New Books, New Grants, and more Alumni Achievements!
Some updates from our illustrious alums and some happy news from our current cohort.
Hello everyone!
While this October had been a month where the world witnessed humanitarian tragedy at an unprecedented scale in the Middle East, our fellows upheld their commitment to using their writing to make the world a better place. In a time of despair, their work has offered hope. We're proud of our fellows and alums for working on projects that educate and inform the world.
Mariam Tareen (2022) organized a Teach In with Diane Buttu and Omar Barghouti, where they answered questions about boycotts, the Free Palestine movement, and the call for ceasefire. The event was moderated by Mariam's mentor, Fatima Bhutto. You can read this open letter signed by 750 writers , including Fatima, calling for a humanitarian ceasefire, in the London Review of Books.
Rabia Mushtaq ( 2021), meanwhile, has been writing about Afghan Refugees in Pakistan, and her piece for GeoTV, on the stereotype-defying women who run the Afghan Kitchen Café, is a must-read. Rabia’s mentor was Rahul Bhatia.
We've also got some great news from several other alumni, and you may want to make some space on your bookshelves because three of our alums have landed publishing contracts with leading publishing houses.
First up, can we say just how thrilled we are for Atharva Pandit (2021) His novel Hurda was published in October by Bloomsbury India and has been getting only raves. The New Indian Express called it “a genre defying monster of a book we’ve all been waiting for.” Scroll.in published this excerpt. You can buy Atharva’s exceptional novel at your favorite indie bookstore or online. Atharva’s mentor was novelist Prayaag Akbar.
Atharva shared a few words about the fellowship’s role in his success:
“South Asia Speaks came to me at a time when I had lost confidence in my writing, particularly fiction. Getting selected for SAS was a boost in itself, but conversations with my mentor Prayaag Akbar, and the incredible masterclass sessions organized by the program, also helped me to figure out certain strengths and drawbacks in my writing. This, in turn, was instrumental in the writing of Hurda, the idea for which had been with me for quite some time, but the existence of which I owe to the one year I spent as an SAS mentee.”
For a closer look at the Fellowship experience, head over to our Linkedin to read an exclusive interview with Disha Mullick (2021), who was awarded a 2023 National India Foundation Book Fellowship. Disha discusses the fellowship and her experience working with mentor Fatima Bhutto. She also spills the tea on her upcoming book on the feminist media network Khabar Lahariya.
We’re thrilled for Nusrat F. Jafri (2021) whose book on caste, identity and conversations This Land We Call Home has been acquired by Penguin India. Nusrat’s mentor was Aanchal Malhotra.
Sanjana Ramachandran’s (2022) debut collection of essays, Famous Last Questions, has been acquired by Aleph Book Company, and will be published next year. Sanjana’s mentor was Sanam Maher.
Congratulations, Atharva, Nusrat and Sanjana, we couldn’t be prouder of you.
And a round of applause for Chandrima Das (2021) whose chart topping non-fiction podcast, Rumors: Dark Lore from India, has recently been acquired by Harper Collins India for adaptation into her second book. The podcast combines South Asian history, folklore, and horror. Chandrima’s mentor was Aruni Kashyap.
Deepa Padmanabhan (2022) received a grant from the Thomson Reuters Foundation (TRF) to report an optimistic story on how a small enterprise can provide a way out of debt bonded labor, as well as a piece on how mass produced Wolbachia infected mosquitoes are being used to tackle the spread of Dengue. Read her reporting over at Harvard Public Health magazine. Deepa’s mentor was McKenzie Funk.
Sudeshna Rana (2021) is a co-recipient of the Serendipity Arts Virtual Grant 2023 for a collaborative project based in Eastern India titled “Poorvanchal aur Palayan.” Her mentor was Mira Kamdar.
Priyamvada Ramkumar (2021) was awarded the PEN/Heim Translation Grant for translating Jeyamohan’s White Elephant to English from Tamil. She was also shortlisted for the American Literary Translators Association National Awards in prose for her translation of Jeyamohan’s Stories of the True. If that wasn’t quite enough, Priyamvada was also awarded the A Muttulingam Award for her exemplary work.
Priyamvada has co-founded The Mozhi Prize, with SAS Translation Fellow Suchitra Ramachandran (2022), awarding English translations of any short story written in an Indian regional language. Priyamvada and Suchitra were both mentored by Arunava Sinha.
Sukhada Tatke (2022) was awarded the Polestar Award for her Fifty Two article, Man of Culture. Sukhada’s mentor was Tania James.
Sonakshi Srivastava (2021) published two food-themed personal essays, Mellow, in Nivaala’s anthology of food writings Memories on a Plate; and Edible Childhood, which appears in Issue 2 of Finger Food Magazine. Sonakshi’s mentor was Arunava Sinha.
Arslan Ather’s (2021) heartwarming short story, The Box, is a meditation on family, identity, and self acceptance. It was published in The Aleph Review. Arslan’s mentor was Fatima Bhutto.
Dua Abbas Rizvi (2022) illustrated Arslan’s story. Dua’s mentor was Aanchal Malhotra.
Rana Saadullah Khan (2022) began an MFA at the University of Oregon. Rana’s mentor was Madhuri Vijay.
Now, for some exciting updates from our class of 2023:
We’re so proud that Zehra Khan has been selected for the Write Beyond Borders Literary Mentorship for the year 2023-24. Zehra’s mentor is Aanchal Malhotra.
Sadaf Modak was one of three journalists shortlisted for Will of Steel, an award for exceptional legal journalism. Sadaf has been reporting a series on a village wiped away by a landslide in Raigad district in Maharashtra, India. Sadaf’s mentor is Taran Khan.
Aditi Yadav’s new translation of Muktibodh’s hindi short story, Naye Ki Janamkundali, appears in English as The Horoscope of the Modern in The Punch Magazine. Aditi’s book review of Days at the Morisaki Bookshop was published on Scroll.in, and a review of Makoto Shinkai and Naruki Nagakawa’s She and Her Cat, was published recently by Borderless Journal. Aditi’s mentor is Arunava Sinha.
That’s all for now. You can connect with us on Twitter and Instagram to see more of what our fellows are up to.
Until next time, keep reading and writing!
Great work! We've curated some South Asian authors delving into sci-fi and fantasy from their home turfs. Do give it a read! https://diziculture.substack.com/p/of-attars-mithai-and-more