Alice Walker gave a quote for the book saying: “I love Minal Hajratwala’s book Leaving India. It is what I imagine India itself to be like: incomparable, sprawling, rich, surprising, very old and wise and forever capable of re-creating itself, no matter where pieces of it land.”

In a Washington Post review, Sadia Shepard writes that “Hajratwala’s goal is to tease out where personal motives for migration intersect with the forces of politics and economics, to ‘find the meeting place where character intersects with history.’”

Minal will be reading in NYC on Monday, March 23, from 6:00pm-7:30pm at the Corner Bookstore. The store is located at 1313 Madison Avenue (between E 92nd and E 93rd St). More event around the country can be found on Minal’s website.

Part I, The idea behind the book:

Part II, The author reads from a section of her book:

Wed, March 11, 1-2 pm New York time (see local time around the world: http://snurl.com/djgvw )

Listen live, or later to a recording: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/03/11/Poets-editors-and-scholars-discuss-South-Asian-poetry
Or call-in and talk to him at +1-347-324-5991.

Send your questions/comments via e-mail to saja[at]columbia.edu (subject = webcast) You can also use the chatroom that will be open at the link above to ask questions. Or post your comments at http://www.sajaforum.org/2009/03/webcast-discussion-about-south-asian-poetry.html

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK ON AMAZON:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0393332381

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK: “A landmark anthology, providing the most ambitious, far-reaching collection of contemporary Asian and Middle Eastern poetry available. Language for a New Century celebrates the artistic and cultural forces flourishing today in the East, bringing together an unprecedented selection of works by South Asian, East Asian, Middle Eastern, and Central Asian poets as well as poets living in the Diaspora. Some poets, such as Bei Dao and Mahmoud Darwish, are acclaimed worldwide, but many more will be new to the reader. The collection includes 400 unique voices political and apolitical, monastic and erotic?that represent a wider artistic movement that challenges thousand-year-old traditions, broadening our notion of contemporary literature. Each section of the anthology?organized by theme rather than by national affiliation?is preceded by a personal essay from the editors that introduces the poetry and exhorts readers to examine their own identities in light of these powerful poems. In an age of violence and terrorism, often predicated by cultural ignorance, this anthology is a bold declaration of shared humanity and devotion to the transformative power of art.”

“This extraordinary, library-in-one volume: what a resource! . . . A beautiful achievement for world literature.” – ­ Nadine Gordimer, Nobel Laureate

“A symphonic sweep of beckoning cries, praises, prayers, curses, ruminations and revelations. An ensemble rich with diverse voices, here the old and the new converge, and something wholly human and futuristic emerges. . . . Marvelous.” – Yusef Komunyakaa, winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“This rich collection of poetry from Asia, the Middle East, and other parts
of the world, fills a huge gap in our cultural heritage. It is a formidable
achievement, and an important contribution to our education. – Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States

SPEAKER BIOS:

MODERATOR: Ravi Shankar is Associate Professor and Poet-in-Residence at Central Connecticut State University and the founding editor of the international online journal of the arts, Drunken Boat . He has published a book of poems, Instrumentality (Cherry Grove, 2004), named a finalist for the 2005 Connecticut Book Awards, and with Reb Livingston, a collaborative chapbook, Wanton Textiles (No Tell Books, 2006). He has taught at Queens College, University of New Haven, and Columbia University, where he received his MFA in Poetry. He currently serves on the Advisory Council for the Connecticut Center for the Book, has been a commentator on NPR and BBC, reviews poetry for the Contemporary Poetry Review and along with Tina Chang and Nathalie Handal, edited Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from Asia, the Middle East & Beyond (W.W Norton & Co., 2008)

Nathalie Handal is an award-winning poet, playwright, and writer. Her most recent books include, The Lives of Rain (short-listed for The Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize/The Pitt Poetry Series and recipient of the Menada Award), and she is the co-editor along with Tina Chang and Ravi Shankar of Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond (W.W. Norton, 2008).

Born in Sri Lanka, and educated at Oxford University, Pireeni Sundaralingam currently lives in San Francisco. A former PEN USA Rosenthal Fellow, her poetry has appeared in literary and political journals such as Ploughshares, World Literature Today, The Progressive, and The Guardian newspaper (UK), university texts such as Three Genres (Prentice-Hall, 8th Edition, 2006; 9th edition, 2009), and anthologies such as Masala (Macmillan, 2005). Her poetry has featured at the United Nations headquarters, and the International Museum of Women, as well as airing on national radio in Ireland, Sweden, and the US. A former professor of Cognitive Development, Pireeni has held research posts at UCLA and MIT. Website: http://www.wordandviolin.com

Sarah Jane Freymann has been a literary agent since the 1970’s and is the founder and president of the Sarah Jane Freymann Literary Agency. The agency has placed its authors with such publishers such as Random House, Ballantine, Bantam, Norton, Chronicle, Clarkson Potter, Dutton, HarperCollins, Morrow, Penguin USA, Riverhead, Rizzoli, Simon & Schuster, and Viking — and the list is eclectic; reflecting Sarah Jane’s diverse interests.

As always, you are welcome to quote from anything said during the
FREE, WORLDWIDE webcasts (50+) at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja

He was born to Indian parents in Ethiopia and was expelled from the country of his birth after a military coup, making a home in his adopted country – the United States. His new book, Cutting for Stone, a work of fiction, takes him back to the geography that he knows best – that of Ethiopia. It’s a tale of twin boys born to an Indian nun and then raised by another doctor couple in the hospital.

