Raising the profile of South Asian writers since 2007
by Kavita A. Jindal Glass Scissors is a debut poetry book with a purpose, and although the purpose is ‘reflection’, in both senses of the word, the poems it offers are political, confessional, tense and temperamental. Bobby Nayyar as a poet is strikingly frank about himself, his pain and his desires. This acutely personal and …
Shahrukh Husain’s latest novel, A Restless Wind offers a fictional account of modern Indian maharajas – the royals who lost their power when the nation gained Independence in 1947. This is an intriguing story of London-based barrister, Zara Hamilton who travels home to Trivikrampur after a decade, at the request of her Aunt. Deeply troubled, …
What inspired you to write, A Restless Wind? Where did the story come from? The story had been gestating since I was a teenager fascinated by the family events of a close relative, the Sufism, a certain annual festival held in the grounds of the house that I’ve renamed Qila. That house and its backyard …
A new literature festival has been set up to challenge the lack of diverse representation of BME authors in publishing and on festival panels. Organised by Media Diversified, Bare Lit Festival seeks to celebrate the work and achievements of BAME literary voices in the UK and set out to change the UK literary landscape. The …
The winner of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2016 has been announced this week. Indian writer, Anuradha Roy secured the $50,000 (£35,162) prize for her novel, Sleeping on Jupiter at a prestigious ceremony held at the Fairway Galle Literary Festival in Sri Lanka. Chair of the judging panel, Mark Tully said “We chose Sleeping on Jupiter by …
What came first the elephant or Inspector Chopra? You could say Ganesha, the baby elephant in the series, gatecrashed the party. After living in India for 10 years I wanted to write a novel that took readers on a journey to the heart of the subcontinent – and I wanted the lead character, Inspector Chopra, …
Where did the inspiration for Sofia Khan is Not Obliged come from? It was a combination of the absurdity of the Muslim dating scene, my love of Bridget Jones and the fact that there aren’t enough Muslim heroines in literature. The dating book thread actually came from an old colleague at work, and the editorial …
Q. You’ve had a great year. Congratulations! Did it feel good from a writing perspective, or was it distracting? It felt good. My work got into the hands of more readers than it would have done otherwise – that’s a wonderful feeling. But, it’s true: I’ve written nary (a regional word for ‘not’) a word …
AA Dhand When Ali met Honour is a refreshing look into a seldom explored genre and brilliantly written by two debuts authors. Ali is a British Asian who is involved with Honour, a middle-class English girl. The co-writers, Dimmi Khan and Antsey Spraggan write from the points of view of Ali and Honour respectfully. The book …
As someone who once sat in front of an editor and pitched an ‘Asian Bridget Jones saves publishing industry’* feature idea I was thrilled to hear about the publication of Ayisha Malik’s debut novel, Sofia Khan’s Not Obliged. Was my wishful thinking finally coming true? Could this be a thing? In Sofia Khan we find a …