary headliners—three journalists who are examining the generational index by probing privilege, disrupting convention and questioning inequality, with their debut books.

- Aditi Seshadri

From Charles Dickens and Maya Angelou to Christina Lamb and Khushwant Singh, journalist-authors have long brought insight, analysis and an ability to tell the story between the lines. Keeping the banner flying high this year is a crop of young journalists (and now first-time authors) whose books vary from narrative non-fiction to literary fiction. What they do have in common, though, is a finger on the pulse of the nation, a deep interest in challenging the status quo in a time of heightened social flux, and writing some of the most highly anticipated books of the year.

SNIGDHA POONAM, 34 DREAMERS: HOW YOUNG INDIANS ARE CHANGING THEIR WORLD AND YOURS (PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE INDIA)

More than half of India’s population, around 600 million, is under the age of 25. “It’s a generation driven by one defining truth: that unless they seize initiative and shape their own future, they will wait a long time for something good to happen in their lives,” says Delhi-based journalist Snigdha Poonam. In a decade when journalism is instantly accessible through the internet and social media, Poonam tailored her work to the concerns and reading habits of younger, digital-native readers. Writing about the lives, loves, politics, work and worries of an entire generation, Poonam found herself increasingly interested in documenting them beyond the Lena Dunham archetype. It eventually led to her first book, Dreamers: How Young Indians Are Changing Their World And Yours, to be released by Penguin Random House later this year.