Coonoor book club publishes anthology celebrating life in the Nilgiris

Coonoor: A group of avid readers from The Coonoor Book Club has turned its love for literature into print with Tall Tales & Short Stories, a new collection of short stories, poems and essays capturing life in the Nilgiris.

Published by Ukiyoto, the anthology is edited by former journalists Nimi Kurian and Nina Varghese, along with Theresa Varghese. It features work from 13 writers, all based in the Nilgiris.

The book was born out of the club’s regular meetings over tea and varkeys. “My sister Nina and I started the club the year before last,” said Nimi Kurian. “There are lots of readers in Coonoor, we thought we should get together and discuss books.”During one of those meets, the idea for an anthology took shape.

The result is a collection steeped in the region’s landscape: tea gardens, forest roads, grasslands, dinner parties with roast and pudding, the Toy Train winding through the hills, and what the editors call “delicious gossip about neighbours.”For the Nilgiris — long a muse for writers and poets drawn to its mist, hills and quiet beauty — the book adds a new local voice. Each piece, the editors say, carries “the distinct flavour of the hills.”