Arshia Sattar’s mail plopped into my Inbox on Jan 11, 2009,
Hi Suneetha
Happy New Year
we have a vacancy at sangam house from Jan 12 to Feb 8
Would you be able to come?
Arshia
Remember what Danny Boyle did on stage after taking his Oscar statuette into his hands? I did something similar! Arshia sounded like she was offering something quite routine, but it wasn’t anything mundane at all. This was a dream come true, literally.
To the uninitiated, the Sangam House Residency for Writers is the first-of-its-kind international writer’s residency in India and an …

by Suhel Ahmed
Transforming the desire to write to the actual act of writing has become something of a struggle lately. Every time I open up my notepad, it’s as if I’m standing at the bottom of a rock-face, staring up at the glorious summit, yet at that moment a vertiginous feeling courses through me and what I used to find natural becomes scarily alien.
So presented with the opportunity to spend a day at the Urban Writers Retreat, I instantly put my name forward, hoping that a change of scenery would …

What a night! I spent the last few hours in the company of some of the richest, diverse and talented writers. The first thing that struck me, I was listed for a VIP table. I don’t know if it was a mistake but I wasn’t about to complain. I guess wearing a sparkly gown, headscarf and matching handbag and not forgetting my gorgeous silver heels, I did fit into the evening nicely! Everyone kept asking me what award I was up for? I was a little tempted to make something …

In this rare interview we talk to the controversial ex-socialite Farah Damji about writing her dark history of crime, drugs, her fascinating life in arts, and reinventing herself.

Please tell our readers a little bit about what you do, and what your background is?
As a literary agent I sell the right to publish books of the authors whom I represent. I manage an author’s career right from the time I receive a manuscript to the book being in a bookstore. This involves encouragement and support, sometimes nursing a writer’s block and advice and on the work front, which includes editorial advice (though not copy editing), assessing work by considering the overall structure, style, readability and marketability of the …