Raising the profile of South Asian writers since 2007
Ahmed looked at the battered sign above the shop window. His pride and joy, the first restaurant in the road to have neon lights. But these days not all the lights worked, his once prized possession now read “TANDOO BATI HOSE”. He put his key in the door and opened the rickety door, a waft …
Trundling up in this chairlift Hunching into my collar Higher and higher Colder and colder Leaving behind the clamour Of those who, ant-like Follow each other Down the lower slopes I am first To reach the top Lifting the safety bar Sliding on to the waiting piste A crown of peaks all around Sharp, snow …
The shortlists for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Best Book and Best First Book from Europe and South Asia were announced this month (February 18, 2009). The full shortlists are: Best Book Award Chris Cleave The Other Hand Shashi Deshpande The Country of Deceit Philip Hensher The Northern Clemency Jhumpa Lahiri …
“Please, sir, can I have a break?” I looked up from the photocopier-cum-printer. Who said that? Everyone was either on the telephone, tapping away at their keyboards or reading through some legal document. I didn’t recognise the voice. “Angela, did you ask me something just now?” I asked the lawyer whose desk was the closest …
1) I first heard about you when I was on toowrite.com where you’d just been named the winner of their short story competition…what impact did that have on you as a writer? Well, writing is one of the most solitary arts, you sort of scribble away in your room, regardless of whether you are going …
The Asian Writer catches up with Shelina Janmohammed to find out more about why she felt compelled to write her first book, Love in a Headscarf… Followers of your blog will see you as a serious writer, who likes to address the issues about British Islam and the muslim struggle, did you feel that you …
Sunshine sparkled through the grey afternoon. I sat in on the bench, wrapped in my own obliqueness. I was lost. I looked up at the clouds, at the tiny tapering ends, almost invisible. Was it an infinite haze of vapour droplets? I mused, watching as the black birds circled the pale billows. Suddenly the sun …
Coloured fabrics flew through the wind, Like flags upon a ship, Music flowed through her body, Occasionally she’d take a sip, And if she liked the taste, She’d hold the music, For a little longer in her hips, Now and then she’d tease it out, Through her fingertips, Bodies reacting like electricity, While the music …
My dream, I live it in a paper coated with crème caramel. I frolic in words of my shadow with the seas, the skies and the lands and tread the dunes of time, touching all the things around me; then settle down over a midnight coffee in the silence of night. Oh, I do attend …
Tishani Doshi was born in Madras to a Welsh mother and a Gujarati father, and is based in India, after periods living in America and England. Her first book of poems, Countries of the Body won the 2006 Forward prize for best first collection. She was the winner of the 2006 All-India Poetry Competition, and …