Raising the profile of South Asian writers since 2007
Tell us about your novel, Beautiful Place and what inspired you to write it? Beautiful Place is set in a villa by a remote beach on the southern coast of Sri Lanka, and follows the lives of its owners, their friends and the guests who arrive to stay as the villa opens as a guesthouse. …
by Alia Raffia It was during a family trip to the magical city of Lahore aged fourteen that I fell in love with Mughal art. My brother and I went on adventures together and visited places like Lahore Fort, Shalimar Gardens and Wazir Khan Mosque as well as the streets of the old city. The …
Bookouture and Dahlia Books join forces on an exclusive call-out for writers from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds – open Bookouture, in association with The Asian Writer and Dahlia Books, are putting out an exclusive call-out for commercial fiction submissions from unagented and unpublished writers from BAME backgrounds and will be offering professional editorial …
Set in vibrant 1950s India, A Suitable Boy, an epic tale of life and love based on the classic novel of the same name by Vikram Seth made its screen debut on BBC One earlier this month. Produced by Lookout Point (War And Peace, Les Misérables, Gentleman Jack), A Suitable Boy is a six-part drama adapted by …
When did you have the initial idea for Djinn Patrol on the Purple Line? When I was working as a reporter in India, I came across stories of real-life disappearances of children; that was the initial spark for the novel. I was writing on education and human rights, as part of which I often interviewed …
by Kia Abdullah It started with a disastrous radio slot. I was invited onto a programme along with authors Nikesh Shukla, A A Dhand and Mariam Khan to look at why British Asian authors are underrepresented in publishing. Sadly, we were asked to go over the same old ground: ‘Does diversity lower standards?’ ‘Do writers …
The cover A Summary The Cure For a Crime is about the twins, Ali and Tulip, whose Mum has got a strange new boyfriend, Brian Sturgeon the Brain Surgeon. Suddenly Mum falls ill, a fever maybe? No, it is a strange new virus and Brian Sturgeon is No.1 on the twins’ suspect list. Oh no, …
The Salam Award for Imaginative Fiction, a short story award which promotes science fiction and related genres is now open for entries. Now in its fourth year the prize aims to encourage and inspire writers from Pakistan to unleash their creative potential. The scope of the prize is broad and encompasses everything from science fiction …
Crime writer Abir Mukherjee has been shortlisted for a major literary prize. Mukherjee’s third book, Smoke and Ashes is one of six titles in contention for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year. Now in it’s 16th year the most coveted prize in crime fiction, presented by Harrogate International Festivals, represents crime writing …
by Farah Damji I helped to set up The View Magazine, a publication by and for women in the criminal justice system, with three other women with conviction because nothing like it exists. The current prison publications are aimed at men and women are only mentioned as an afterthought. The View Magazine is a voice …