About Maati
Maati is the literary imprint of House of Maati.
It was founded upon a conviction at once modest and exacting: that a worthy book deserves more than the circumstance of being printed.
A work of literature arrives with its own language, rhythm, intelligence and proportion. The publisher's task is not to obscure these beneath fashion or method, but to recognise them, preserve them, and place the finished work before the reader with the care it deserves.
Who We Are
House of Maati is an independent publishing house.
Through Maati, we publish works of literature chosen for the distinction of their writing, the integrity of their language, and the seriousness of their form.
We are not interested in enlarging a list merely for the sake of possessing one.
A book must give sufficient reason for its publication.
What follows is decided title by title.
The Books We Seek
Maati publishes works of literature.
Our list may include novels, short fiction, poetry, essays, literary non-fiction, memoir, translation, and works which do not sit comfortably within the usual distinctions.
Genre alone neither recommends nor excludes a manuscript.
We are drawn to books in which language is integral to the work; books possessing an intelligence, atmosphere or necessity particular to themselves; books whose value is not exhausted by the circumstances of their first appearance.
Novelty is not a virtue in itself, nor is tradition a reason for reverence.
The work must earn its place.
On Language
Literature does not belong to one language.
Maati is interested in writing wherever the language of the work has been used with precision, character and necessity.
A book may be written in Hindi, Marathi, English or another language. It may arise from a literary tradition familiar to us or from one we have yet to encounter. These distinctions matter greatly to the work itself, but they do not determine beforehand whether the work belongs on our list.
We publish original writing and may also publish translation.
Translation is not, in our view, the carriage of information from one language into another. It is a literary act, requiring judgement, fidelity and invention in equal measure.
We do not seek to make every book sound alike.
The language of a work must remain recognisably its own.
On Editing
Editing should make a work more fully itself.
It should discover weakness without erasing character; impose order where order is needed without mistaking uniformity for improvement.
The editor must know when to intervene and, equally, when to leave a sentence alone.
A book should never acquire the manner of its editor.
Our purpose is to serve the work rather than to demonstrate the fact of having edited it.
The Book Itself
The physical book is not the residue left after the writing is complete.
Type, paper, proportion, binding, image and space all participate in the reader's encounter with the work.
We regard these matters not as embellishment but as part of publishing.
The object should neither compete with the writing nor apologise for itself.
It should possess sufficient character to endure use, rereading and time.
What We Mean to Build
We do not intend Maati to be defined by a single language, genre, generation or fashion.
Nor do we wish to construct a list so broad that its presence ceases to signify anything.
What should unite the books is not resemblance, but judgement.
Over time, we hope the imprint will acquire meaning through the works permitted to bear it.
That meaning cannot be announced in advance.
It must be accumulated.
The Beginning
Maati begins with Mayajaal, a Hindi novel by Saurabh Vinod Chimanpure.
It is the first book to bear the imprint.
What follows from it will be decided, title by title.
House of Maati