" First Proof: The Penguin Book of New Writing from India is Penguin Books India’s annual anthology of recent Indian writings in English, comprising outstanding short fiction, essays, reportage, travel pieces, translations, memoirs, works in progress and poetry. Our attempt is to put together a collection that will justify the ‘New’ in the subtitle. As we see it, the true purpose of such an anthology is to showcase emerging talent and writers who have enjoyed acclaim but not as wide a readership as they clearly deserve. You will, of course, find a few established authors in First Proof, but what is included is their writing in a genre that is completely new to them.

So, shut out the noise about what is literary writing, and what commercial, what is good and review-worthy and what is not, why the young don’t write as well as they should or why the old don’t break new ground—read First Proof, make up your own mind, choose your own favourites. "