An Author’s Afternoon on 16th April, 2013 with author Kunal Basu as guest and Churni Ganguly as conversationalist at Taj Bengal, Kolkata was one of the most interesting session. It focussed on his love for Kolkata and his next novel about a male sex worker.

Kunal Basu was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata). Since 2001, he has published four novels, a collection of short stories, written a few screenplays and poetry. His three best novels are – The Opium Clerk (2001), The Miniaturist (2003), and Racists (2006).His short story, The Japanese Wife (2008), has been made into a film by the Indian filmmaker Aparna Sen.

When Churni Ganguly asked him about his new novel he disclosed that it is set in his city of birth in the present times. His protagonist is a male sex worker and through his eyes people can see this city- a city that they think they all know. After asking about his childhood he replied “Calcutta has never left me. There was a phase when my face had turned away from Calcutta, for a variety of reasons, some personal, some that had to do with the city. And now I have fallen in love with Calcutta again. I mean serious love”.