Raising the profile of South Asian writers since 2007
At a time of political instability, many in the UK are clinging to the old, old story that has shaped our beliefs and values for the last fifty years. The old boys’ network that has held sway over British society for centuries is losing its shine, if not its power. While some desperately cling to …
My mother and grandmother told me folktales and myths in Gujarati. I read a lot as a kid too. My twin brother and I would go each week to the mobile library just beyond Hermitage Road in Loughborough. There we’d explore everything from Roald Dahl to Harriet the Spy to the Greek Myths. The librarian …
What an honour to be asked to speak here, at the inaugural Asian writer festival. Celebrating ten years of celebrating work by Asian writers, a true testament to Farhana’s spirit and tenacity. And that will be the theme of this talk. Spirit. The passion for what we do. And tenacity, the motivation to keep …
Tell me more about your play and the themes you explore. I wrote Where I Live And What I Live For as part of a two-year project at Theatre Absolute called Are We Where We Are? The project asks for a response to the quote from American novelist Henry David Thoreau, “We are not where …
This month’s feature puts a spotlight on UK based writers who have found publication success in India. We spoke to India’s youngest literary agent, Kanishka Gupta of Writers Side, to gain an insight into how the UK publishing industry is perceived by those trying to place their books in the UK market. As a literary …
This month’s feature puts a spotlight on UK based writers who have found publication success in India and yet, at home, their novels remain unpublished. Here, we profile just three writers, Anita Srivakumaran, Mona Dash and Sarvat Hasin but there are many, many more. These writers not only face logistical challenges in terms of marketing …
We’re celebrating our tenth birthday with an all-day festival on Saturday October 21st 2017 at Royal Asiatic Society in London. For one day only, The Asian Writer will bring together the contents of its website – interviews, masterclasses and features on literary trends – in a live format. Featuring: Roopa Farooki, Mahsuda Snaith, Vaseem Khan, …
The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017 shortlist was announced last month. Authors in contention for the $25,000 prize include Man Booker Prize winner, Aravind Adiga, debut novelist, Anuk Arudpragasam and Desmond Elliot Prize winner, Anjali Joseph along with American writers Stephen Alter and Karan Mahajan. Ritu Menon, Chair of the jury commented, “After deliberating …
There are reported to be over 13,000 slaves in Britain, and over 40 million worldwide, so why are they missing from contemporary fiction? A few years ago, I came across an online article about modern day slavery, and I was shocked by what I discovered. The more I read about it, the more aggrieved I …
Q. Where did the inspiration for Home Fire, and to write a contemporary version of Sophocles Antigone, come from? The inspiration came entirely from Jatinder Verma who runs the Tara Arts theatre in London. He suggested that I might adapt Antigone in a contemporary context as a play. Once I started to think about it though, I realised …