New literary festival highlights South Asian literature in Canada
The Canadian South Asian Literary Festival kicks off this weekend from Aug. 26-27 in Brampton, Ont.
The Canadian South Asian Literary Festival is the first festival to celebrate the legacy of South Asian thinkers and writers in Canada's literary landscape.
The festival will take place from Aug. 26-27 in Brampton, Ont., featuring writers from across South Asia who will participate in conferences and read from their latest works. Participants include writers such as Bangladeshi Canadian Silmy Abdullah, Swedish political scientist Ishtiaq Ahmed and human rights advocate Aruna Papp.
The conferences touch on the South Asian diaspora as a whole as well as sessions specific to certain communities, and will overall speak about social issues and wellbeing. Four conclaves are dedicated to the regions and peoples of Singh, Bangladesh, Punjab and Kashmir. It will also host a mushaira event — a gathering of poets that include Hasan Mujtaba, Meena Chopra and Shahida Hasan on Saturday evening.
The festival also awards the Nalanda awards, a literary and media award that gives $10,000 to $20,000 in cash to the best writers in poetry, fiction and nonfiction.
Weaving South Asian literature into Canada's heritage
"I'm very excited to further our activism for literature, to further our efforts in terms of advancing South Asian heritage in the Canadian context," says Tahir Gora, journalist, writer and organizer of the festival.
By organizing the festival, Gora hopes to engage the next generation of writers at least a few times a year going forward.
"I've been in Canada since 1999, and I thought about it various times but I could not afford my time or resources to jump into it… so now I'm taking the initiative."
Gora is a Punjabi Canadian of Indian heritage, born in political Pakistan. He has authored books on fiction, nonfiction, poetry and articles on the complexities of multiculturalism translated into Russian, Uzbek, Hindi and other languages. He is also the CEO of Tag TV.
"Hundreds of writers with South Asian backgrounds write in their native languages such as Punjabi, Gujarati, Tamil, Hindi and they all are Canadians. We need to recognize their contributions in their native languages in the landscape of Canada," Gora says.
Hundreds of writers with South Asian backgrounds write in their native languages... we need to recognize their contributions in their native languages in the landscape of Canada.- Tahir Gora
"So we'll be convincing mainstream publishers to have their books translated into English and French, so that all Canadians can enjoy their collective Canadian heritage."
He hopes to mobilize emerging writers and give them a platform through the festival.
The festival also includes a session on social wellbeing, and Aruna Papp will speak about the challenges that women face in the South Asian community. She has written extensively on the stories of women who have struggled, and whose children now contribute to the Canadian environment.
"What's exciting about the conference is that South Asian women have an equal platform. In every genre, women are on the stage," says Papp.
She will also discuss her book, the memoir Unworthy Creature: A Punjabi Daughter's Memoir of Honour, Shame and Love, which was co-authored with Barbara Kay.
"Very few women write an autobiography or stories of real women who have lived and died. And I think this conference is important because it will document the history of women who didn't have a voice in changing the landscape of this country," Papp says.
This conference is important because it will document the history of women who didn't have a voice in changing the landscape of this country.- Aruna Papp
Papp is a writer, advocate and social worker who has been working with South Asian immigrant women who are victims of honour-based violence and domestic violence for nearly 40 years.
Reflecting the diversity within South Asian landscape
The conferences visit the South Asian landscape as a whole and are also broken up by conclaves that feature a particular region or peoples.
Four conclaves from within the South Asian diaspora invite discussions within the literary context, such as Kashmir, Bangladesh, Punjab and Sindh. One such session features Silmy Abdullah, author of the book Home of the Floating Lily at the 'Bengalis in Canadian Literature' talk.
"What's incredible about this literary festival is that it's not only just South Asians in the room — because the South Asian diaspora is very diverse, they breakout sessions by region and by interest to reflect a variety of different experiences and stories," says Mitali Banerjee Ruths, a children's book author and pediatrician.
Ruths says its important to have creative people to have conversations, communities and connections in Canada because it "enriches the arts."
There's a diversity of stories and people and languages and traditions and cultures that can be represented on the main stage.- Mitali Banerjee Ruths
"There's a diversity of stories and people and languages and traditions and cultures that can be represented on the main stage," she said.
Ruths is a Montreal-based children's book writer and a pediatrician. Her previous books include picture book Archie Celebrates Diwali, the early readers series The Inside Scouts and two other books in the The Party Diaries series — Awesome Orange Birthday and Starry Henna Night.
Details on the address and individual workshops at the festival can be found on the website.
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