Books

Man Asian Literary Prize Shortlist

A River of Smoke by Amitav Ghosh is just one of the titles shortlisted An unprecedented seven novels have been shortlisted for the 2011 Man Asian Literary Prize, Chair Judge Razia Iqbal announced today. Speaking at a press conference at Man Group offices in London, Ms. Iqbal revealed that because of the strength of contemporary …

Books

The Asian Writer New Writing Competition – Winners

I’m pleased to announce the winning entry for The Asian Writer New Writing Competition…   (drum roll)   Well done to GD Stickland (who you may remember also won the poetry category in our 2008 competition).   Roads, North and South A pantoum My friend, when you were only four and dreaming of owning a …

Books

Two Asian authors make Guardian First Book Award 2011 shortlist

The Collaborator by Mirza Waheed and  The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee have both made the shortlist for the 2011 Guardian First Book Award. The award which recognises the finest new authors who have had their first book published in English in the last year. A winner will be now be selected by …

Author Interviews

Leela Soma

Q. Please tell us a bit about yourself and how you launched into a writing career? I had always been surrounded by books and writing. Grandpa, dad, some aunts and uncles all lawyers were all involved in writing and editing Law Journals in India so from birth books were part of my upbringing. I used …

Books

Muslim Writers Awards

The Muslim Writers Awards was celebrated in an evening of glitz and glamour at the Shakespeare’s Globe in London (November 22, 2011). Guests included notable authors Aamer Hussein, Roopa Farooki, Irfan Master and Shelina Janmohamed amongst wider literary and publishing industry figures. Shahriar Mandanipour won the published novel category for Censoring an Iranian Love Story whilst …

Books

DSC Prize for South Asian Literature Shortlist announced

The 2nd annual DSC Prize for South Asian Literature shortlist was announced at a prestigious gala event at London’s Globe Theatre, October 24. Guests were treated to a performance by award-winning producer and Tabla player Talvin Singh, alongside Sarod maestro Soumik Datta, while the winner of the first DSC Prize, Pakistani writer H.M. Naqvi gave a …

Books

Imran Khan’s Pakistan: A Personal History

Imran Khan, former cricketer turned politician, kicked off his book tour in Leicester last month (September 17, 2011). Imran Khan’s Pakistan: A Personal History takes a closer look at the country’s history and its politics. Khan said he wrote the book to tell the world about the two things he knows and loves, Pakistan and …