Author and journalist Shutapa Paul speaks to GetBengal

At the Women Writers’ Festival in Kolkata this Friday one will get to hear Shutapa Paul speaking on why writing political biographies is a difficult job. Her new book, ‘Didi: The Untold Mamata Banerjee’ brought out by Penguin has recently hit the stands. “My session at the festival is on the challenges of writing a political biography, and I intend to throw light on the making of my book.” The discussion is expected to look at why she chose to write the book, along with the research and ground work that went into it, and of course, the challenges that she faced. Months of research, conducting of interviews, and tracking down unknown voices from the protagonist's life will also be discussed. 

Political biographies are either written after speaking to the person or as Shutapa has done by collecting various stories on his or her achievements, failures, rise of a political figure to fame and interviewing people who matter. 

As Shutapa pitches in: “I am really looking forward to the Women Writers’ Festival, which is a fantastic initiative. The team led by Kiran Manral and Baisali Chatterjee Dutt, organised a superb line-up of speakers and this promises to be an enlightening and fun experience.”