Raising the profile of South Asian writers since 2007
In April this year, The Asian Writer launched a collection of short stories featuring exciting new voices featured on this year’s The Asian Writer Short Story Prize shortlist. Dividing Lines was launched in early Spring at the Birmingham Literature Festival, and hosted by broadcaster Bidisha. A number of writers, including Meera Betab, Namita Chakrabarty, Farhana …
A new crowdfunded book hopes to show the world as others see it, raising funds for refugee and anti-hate charities. Charles Fernyhough, writer and psychologist set up the project on Unbound Books last month. ‘Across the world, intolerance of otherness is growing: in Donald Trump’s America, in Brexit Britain and in a Europe seared by …
It wasn’t until the brink of his thirties, that Rishi Dastidar started reading and writing poetry. Before then, his passion was music, specifically indie rock. It’s not surprising then, that Dastidar invites his readers to play the song ‘Gone Without Feeling’ by Black Ryder ‘before, during or after reading his debut collection,’ suggesting the two …
The Things I Would Tell You is a collection of new writing by British Muslim women, edited by writer Sabrina Mahfouz. The project started life more than two years ago and stemmed from Mahfouz’s work with high school girls. “There was nothing to go to, to see the wealth of writing that has come from …
Poet in residence at Radio 4, Daljit Nagra will curate a series of new commissions in response to Europe’s second oldest poem, Homer’s The Odyssey. The Odyssey Project: My Name is Nobody will feature ten writers from various diasporas to create new radio poems. Showcased over a fortnight, the project will introduce the poets and …
The Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) comes to the UK for the very first time this Spring. Featuring as part of the Southbank Centre’s annual Alchemy festival this May, KLF will celebrate contemporary Pakistan, its rich history and culture in the context of the 70th anniversary of the country’s foundation. A day of events (May 20th) including debates, …
Lawyers are experienced wordsmiths so it should come as no surprise that a new wave of novelists come from the profession. Are they giving up the law to write? In this feature we spotlight three lawyers who have turned their hand to fiction. It was Abda Khan’s experience as a solicitor that led her to …
Twelve writers from across the country are joining Penguin Random House UK’s year-long mentoring programme, WriteNow, which aims to find, mentor and publish new writers from communities currently under-represented on the UK’s bookshelves. Each writer is being paired with a mentoring editor from Penguin Random House with experience and expertise in their genre. Together, the …
Q. Tell us about your journey into writing crime fiction? Firstly can I just say thank you so much for this, it’s a big step being featured in TAW. So my writing journey has been an interesting one, I’ve written for years with various levels of success. My true passion though has always been crime. …
Firstly *breathe*. In all the years (almost 10) I’ve been doing this, I’ve never been more excited to do a books roundup or a single post. In terms of fiction, 2017 is filled with nothing short of genius. I’m already expecting my own writing to fall by the wayside in honour of the books published …