<p>A digital archival project called ‘Cities in Fiction’, started about three years ago by Bengaluru-based researchers Divya Ravindranath and Apoorva Saini, documents books rooted in cities, towns and regions across India and other parts of South Asia.</p>.<p>What began as a classroom project at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in 2023 has since evolved into an independent public archive featuring around 700 books.</p>.<p>“We started with the idea of seeing if fiction can be used as a method to understand cities. It can become a way of archiving our cities,” says Divya, senior researcher at IIHS. For writer, editor and translator, Apoorva, the archive also grew from a dissatisfaction with literature classrooms.</p>.<p>“We were mostly reading about faraway worlds. There was very <br>little contemporary Indian writing in the English literature curriculum,” she says. This concern spurred the duo to start the project, and the website was launched soon after. </p>.Bookrack for the week .<p><strong>What it covers</strong></p>.<p>Initially, the project was no more than a spreadsheet built from the founders’ personal reading lists and favourite books set in different places. Circulated among a few friends, it drew unexpected interest online. </p><p>Today, it carries entries spanning major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru, alongside smaller towns and regions such as Mysuru, Mudigere, Hampi, Ballari and Varanasi. Entries on places in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet and China can also be found. “Many of these recommendations have been crowd-sourced,” Divya adds.</p>.<p>While places like Mudigere, Hampi and Mysuru have only a handful of titles listed, Bengaluru alone has 28, including ‘Murder Under a Red Moon’, ‘The Bangalore Detectives Club’, ‘Bangalore Blues’, ‘Mr Majestic: The Tout of Bengaluru’ and ‘Teru, Itara Kathalu’.</p>.<p>Unlike a conventional book list, “the website is designed as a literary archive and research tool”, with each entry carrying publication details, translators where applicable, and the themes it engages with. “This makes the archive useful for both general readers and scholars looking for specific genres,” says Divya.</p>.<p>The platform includes a map page that plots the book geographically. The founders are now working to expand the archive’s regional literature component, including writing in Kannada.</p>.<p>Visit <em>citiesinfiction.com</em> </p>
<p>A digital archival project called ‘Cities in Fiction’, started about three years ago by Bengaluru-based researchers Divya Ravindranath and Apoorva Saini, documents books rooted in cities, towns and regions across India and other parts of South Asia.</p>.<p>What began as a classroom project at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements in 2023 has since evolved into an independent public archive featuring around 700 books.</p>.<p>“We started with the idea of seeing if fiction can be used as a method to understand cities. It can become a way of archiving our cities,” says Divya, senior researcher at IIHS. For writer, editor and translator, Apoorva, the archive also grew from a dissatisfaction with literature classrooms.</p>.<p>“We were mostly reading about faraway worlds. There was very <br>little contemporary Indian writing in the English literature curriculum,” she says. This concern spurred the duo to start the project, and the website was launched soon after. </p>.Bookrack for the week .<p><strong>What it covers</strong></p>.<p>Initially, the project was no more than a spreadsheet built from the founders’ personal reading lists and favourite books set in different places. Circulated among a few friends, it drew unexpected interest online. </p><p>Today, it carries entries spanning major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Bengaluru, alongside smaller towns and regions such as Mysuru, Mudigere, Hampi, Ballari and Varanasi. Entries on places in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Tibet and China can also be found. “Many of these recommendations have been crowd-sourced,” Divya adds.</p>.<p>While places like Mudigere, Hampi and Mysuru have only a handful of titles listed, Bengaluru alone has 28, including ‘Murder Under a Red Moon’, ‘The Bangalore Detectives Club’, ‘Bangalore Blues’, ‘Mr Majestic: The Tout of Bengaluru’ and ‘Teru, Itara Kathalu’.</p>.<p>Unlike a conventional book list, “the website is designed as a literary archive and research tool”, with each entry carrying publication details, translators where applicable, and the themes it engages with. “This makes the archive useful for both general readers and scholars looking for specific genres,” says Divya.</p>.<p>The platform includes a map page that plots the book geographically. The founders are now working to expand the archive’s regional literature component, including writing in Kannada.</p>.<p>Visit <em>citiesinfiction.com</em> </p>