The Home of British Asian Writing
Three years ago, Zoulfa Katouh’s debut novel, As Long As the Lemon Trees Grow became a viral sensation. Dubbed “an epic, emotional, breathtaking story of love and loss set amid the Syrian revolution” that “will sweep you up and never let you go” it’s gorgeous cover and powerfully haunting prose captured the hearts and minds …
Soprano Rebecca Lea and pianist Caroline Jaya Ratnam are calling for poem submissions for the new album, The New Winter Songbook. “I bring my past, I bring my futureI bring my rights and I bring my song.” Belong by Lemn Sissay The New Winter Songbook will be a song collection for voice and piano to be written, curated and performed by living composers, poets, community …
Earlier this month, Peanut Butter and Blueberries, the sell-out debut play from poet and playwright Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan opened at the Kiln Theatre. The Asian Writer picked up the phone for an exclusive chat with its writer to find out more about the experience of writing for stage, writing for Muslim audiences, and how theatre can …
Writer: Suhaiymah Manzoor-Khan Director Sameena Hussain; Designer Khadija Raja Reviewer: Farhana Shaikh Rating: 4.5 stars What does it mean to be young, Muslim, and fall for someone when you’re not looking for love? This question is central to Manzoor-Khan’s debut play, Peanut Butter and Blueberries, which opened at the Kiln Theatre last night (14 August). …
A new festival celebrating South Asian children’s authors and illustrators will take place in the autumn. SAIL FEST, a one-day event, held at the British Library in September will bring together creatives working in the children’s book market for the first time in the hope of connecting them with the wider literary community made up …
Congratulations on the publication of your debut novel, Northern Boy. Tell me more about where the journey began for this story? What inspired you to tell it? Northern Boy has, literally, been years in the making. I first had the idea for it a decade ago, when I began jotting down various incidents from my childhood. I’d …
Helen Wan’s 2013 debut The Partner Track is a clever novel that follows protagonist Ingrid Yung as she navigates love and work. It unmasks the true nature and inside workings of powerful law firms, and one woman’s willingness to rise to the top. First published in 2013, the book was critically acclaimed with the New …
Q. Let’s start with your Discoveries win. Tell me more about your writing journey up until that point and what shifted for you when you found out you’d won? It’s been a long old journey and when I reflect on the twists and turns it has taken, I am both humbled and hugely grateful to …
Set in 1887, the year of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, Tanika Gupta’s The Empress tells the story of the sixteen-year-old Rani Das, ayah (nursemaid) to an English family, who arrives at Tilbury docks after a long voyage from India, to start a new life in Britain. On the boat, Rani befriends a lascar (sailor), an …
A new festival is putting Panjabi and Pahari-Pothwari voices centre stage. JAAG: Panjabi and Pahari-Pothwari Language and Literature Festival takes place in Birmingham next week (Saturday 13 May). The event, organised by the Jaag Collective, will see nearly 40 artists coming together for a jam-packed day of events featuring talks, workshops, discussions and performances. Artists taking …