New Delhi, Jan 13 (PTI) Writer Namita Gokhale will explore themes of love, lust, fate, and death in her upcoming book, a collection of 15 stories, titled "Life on Mars: Collected Stories".

The book, scheduled to release this week, brings together previously published and new short stories by the Sahitya Akademi awardee.

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"The short stories in the collection 'Life on Mars' reflect different phases of my life and writing. Some of the recent, previously unpublished stories, written after the dislocations and alienations of recent years, have a new voice and way of seeing. I am intrigued by the possibilities of short fiction, and hope to take it further in future work," said Gokhale in a statement.

Published by Speaking Tiger, the volume arranged in two sections — ‘Love and Other Derangements' and ‘The Mirror of the Mahabharata' — is about "women and men who swim or sink in the ceaseless river of life".

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"Two lonely people connect briefly during the Covid pandemic. A woman finds companionship with an unusual young man the same age as her absent sons. A one-night stand in Rishikesh ends in a surprise not once, but twice. Kunti and Gandhari, queens in the evening of their lives, try to cope with their private griefs after the slaughters of the Kurukshetra war.

"A swan relates the story of the doomed lovers Nala and Damayanti. After one man drowns and another is saved, a stone reflects on the inner lives of men and stones," are among the stories as described by the publisher.

Gokhale has written 24 works of fiction and fiction, including the novels "Paro: Dreams of Passion", "Shakuntala", "Things to Leave Behind", "The Blind Matriarch" and "Never Never Land"; and edited several anthologies.

A co-founder and co-director of the Jaipur Literature Festival, she is also the recipient of several awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award, the Centenary National Award for Literature and the Sushila Devi Literature Award.

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