Raising the profile of South Asian writers since 2007
Dr Rangan Chatterjee never set out to write a book but following his hit TV show, Doctor in the House, he had significant interest from publishers. The 4 Pillar Plan is Dr Chatterjee’s blueprint for how to live well in the modern world. It divides health into four pillars; diet, sleep, movement and relaxation. Dr …
Writers Nadeem Aslam and Meena Kandasamy have made the shortlist of the Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year. The prize, first awarded in March 2017, seeks to celebrate books by British Black, Asian, Ethnic Minority writers and provide an exciting snapshot of the incredible array of writers of colour in Britain today. The shortlist …
It was Sumayya Usmani’s longing for home that led her to start a memoir-based food blog. At the time, she was working as a full-time lawyer, missing Pakistan and the food that she grew up with. She noticed that no-one was representing Pakistani cuisine, or what made it distinctive from its neighbours. Usmani began writing …
I’m coming into the year with relative optimism that publishers may have stumbled upon some literary gold but I’m also nervous to see such few debuts published by British Asian writers. It’s a strong year for non-fiction, with two books by Asian writers already hitting the best seller lists and more crime-series fiction from Vaseem …
When did you decide that this story needed to be written? There are two moments that are crucial: there was one point within my marriage when I knew that I had to write out what I was living through because it seemed so improbable, incredible and horrendous and above all, frightening. I knew that to …
Following a whirlwind romance with a Yorkshire man, Shreya Sen-Handley left a successful career as a TV producer in India, to start a new life in Sheffield. Soon she discovered that life and love was not all that it appeared to be. Her new husband was violent and controlling, and deeply in debt. The chance …
Q. Tell us more about your novel, Dark Chapter It’s about a crime, and the two people who are connected by that crime: the victim and the perpetrator. They are complete strangers, and their lives intersect almost by random during that act of violence. So I explore their individual lives before that event, you see the …
Anuk Arudpragasam has been named the winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017 for his novel, The Story of a Brief Marriage at the Dhaka Lit Fest in Bangladesh. Told in meditative, nuanced and powerful prose, this shattering novel marks the arrival of an extraordinary new literary voice. In a glittering award ceremony, …
Firstly congratulations on being the most influential woman in Manchester. What does this achievement mean to you and how you would you like to continue the rich cultural heritage that Manchester is so well known for, through your work? Thank you for your warm wishes- much appreciated! To be honest I was bemused to learn …
An exhibition of new artworks exploring The Partition of India in 1947 has opened at Soho House in Birmingham. The People of Partition in Birmingham is a new exhibition which explores how people living in Birmingham understand the 1947 Partition of India. The exhibition has been curated by artist Tasawar Bashir, in collaboration with 20 volunteers from the West …