Talented Asian writers have been shortlisted in this year’s Saboteur Awards. Short story writer, Susmita Bhattacharya has been shortlisted in the ‘Best Short Story Collection’ for her debut, Table Manners while London-based collective, The Whole Kahani – which includes writers Mona Dash and CG Menon, have been shortlisted for ‘Best Anthology’ for their second collection, …
Why we set up a book club for South Asian women
South Asian Sisters Speak (SASS) was borne out of a frustration of the lack of safe spaces for South Asian women to share their experiences. Growing up in the UK, the mainstream feminist dialogue was often non-inclusive of the varying experiences of ethnic minorities. As a result, as co-founders we (Sheetal Mistry and Shirin Shah), …
Nikesh Shukla & Mahsuda Snaith
Earlier this year, Cultural eXchanges Festival welcomed authors Nikesh Shukla and Mahsuda Snaith for an in conversation event. Held in association with The Asian Writer, the evening took place at De Montfort University Leicester and explored Nikesh’s phenomenal rise, from early life as an amateur rapper to editor of best-selling collection of essays, The Good …
Student review: In Conversation with Nikesh Shukla
Last month highly acclaimed writer Nikesh Shukla addressed an audience at De Montfort University Leicester as part of their annual student-led Cultural Exchanges festival (27 February 2019). Held in association with The Asian Writer, the evening led by fellow writer Mahsuda Snaith (author of The Things We Thought We Knew) saw Nikesh discuss writing, rapping, …
It’s Not About the Burqa
It’s Not About the Burqa is presented as a collection of essays on ‘faith, feminism, sexuality and race’ and it is a lot more than that too. Mariam Khan has created a space for Muslim women to unapologetically share their first hand experiences of life under labels and misconceptions created by non-Muslims – and unfortunately …
Books to read in 2019
2019 seems to be the year we’ve all been waiting for. And dare I say, with its generous mix of books by emerging writers alongside established voices, might well be the golden year for fiction by Asian writers. We kick off the year with fiction, which seems unusual but Rajeev Balasubramanyam’s latest novel, Professor …
Copyright: the basics for writers
What is copyright? Copyright protects your creative work and prevents others from using it without your permission. Copyright protection applies to: Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work, including photography and illustration. Sound and music recordings Film and TV recordings Broadcasts The layout of published editions of written, dramatic and musical works. Copyright stops people …
Tanya Atapattu
Q. Can you start by telling us a bit about Things my Mother Told Me? What is the main story line? And what inspired the novel? A decade ago, I broke up with a boyfriend who had an affair with a burlesque dancer, and I started to write this story. Except I realised there was …
Red Birds by Mohammed Hanif
Mohammad Hanif’s third novel, Red Birds, opens on familiar ground; as we explore the wreckage of a smouldering plane, 10 years after General Zia met his end in one, Major Ellie emerges. A man on a mission (if only to avoid the monotony of housework), he finds himself in the very ‘enemy camp’ he had …
Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam
It’s that time of year when self-help books promising to help us get fit, get healthy, be happy dominate the bestseller lists and we’re bombarded by ‘New Year, New You’ slogans leaving us feeling short changed; pondering a life that might have been if only we’d been brave enough to take a leap. The truth …









