FSALA 2011

Festival of South Asian
Literature and the Arts 2011

Sept 30, Oct 1, Oct 2

3 days of readings, seminars, music and dance

FSALA-11 is primarily a Canadian arts festival, whose purpose is to present to the public the works of writers, musicians, and other artists. The panels and lectures will discuss vital topics on Canadian and South Asian arts. FSALA is as well a forum for the public to meet artists from across the country and for the artists to meet each other. More than 25 Canadian writers and musicians will be present. We are excited also to bring to the Festival seven renowned writers from South Asia and the US: Meena Alexander (US), Kamini Dandapani (US), Mahesh Dattani (India), Asif Farrukhi (Pakistan), Girish Karnad (India), Neerav Patel (India), and Harish Narang (India).

Co-organized by the Toronto South Asian Review and the Centre for South Asian Studies, University of Toronto.

The venue: The Munk School of Global Affairs and Trinity College are next to each other and centrally located in Toronto.

All events are open to the public.
Pre-registration is not required
However, you may pre-register to guarantee a place.
For pre-registration and/or Saturday night tickets, Click Here.

Program

Map of Area

Sept 30, Friday Afternoon:

3:00 to 4:00
Combination Room, Trinity College

Whither South Asian Drama in Canada?
Nandi Bhatia, Sally Jones, John van Burek, Rahul Varma
Chair: Julie Mehta

4:15 – 5:30
Combination Room, Trinity College

Lecture: Mahesh Dattani

Friday Evening:

7:00 to 9:00
Seeley Hall, Trinity College

Formal Welcome
Reading 1. Rabindra Maharaj
Reading 2. Kwai Li
Break
Faiz Ahmad Faiz Centennial: Recital
Tariq Hameed, accompanied by Nadeem Shah at Tabla
Rabindranath Tagore Sesquicentennial: Recital / Poetry
Tagore Reading: Ananya Mukherjee

Oct 1, Saturday Morning and Afternoon:

Literary Sessions: Readings & Discussions; Art Exhibit. Refreshments.

MORNING: 10:00 to 1:00

10:00 – 11:30 Readings:
Combination Room, Trinity College

Priscila Uppal, Sheniz Janmohamed, Uma Parameswaran, Ashok Mathur, Nalini Warriar
Chair: Suwanda Sugunasiri

11:30 – 1:00 Discussion
(with above-named authors)
The Canadian Literary Identity: What Is It? Whither Multiculturalism?
Chair: Rana Bose

10:00 – 11:30 Panel:
Campbell Room, Munk School of Global Affairs
Non English Languages: What Are We Missing?
Ajmer Rode, Baidar Bakht, Neerav Patel, Harish Narang, Asif Farrukhi
Chair: Chelva Kanaganayakam

11:30 – 1:00 Readings in Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, and Tamil: Nuzhat Siddiqui, Navtej Bharati, Cheran, Arun Mukherjee
Chair: Harish Narang

AFTERNOON: 2:00 to 5:00

2:00 – 3:15 Readings
Campbell Room, Munk School of Global Affairs

Meena Alexander, Asif Farrukhi, Neerav Patel

4:00 – 5:30
Combination Room, Trinity College

The New Generation: Concerns
Readings followed by discussion: Padma Viswanathan, Anand Mahadevan, Ameen Merchant
Chair: Shaista Justin

4:00 – 5:30
Campbell Room, Munk School of Global Affairs

The Indo-Caribbean Phenomenon Readings followed by discussions: Ramabai Espinet, Cyril Dabydeen, Andrea Gunraj, Sase Persaud
Chair: Rabindra Maharaj

October 1, Saturday Night
(Ticketed Event)

7:00 – 9:15 p.m.
Robert Gill Theatre
University of Toronto

Lecture / Presentation: Girish Karnad
Dance: Fallen Rain, inDANCE under maestro Hari Krishnan

October 2, