I really was sorry I only caught the tail end of Meena Kandasamy’s presentation; I teach her poems sometimes. Like this one: Mulligatawny Dreams anaconda. candy. cash. catamaran. cheroot. coolie. corundum. curry. ginger. mango. mulligatawny. patchouli. poppadom. rice. tatty. teak. vetiver. i dream of an english full of the words of my language. an english […]
Mulligatawny Dreams Read More »
One of the fabulous things from this weekend at the FeTNA award ceremony, is that they gave me a shawl along with my award, draping it around me on stage, similar to what happens when you’re hooded with your doctoral robes. My impression is that education & literary / arts culture are highly valued in
I did an hour of weeding at 7 a.m. before it got too hot, and then wrote three slightly awkward / difficult e-mails I’ve been meaning to write for some time! I am feeling very proud of myself! Surely I have accomplished enough for the whole day now, and can spend the rest of it
Can I Just Read Romance Novels With a Clear Conscience? Read More »
Me: Is it okay if I say a few words after receiving the award? Organizer: Yes, yes, of course. But [ha ha] nothing political! Me: Well, it might be a *little* political. Organizer [looking worried]: Women’s empowerment is okay! Poor organizer, dealing with a troublemaker like me. I admit, when I was writing my notes,
Only a Little Political Read More »
I interviewed Nicola Griffith at ICFA for the SLF; we talked about disability writing, historical research, her recent and upcoming books, and more! “What my work basically does, in Hild in particular, is, I call it “norming the other,” and I do that through creating narrative empathy. And I do that using focalized heterotopia, that
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The Day We Lost Roe I walk down to the pond by my parents’ house with my children; daughter Kavi, age fifteen, son Anand, almost thirteen. Walking is a good time to have difficult conversations. Walking, you don’t have to look your children in the face when you say awkward things like ‘if you do
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Quick note that I’ve received a Tamil American Pioneer (TAP) Award for 2022 from the Federation of Tamil Sangams of North American (FeTNA) for my “pioneering efforts in the field of Human Rights.” FeTNA is a non-profit organization representing and recognizing the work of Tamils from South Asia who are living in the US (https://tap.fetna.org).
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My chest is aching; I think I have to turn away from this for a few hours at least. But I’ll leave you with an old poem of mine that is, I think, relevant. ***** They Should Be Afraid of Old Women A mother now, I can with steady hands extract a shard of wood
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We’re so thrilled that we’ve raised more than $5000 dollars and met our funding goal (on the final day, whew!), and we’re looking forward to start working on fulfilling all those lovely rewards. For all those who backed the project or helped spread the word, thank you so much for your support, and we hope
Portolan Project Kickstarter Has Funded! Read More »
I never thought I’d spend so much time waffling over paper choices. Here’s the issue: 1) Even though Vegan Serendib and A Feast of Serendib are the same number of pages, Vegan looks dramatically thinner. 2) This is particularly acute in photo 1, where you see it contrasted with the Mascot Press edition, which uses
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