ABSTRACT
The other great appeal of Mädhuri lay in creative writing, mostly poems and short stories, which took up the other half of every issue. Here, again* Bhargava was more catholic than Mahavlr Prasad DvivedI in his tastes. Braj Bhasa poems appeared along with Khari Boli ones, whether by established ‘DvivedI poets’, fiery nationalists such as GayäprasädSuklaSanehl ‘Trisül’ (1883-1972), ‘Ekbhärtiyätmä’ (Mäkhanläl Chaturvedl), Lochanprasäd Pändey and others, or by new voices such as Badrinäth Bhatt, a very young Bälkrsna Sarrna ‘Navin’ (1897-1960) and Bhagavatlcharan Varmä (1903-81); there were also the controversial Chäyävädls: some ofNirälä’s first poems, ‘Turn aur maim’ and ‘Adhiväs’, appeared in early 1923 and Prasad’s play Janmejay Kyä Näg-yajna in December 1922. Braj Bhasa poetry featured regularly, not only in schol arly articles and commentaries by the foremost Hindi scholars: an addi tional column on Braj Bhasa poetry and poets, ‘Kavi charchä’, started in January 1925, bearing witness to its enduring popularity and the ongoing process of canonization. Short stories, universally acknowledged to be what made journals sell, were practically created as a genre by these journals. Mädhuri supported this trend, enlisting regular contributions from authors who had acquired a loyal readership: Premchand, Visvambhamäth ‘Kausik’, and Sudarsan. Indeed, short stories by unknown authors were also readily published, and they were the first contributions to command payment. As a rule, short stories and novels followed differ ent courses of publication. Although at the turn of the century some periodicals appeared carrying only novels in instalments, novels pub lished in journals in the 1920s were surprisingly few. Short stories always appeared in periodicals first, while novels were mostly sold to a publisher, possibly an indication that a distribution system that could ensure continuity of reading was yet underdeveloped.74
