Shalimar Books – Indian books in the UK
Welcome to Shalimar Books which is the leading distributor of Indian books in the UK. We supply books from Indian publishers to schools, libraries and bookshops. We also sell direct to the public at our Indian bookshop in London, and through this online shop.
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Growing up with Shalimar Books
The ethos and vision behind Shalimar Books (formerly Soma Books) was always more far reaching than exclusively being an Indian book and craft specialist in London. It was Independent Publishing Company (IPCO) that started in the 1940s which published two anti-imperialist magazines – The African and Colonial World and The Indian at Home and Overseas.…
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A Chance Encounter: My Meeting Santu Tekam
From 28th May to 23rd June an exhibition of Gond tribal art has been held at Lauderdale House in north London, entitled Santu Tekam: Nature’s Spirits. How this exhibition came about is explained here by Mane Kumria. I was on my yearly trip, visiting my home town of Dehra Dun in North India. Dehra…
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A Part Apart wins NIF Book Prize
Ashok Gopal has won the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize 2024 for his meticulously-researched biography, A Part Apart: The Life and Thought of B.R. Ambedkar. A history student, he had been studying the life of Ambedkar since 2003, and the biography was published in 2023 by Navayana, which has just finished two decades as an…
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Independent Bookshop of the Month: Shalimar Books
We’ll be spending 2024 visiting some of our favourite indie bookshops around the UK and Ireland, choosing one bookshop each month to interview. This week, we head to Kennington in South London to hear all about Shalimar Books from owner Chetan Kumria. Tell us the story of your shop. The story of Shalimar Books begins in 1940s…