Entertainment Weekly gave the book an “A” grade and said: “Verghese can write about the repair of a twisted bowel with the precision and poetry usually reserved for love scenes. The doctor in him sees the luminous beauty of the physician’s calling; the artist recognizes that there remain wounds no surgeon can mend.”

Part I: Writing fiction & practicing medicine; Verghese reads a from “Cutting for Stone.”:

Part II: Bringing the Humanities to the practice of medicine:

Part III: On Naveen Andrews as Dr. Verghese and what’s next:

Related reviews:

Washington Post: Healing the Past, A doctor’s search for his twin brother.

The Boston Bibliophile

The San Francisco Chronicle

Upcoming event:

The South Asian Journalists Association will be hosting a live webcast on Tuesday, Feb 17, 12:30-1:30 pm ET (see local time around the world: http://snurl.com/bim5l) with Verghese, who’ll be interviewed by Newsweek contributing editor Vibhuti Patel. Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/02/17/Dr-Abraham-Verghese

In this three-part video interview, Aseem talks with Karan Mahajan about his debut novel Family Planning. The 24-year-old author discusses the novel’s inspiration, the writing process and how he avoided creating an exotic India.

The video can be viewed in High Definition. First hit the play button in the center of the screen, then click the triangle in the bottom right corner of the screen. You will see the “HQ” option. Click that to play the video in “High Quality”.

Part I: “Humor gets sharpened when one is put in an alien situation.”

Part II: No sari or man on a camel on the cover.

Part III: “I feel a deep affinity with Jewish American writers.”

Following the successful release of his two albums — Apti and Kinsmen, the 2009 Downbeat International Critics Poll named him the “Rising Star-Jazz Artist” and “Rising Star-Alto Saxophone.”

And that wasn’t all: the Jazz Journalist Association also named him the Alto Saxophonist of the Year for 2009.

In a conversation, Rudresh talks about how he became a jazz musician, how he weaves the sounds of Indian classical music into his compositions, and collaboration with Carnatic saxophonist Kadri Gopalnath. Rudresh also wants to make clear the distinction between his compositions and “fusion.”

Video: Becoming a Jazz Saxophonist:

Video: Jazz and Self-identity:

Upcoming Events:

January 5-9
With Jack Dejohnette¹s Fifth World
Birdland
315 W. 44th St. (btw 8th & 9th Aves.)
New York, NY
http://www.birdlandjazz.com
Sets @ 8:30 and 11 PM

January 9
Indo-Pak Coalition
Kenny¹s Castaways as part of Winter Jazzfest
157 Bleecker Street
New York, NY 10012-1405
http://www.winterjazzfest.com/
One Set @ 1:15 AM

Film Crew Credit: Emmanuel Alexandre, Sebastian Bednarski, Byron Hangey and John Nolan
Video Editing: Mariana Vasconcellos
Photo Credit: Mark Duggan, White Noise Visuals

This past week, Bombay Summer had two sold out screenings at Indian International Film Festival in Goa. And earlier this month the film swept the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council film festival awards – winning trophies for best film, best director and best actress (for Tannishtha Chatterjee).

Mathew spoke about the film – the idea of Bombay, working with his actors and the music–before he left New York for the Goa festival.

Video: Bombay Summer’s Intersecting Lives

Produced by New York’s Channel THIRTEEN and directed by the Australian documentary filmmaker Victoria Pitt, the film examines the traumatic experiences of the survivors, including the guests at the Taj Mahal Palace and the Oberoi Trident Hotels, as they struggled through the ordeal.

In her conversation with Aseem, Pitt describes her emotional experience covering the harrowing attacks and takes us inside the corridors as the siege unfolds.

State of Siege:

Film Crew Credit: Emmanuel Alexandre,Sebastian Bednarski, Byron Hangey and John Nolan

Photo Credit: Reuters/For editorial use in North America only in conjunction with the direct publicity or promotion of SECRETS OF THE DEAD.

Singh’s film – The Sky Below has played at film festivals, as well as other gatherings in India and also recently in Pakistan. Here Singh talks about her experiences in making the film, the regional dynamics of what is happening in Afghanistan, Kashmir and in the Indo-Pakistan relations, and how all of it is co-related to the line that was drawn out between the two neighboring countries in August 1947.

Noted Nepali journalist Kanak Mani Dixit says the following about The Sky Below: “One of the best films on Partition I have ever seen.”

The following video can be viewed in High Definition. First hit the play button in the center of the screen, then click the triangle in the bottom right corner of the screen. You will see the “HQ” option. Click that to play the video in “High Quality”.

Part I: Sarah’s inspiration and motivation for “The Sky Below”:

Part II: Deep emotions on both sides of the border:

Part III: Reactions to the film in the Indian Subcontinent

The interview is co-hosted by Aseem Chhabra and Sreenath Sreenivasan, the co-founder of the South Asian Journalists Associations and a professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism.

Thank you to SAJAForum.org for the embed. Here’s a link to the questions and comments mentioned during the interview.

Related Reviews:

NYTimes.com: Orphan’s Lifeline Out of Hell Could Be a Game Show in Mumbai
Rediff India Abroad: Slumdog kids exploited?

The gallery is located in the Greenwich Village/NoHo section of Manhattan, focusing on contemporary works by South Asian artists — mostly from India, Pakistan, and those living in the Diaspora. In addition to its New York location, the gallery also has a branch in London.