The Home of British Asian Writing
reviewed by Divya Dubey The Golden Pigeon, Shahid Siddiqui’s debut work of fiction, is best described not so much as a historical novel but as a historical fantasy. Using the contradictions faced by Muslims in post-Partition India as the foundation of his story, the author has layered in elements of magic realism: his is a …
Indian writers score hat trick win for $50k prize The DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015 has been awarded to Jhumpa Lahiri for her novel, The Lowland at this year’s ZEE Jaipur Literature Festival. Jury chair Keki N. Daruwalla said, “The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri is a superb novel written in restrained prose with moments of …
Kalki is a wild, exciting, mysterious , 15 year old girl. She is also, possibly, the 10th incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. But now she has gone missing and her two best friends – who had not met her until she appeared a week ago – must try and explain to the police exactly …
by Aliya Ali-Afzal In November I wrote 50k words in one month. It would normally take me a whole year to write that much. So, how did I make this leap? It felt like magic but in reality it was a series of more prosaic steps that anyone can take, to reach a seemingly impossible …
Zafar Anjum A lot of my reading this year and the last has been around two totally unrelated themes—poet Muhammad Iqbal and start up ecosystems. I was reading books on these two themes as research for the two books that I had been working on. Among the few others that …
The Asian Writer caught up with Bidisha to find out more about her serialised novel, Esha Ex.
The Asian Writer caught up with YA novelist, Saumya Balsari
Big publishers dominate this year’s longlist for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2015 which was announced at the Goethe-Institut, Max Mueller Bhavan October 20, 2014. The longlist of ten books includes a mix of established writers and debut novelists from different backgrounds and geographies including India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, some of …
An unpublished writer from Leicester has secured first prize in two national writing awards. Emerging talent, Mahsuda Snaith was named the winner of the SI Leeds Prize, at an awards ceremony at the Ilkley Literature festival (October 15) and winner of the 2014 Bristol Short Story Prize a week later (October 25). Bristol Short Story …
The Asian Writer caught up with journalist, Huma Qureshi to talk about her first book, In Spite of Oceans, Migrant Voices.