Soothe the soul
PG Wodehouse has been essential reading during the pandemic because his books offer “the balm your soul needs in these troubled times”, I learn from Tim Andrew, the chairman of the PG Wodehouse Society. He tells me the society has launched an essay competition with a special appeal to Indian fans of the great author to submit between 4,000 and 5,000 words aimed at examining Wodehouse’s mastery of the English language. Closing date for entries, which have to be emailed to the society, is September 1, 2022. The winner gets 1,000, with a 250 prize for under-19s who have a word count of 1,500.
Andrew is aware that Wodehouse “is enormously popular in India. I think Shashi Tharoor has speculated that part of the reason is that Wodehouse is mildly subversive — apart from people very obviously enjoying the wordplay.” Tharoor, who ran a PG Wodehouse appreciation society as a student at St Stephen’s College, Delhi, should definitely submit an essay. He once wrote a piece in The Guardian, stating that “PG Wodehouse is by far the most popular English-language writer in India, his readership exceeding that of Agatha Christie or John Grisham”.
The entry rules are on the society’s website. Nevertheless, Andrew wants me to pass on this message to people in India: “We don’t want pastiche. We want serious scholarship. We ask essayists to focus on Wodehouse’s novels, stories, plays and journalism — not his life and background. We hope the essays will throw scholarly new...
Read Full Story: https://www.telegraphindia.com/opinion/pg-woodhouse-balm-for-the-soul-in-these-troubled-times/cid/1842758
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