Hello everyone! Between the time that applications for the SAS fellowship opened last year and this newsletter’s publication, AI has taken the world of writing and publishing by storm. And while we can never say for sure whether publishing will survive ChatGPT and how ‘traditional’ modes of communication will respond to AI’s challenges, the work of our fellows gives us hope that great writing isn’t going away anytime soon. The themes covered by our fellows are wide-ranging, from gender to custodial violence, minority rights, and justice. Here’s the latest:
We’re thrilled for Shah Tazrian Ashrafi, whose debut collection “The Hippo Girl and Other Stories”, has been acquired by Hachette India and will be out soon. His mentor is Karan Mahajan.
Congratulations are also in order for Rupsa Dey, who has been accepted to the Iowa Writers Workshop on a full scholarship. You can read Rupsa’s article about custodial violence against a young man in Kashmir for The Polis Project, and her interview with Tejaswini Apte Rahm for Helter Skelter. Her mentor is Aanchal Malhotra.
Usman Ahmad continues to work on The Minorities Project, an initiative to celebrate and empower religious minority identities in Pakistan. His mentor is Isaac Chotiner.
Kinshuk Gupta published six poems in Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi’s bimonthly journal. He profiled Mridula Garg for LiveMint and wrote an opinion piece for The News Minute contextualizing some of the debates on marriage equality in India. His mentor is Tishani Doshi.
Tanul Thakur’s film reviews for The Wire will delight anyone looking to expand their watchlist. From Avatar to Zwigato, his insights on cinema covered a broad spectrum of movies in the last few months. His mentor is McKenzie Funk.
Fatima Khan’s investigation for The Quint revealed the arrests made under the anti-conversion law in Uttar Pradesh and how they go against the very law. She also covered the recent Karnataka Elections. Her mentor is Samar Halarnkar.
Zehra Shabbir Khan published several pieces on the accessibility of dhaba culture in Karachi, as a collaborative project titled “Parday ke Peeche Kya Hai”. She wrote an essay on the complex identities that exist within Pakistan in lieu of the 1947 and 1971 partitions (The Jharoka Journal). Her Mentor is Aanchal Malhotra.
Aditi Yadav published an essay on wanderlust in Borderless Journal, and wrote about the Japanese practice of forest bathing for Globally Rooted Magazine. She also wrote a book review of The Phantom Tollbooth for EKL Review, where she argues for readers to read the book to bridge the gap between their childhood and adult selves. Her mentor is Arunava Sinha.
Now for some news from our alumni:
Huge congratulations to Suchitra Ramachandran (2022), on the publication of her translation of Tamil writer Jeyamohan’s novel Ezhaam Ulagam. “The Abyss” is published by Juggernaut Books and available to purchase in bookshops and online. Read an excerpt over at Scroll, where reviewer Karthik Keramalu calls the collection “frightening, funny, and everything in between.” Suchitra’s mentor was Arunava Sinha.
We’re so pleased for Sanjana Ramachandran (2022), who is now being represented by The Writer’s Side on her debut collection of essays. Sanjana’s mentor was Sanam Maher.
Rabia Mushtaq ( 2021) wrote about the harrowing odyssey of a Pakistani man falsely imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. Rabia’s mentor was Rahul Bhatia.
Uma Shirodkar (2022), published a translation of CV Joshi’s Marathi short story Mousey Miracles in Hakara Journal. Uma’s mentor was Arunava Sinha.
Riddhi Dastidar (2022) ,wrote about the numerous barriers that prevent queer women in India from accessing mental health support for Queerbeat. Riddhi’s mentor was Deepa Anappara.
For FiftyTwo.in, Sowmiya Ashok (2022) answers the question of where, if, and how Subhash Chandra Bose died. Sowmiya’s mentor was Mujib Mashal.
Finally, read about India’s beef with beef by Sharanya Deepak (2022) for Baffler. Sharanya’s mentor was Sanam Maher.
This year we’ve continued to host some of the best-known voices in South Asia at our masterclass series. We’d like to thank Anuvab Pal, Mansi Choksi, Rahul Bhattacharya, Vinod Jose and Alice Albinia for taking the time to discuss their journeys with us. We were also delighted to chat with literary agent Maria Cardona Serra as a part of our “Ask the Agent” series.
That’s all for now! Thanks for reading and rooting for us. You can connect with us on Twitter , Instagram and LinkedIn to see more of what we’re up to. Until next time.
This is all such wonderful news. Congratulations to all the fellows and mentors.