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Regional winners of the 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize announced

Commonwealth Writers is delighted to announce the regional winners for this year’s Commonwealth Short Story Prize. The five outstanding stories were successful in a year of fierce competition when the Prize received a record 6,000 entries from across the Commonwealth.

“It speaks to the high quality of the shortlisted stories that the judges’ decisions were rarely straightforward – and it speaks to the high quality of the winners that none of the judges left the conversation unsatisfied by the choices we ended up with. These are engaging and moving stories that honour and understand the potential of the short story form to burrow in on intimate stories and also to give you vast canvases painted with precise strokes. They also reveal the extent to which human concerns cross borders while the ways in which those concerns are played out are always individual and specific.” Kamila Shamsie, Chair, 2017 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

Commonwealth Writers has partnered again with Granta magazine to give regional winners of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize the opportunity to be published by Granta online.

The stories will be published on www.granta.com every Tuesday from 30 May until 27 June, in order from East to West across the Commonwealth:

‘The Death of Margaret Roe’, Nat Newman – 30 May

‘Drawing Lessons’, Anushka Jasraj – 6 June

‘Who is Like God’, Akwaeke Emezi – 13 June

‘The Naming of Moths’, Tracy Fells – 20 June

‘The Sweet Sop’, Ingrid Persaud – 27 June

The overall winner will be announced in Singapore on Friday 30 June. Read more

Source: Commonwealth Writers


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Jaipur Literature Festival arrives in USA

Jaipur Literature Festival, the world’s largest literary festival of its kind, will make its mark at a number of literary and art events in USA this fall. The festival has entered into a collaboration with New York based Museum of Modern Art for hosting three art performances during the Fall 2017. These events will be held prior to the three-day Jaipur Literature Festival scheduled to be held in Boulder, CO, from September 15 to17.

Sanjoy Roy, producer of Jaipur Literature Festival, made this announcement at an event organized by Hindi Sangam Foundation; a New Jersey based educational and cultural organization. The event was held at the Consulate General of India in New York on Tuesday, May 9.

“Our focus is to make literature in all languages accessible to the common man. More than 60 percent of the JLF audience is comprised of young people, who are empowered by such events. We believe in sharing knowledge democratically. It helps us connect with the younger generation who are capable of bringing social change”, said Roy in his address adding that it was an uphill task to popularize literature through festivals. Read more

Source: The Indian Panorama


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The EU together with LASALLE College of the Arts will inaugurate the European Union Writers Festival on May 26

 

image001Celebrating 60 years of the European Union (EU) and 40 years of EU-ASEAN ties, the EU together with LASALLE College of the Arts will launch its inaugural European Union Writers Festival to deepen its cultural connections with Singapore. The festival is a celebration of culture and literature that transcends borders.

With an opening event and full-day of panel discussions on May 26, the festival explores the themes in European contemporary literature and shares the insights of Singaporean authors who have travelled to Europe and written pieces in response to their journey. You can look forward to a series of talks by industry experts from arts, film, and writing backgrounds as they offer contextual understandings into the overseas and Singaporean literary scenes.

It will create a platform for European writers and publishers based in Singapore to discuss their work and ideas which inspire writing in many forms. Highlights include German writer and filmmaker Michael Schindhelm who will present his latest publication, Happy Tropics I and discussions on topics such as Art Writing, The Craft of Film Writing, The Fine Art of Publishing, and Writing in the Age of Social Media.

Opening night: Thu 25 May, 6pm – 7pm

Venue: Campus Green, LASALLE McNally Campus, 1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940

Festival: Fri 26 May, 10am – 3pm

Venue: The Singapore Airlines Theatre Foyer, Basement 1, LASALLE McNally Campus, 1 McNally Street, Singapore 187940

Admission: Free

For more information, visit the website here.

Schedule

10am – 11am: In Conversation: Michael Schindhelm with Darryl Whetter

11am – 12pm: Art Writing and its Challenges

12pm – 1pm: The Craft of Film Writing

1pm – 2pm: The Fine Art of Publishing

2pm – 3pm: Writing in the Age of Social Media


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“Books on the Beach” literature festival in November

Thiruvananthapuram, May 16 (PTI) Leading writers and thinkers from across India and abroad will participate in the inaugural edition of ‘Books on the Beach’, a literature festival to be held here in November.

The literature fest, organised by non-profit India Book Foundation under the guidance and patronage of former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, MP, and supported by Kerala Tourism, will be held at Kovalam from November 10-12.

Besides serving as an annual platform for the best in Indian and world literature, Books on the Beach will over successive editions tap into the city s youthful energy and distinctive charm to promote it as a leading destination for culture and tourism, Tharoor and Dr Venu V, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, told reporters here today. Read more

Source: India.com


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India: Assam govt to hold seminars on Rabindra Jayanti from next year

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today described Rabindranath Tagore as a great humanist and said Tagore made indelible contribution to glorify Indian literature at the world stage.

He was speaking at a Rabindra Jayanti celebration organised by the Greater Guwahati Rabindra Jayanti Celebration Committee in association with the Directorate of Cultural Affairs.

The Assam government would hold seminars on Rabindra Jayanti across all districts in the state from next year, the chief minister said. Read more

Source: India.com


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Calcutta Club USA to host Third Annual Sanskriti LitFest and Book Fair on June 10th

ACTON, MA–Calcutta Club USA will host its third annual Sanskriti LitFest and Book Fair on Saturday, June 10th, at Parker Damon Building in Acton MA from 12 PM to 5 PM, the organizers said in a statement.

This novel event in North America, which brings together literature, art, cuisine, thought leadership and family fun within a single venue, has risen in prominence in just three years and attracts the top literati and South Asian authors to participate either in person or over videoconference, the statement said.

Books of prominent Indian sub-continent authors are available for purchase in English, Bengali and Hindi. A key innovation of the book fair is the Authors’ Direct program – the popular platform to reach Boston’s reading community leveraged by over 50 rising authors.

The Keynote Speaker will be the globally renowned Shashi Tharoor, India’s bestselling author, former UN UnderSecretary General and member of parliament, who is traveling to Boston to speak at the Calcutta Club USA book fair. Read more

Source: India New England News


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Big library idea comes from small children

By Huang Zhiling

Construction of the world’s first panda-themed library is expected to start early next year at a primary school in Chengdu, Sichuan province, with the facility expected to open about six months later.

“People worldwide will have free access to it online,” said Zhang Mingrong, headmistress of the Chengdu Panda Road Primary School.

The school has a three-story building, the second floor of which currently serves as a convention center. It will be turned into a studio for videos about pandas. The third floor, currently a library, will be designed with five boat-shaped sections symbolizing swimming in the sea of knowledge.

“Each section symbolizes a continent. The five sections will house publications and audiovisual materials about pandas from Asia, Europe, America, Africa and Oceania,” Zhang said. Read more

Source: China Daily


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42 Diaries From the Frontline

By Sameer Arshad Khatlani

Afghan diplomat Masood Khalili had enrolled for PhD after finishing his master’s degree from Delhi University, when communists seized power in Kabul in April 1978. His father, iconic poet and academic Khalilullah, called him from Baghdad, where he was the Afghan ambassador, to break the news. He warned Khalili that the communists had come and Russians will follow. “Go get your PhD from the mountains of Afghanistan,’’ Khalilullah told his 28-year-old son. Khalili immediately left Delhi to join Afghan rebels as a political officer in Peshawar, before entering Afghanistan.

Khalilullah’s fears came true the following year when the Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979. Khalili responded by crisscrossing the country, mostly on his donkey, for the next nine years to mobilise Afghans against the occupiers. Read more

Source: The Indian Express


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The New South Asian American Writer Is A Wild Beast

By Dipika Mukherjee

In February 2017, the Chicago Quarterly Review published its South Asian American Issue featuring the work of 38 emerging and established South Asian writers and the April 4 reading was the first public event. There will be more, in San Francisco, LA and Evanston and Chicago and New York, but for this, the first reading, it felt like unwrapping something delicious.

The meeting room in the International House Coulter Lounge at the University of Chicago is hushed and wood-paneled; a large portrait of a Caucasian couple hangs over the fireplace. The sconces could have held candles instead of bulbs a hundred years ago, and the weight of a long history echoes in these chambers. As the evening progressed and people filed into the room, it is filled with the voices of South Asian Chicago writers and the clink of wine; the room seems to take on a multi-hued tapestry of different sounds and colors. Read more

Source: The Aerogram


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Call for an Anthology of Singaporean Short Film Screenplays

Filmwallas.com and the Screenwriters Association (Singapore) are calling in for The Singapore Short List 2017 – an Anthology of Singaporean Short Film Screenplays.

The theme of the short screenplay is ‘Race’. Participants are to submit their short screenplay based on their interpretation before 31st May 2017.

12 screenplays will be shortlisted, and published in The Singapore Short List 2017. Once the anthology is published, a further competition will be announced for directors and producers to turn the shortlisted screenplays into finished short films.

How to participate:

  1. Set up a profile at www.filmwallas.com (click on the sign up button on the top right of the homepage)
  2. Download this Registration form, fill it up and email it to info@filmwallas.com with the subject line: SINGAPORE SHORT LIST – before 31 May 2017
  3. Make a payment of S$20 per entry at http://bit.ly/2osx8R8

Note:

  • Entry is open to any Singaporean or resident of Singapore
  • Entry is free for members of the Screenwriters Association
  • Entry fee is S$20 per submission for all other entrants. Multiple entries are accepted. Each entry allows you to receive a complimentary copy of the published anthology.
  • Submission deadline is midnight on 31 May 2017
  • Scripts must be between 5 and 15 pages, in standard industry screenplay format
  • Selections will be made by a jury appointed by the Screenwriters Association committee and their decision is final.
  • The shortlisted 12 will be announced in June/July 2017
  • The anthology will be published in late September/October 2017.
  • Kitaab will retain the right to publish all submitted works in first and subsequent prints.
  • Royalties will be paid to all shortlisted writers on 2nd and subsequent prints.
  • The screenplays will remain the Intellectual Property of the individual writers.

For more details: http://filmwallas.com/contest/screenwriters