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South Asian Women's Creative Collective
http://www.sawcc.org/mixed.html
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact
Roohi Choudhry
sawcclitfest@gmail.com
April 30, 2006--The South Asian Women's Creative Collective (SAWCC) and Marymount Manhattan College present "Mixed Messages," a literary festival celebrating South Asian writing crossing boundaries between cultures, genres and media. A three-day series of readings, panels and workshops, "Mixed Messages" will explore non-mainstream genres, highlight writers who use new media, and focus on writing communities. "Mixed Messages" will be held from May 19-21 at Marymount Manhattan College, 221 East 71st Street, New York, NY 10021
Participating writers include: Amitav Ghosh (Incendiary Circumstances), Vijay Seshadri (The Long Meadow: Poems), Sara Suleri Goodyear (Boys Will Be Boys: A Daughter's Elegy), Ruth Jeyaveeran (The Spectacular Adventures of Sophie and Sebastian), Mitali Perkins (The Not-So Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen), Marina Budhos (Ask Me No Questions), Amitava Kumar (Husband of a Fanatic), Ravi Shankar (Instrumentality), and Anna John (of www.SepiaMutiny.com).
"Mixed Messages" will feature a screenwriting master class with Sabrina Dhawan, a writing workshop for teens with Marina Budhos, and "Writing About Food" workshop with master chef Vikas Khanna, New York Times writer Julia Moskin, and cookbook author Ramin Ganeshram. The festival will also feature performances on both evenings with dance, music, spoken word and much more from emerging and established South Asian women artists. Check out the detailed festival schedule below.
"Mixed Messages" co-sponsors include South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!), and Sholay Productions.
About Manhattan Marymount College Marymount Manhattan College is an urban, independent, liberal arts college. The mission of the college is to educate a socially and economically diverse population by fostering intellectual achievement and personal growth and by providing opportunities for career development. Inherent in this mission is the intent to develop an awareness of social, political, cultural and ethical issues, in the belief that this awareness will lead to concern for, participation in, and improvement of society. To accomplish this mission, the College offers a strong program in the arts and sciences for students of all ages, as well as substantial pre-professional preparation. Central to these efforts is the particular attention given to the individual student. Marymount Manhattan College seeks to be a resource and learning center for the metropolitan community.
About SAWCC The South Asian Women's Creative Collective (SAWCC) is an organization dedicated to the advancement, visibility and development of emerging and established South Asian women artists and writers. SAWCC provides a forum for South Asian women artists to profile their creative and intellectual work, and network with other South Asian women artists, educators, community workers, and professionals.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
(Unless otherwise specified, all events will take place at Marymount Manhattan College, 221 East 71st Street, New York, NY 10021.)
Friday, May 19: Kick-Off Reading and Reception 7PM, $15
Readings by: Amitav Ghosh (Incendiary Circumstances, Houghton Mifflin, 2006) Vijay Seshadri (The Long Meadow: Poems, Graywolf Press, 2005) Sara Suleri Goodyear (Boys Will Be Boys: A Daughter's Elegy, University of Chicago Press, 2003) Moderated by Amardeep Singh (Assistant Professor of English at Lehigh University)
Saturday, May 20: Panels and Workshops 10AM, FREE Continental Breakfast
11AM-1PM, FREE Panel Discussion: South Asian Youth Literature
[Co-sponsored by South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!).] Ruth Jeyaveeran (The Spectacular Adventures of Sophie and Sebastian, Houghton Mifflin, 2005)
Mitali Perkins (The Not-So Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen, Little,Brown, 2005) Marina Budhos (Ask Me No Questions, Atheneum, 2006) Monika Jain (editor of Kahani, a South Asian literary magazine for children)
Pooja Makhijani (Mama's Saris, Little, Brown, 2007) (moderator)
11AM-3PM, $75 Workshop: Screenwriting Master Class with Sabrina Dhawan
(Moonsoon Wedding, 2002) Writing sample and reservation required.
Additional $10 for boxed lunch.
3PM-5PM, FREE Panel Discussion: Supporting Your Habit: Making a Writing Life Sejal Shah (fiction writer, poet, and Assistant Professor of English, Marymount Manhattan College) Ravi Shankar (Poet-in-Residence, Central Connecticut State University, Instrumentality, Cherry Grove, 2004) Joseph Legaspi (Founding member of Kundiman, a non-profit organization serving Asian American poets) Geeta Dayal (freelance writer and journalist) Mahmud Rahman (fiction writer and Bay Area coordinator for DesiLit) (moderator)
3PM-5PM, FREE for teens (13-17) A Writing Workshop with Marina Budhos
[Co-sponsored by South Asian Youth Action (SAYA!).] Reservation required.
6:30PM, $10 Dance and Music Performance Malini Srinivasan Additional performers to be announced
Sunday, May 21: Panels and Workshops 10AM, FREE Continental Breakfast
11AM-1PM, FREE Panel Discussion: The Business of Writing Anjali Singh (Senior Editor, Houghton Mifflin) Ayesha Pande (Agent, Lyons & Pande International LLC) Rajni George (Editor, Hippocrene Books) Joel Ariaratnam (Assistant Editor, The New Press) Samantha Edussuriya (Managing Editor, Hippocrene Books) (moderator)
11AM-3PM, $50 Workshop: The Good Life: Writing about Food Led by Vikas Khanna (Master Chef, The Spice Story of India, Xlibris, 2006), Julia Moskin (feature writer and food critic, The New York Times), and Ramin Ganeshram (Sweet Hands: Island Cooking from Trinidad & Tobago, Hippocrene Books, 2005) Reservation required. Additional $10 for boxed lunch.
3PM-5PM, FREE
Panel Discussion: Mixed Messages: South Asian Literature and New Media
Anna John (blogger at SepiaMutiny.com)
Ravi Shankar (editor of DrunkenBoat.com)
Yesha Naik (podcaster and performer)
Ram Devineni (filmmaker and publisher of Rattapallax
Press)
Amitava Kumar (Husband of a Fanatic, New Press, 2005) (moderator)
5:30PM, $5
Showcase of South Asian Women Writers
MC'ed by Bushra Rahman
Featuring:
Yesha Naik
Sejal Shah
Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha
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