January News

NEW BOOKS:
Pramila Venkateswaran's new collection of poetry "Behind Dark Waters" (Plain View Press) comes out this month. The enclosed poems explore women's lives and issues from around the globe. Reviews of the book include those by poet Karen Swenson, who calls the poems "fierce" and "daring," and poet Saleem Peeradina who describes the book as a "a thoughtful, witty, dramatic, and provocative collection." Available from Amazon and Plain View Press.

READINGS:
A Unique Evening with Four South Asian Writers
Thursday 29 January: 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.
Redwood City Public Library will be hosting a reading including short-story writer and translator Moazzam Sheikh and three of our anthology's poets (Tanuja Mehrotra, Neela Banerjee and Pireeni Sundaralingam).
Redwood City Public Library
1044 Middlefield Rd.
Redwood City, CA 94063
(650) 780-7058

Delhi International Literary Festival
Many congratulations to our poet Sudeep Sen for masterminding the first festival of its kind in Delhi a few weeks ago. International luminaries included: Tomaz Salamun, Arthur Sze, Mimi Khalvati, Jane Draycott and Fred D'Aguiar.

TOURS:
Poet and editor Ravi Shankar is on tour with the poetry anthology "Language for a New Century: poetry from the Middle East, Asia and Beyond" (Norton, 2008) which includes several of our poets, including Meena Alexandar, Khazim Ali, Sudeep Sen, Vijay Seshadri and Pireeni Sundaralingam. Readings for the book include a book launch and party, sponsored by PEN, at Theosophy Hall in Bombay, as well as readings in Chennai (14 January), Singapore (16 January) and in the Philippines at the University of Manila (19 January).

WORKSHOPS:
P3: The Postcard Poetry Project with Debbie Yee and Bushra Rehman
Working with writers and artists in San Francisco and New York City, our very own Bushra Rehman will be teaching students to create original works of postcard art and poetry with a view to exchanging them with fellow artists on the opposite coast. The workshop will culminate in a public reading on both coasts and a publication consisting of the poet-artists' portfolio of work. The workshop is co-sponsored by two Asian American artists organizations: Kearny Street Workshop (SF) and Asian American Writers' Workshop (NYC).
Meetings: Mondays, Feb 2 through Mar 23, 7:00 - 9:00pm
Website: http://www.kearnystreet.org/programs/calendar/2009_1.html