Indian poet wins major literary prize for debut collection

An Indian poet has been named the winner of a major literary prize. Sohini Basak, of Barrackpore, has been named the winner of the 2016 Beverly Series for her debut collection of poetry, We Live in the Newness of Small Differences. The 2016 Beverley Series was open to original manuscripts in any genre by any …

The Jhalak Prize longlist

A new award celebrating the best book by a writer of colour has announced its longlist. The Jhalak Prize for Book of the Year by a Writer of Colour seeks to champion books by British and British resident BAME writers with the overall winner presented with a prize of £1,000. The inaugural longlist offers an …

Asian Monsters special feature: On editing

Here be Monsters! They lurk and crawl and fly in the shadows of our mind. We know them from ancient legends and tales whispered by the campfire. They hide under the dark bridge, in the deep woods or out on the great plains, in the drizzling rain forest or out on the foggy moor, beneath …

Writers pick their best books of 2016

  Zafar Anjum “This year, I was disappointed with fiction. Whatever few novels I read, they did not move me enough, except for Isa Kamari’s two novels, Tweet (that I published under Kitaab) and Kiswah, which I read in manuscript (to be published in English translation in 2017). For non-fiction, I immensely enjoyed re-visiting two of Amitav Ghosh’s works, …

Jamal Mehmood

Tell us more about your journey as a poet? When did you start writing poetry and when did you start performing? I think the journey probably started before I knew it did – poetry was always in my house, and in our car through the old desi tunes my parents listened to. On top of …

Nikesh Shukla

Nikesh Shukla is one of the most exciting voices of our time. I remember when I interviewed many years ago. He was just figuring out who he was as an artist and I was somewhat in awe of his courage even then. I’ve interviewed him several times since and he’s one of the loveliest authors I’ve …

Priya Sharma

Firstly, congratulations on winning Best Short Fiction at the British Fantasy Awards . What was your reaction to the announcement? I was very surprised to make the short list and grateful to everyone who nominated me. To be honest, it’s not yet sunk in. What was your experience of writing competitions prior to this win? and …

The Asian Writer Short Story Prize 2016 Winners + Shortlist

We’re thrilled to announce this year’s winning stories of The Asian Writer Short Story Prize 2016. First prize – The Swim by Jamilah Ahmed Second prize – The Other Side of the Bridge by Serena Patel Third prize – Saviour by Meera Betab Stories on this year’s shortlist included: Ninety Days by Ashok Patel The …

North Country

A new play exploring cultural identity through the lens of a post-apocalyptic world opens at Freedom Studios next week. Tajinder Singh Hayer’s latest work, North Country follows the journey of three young people as they deal with the aftermath of a bloody plague. As the trio embark on rebuilding their lives over a forty year …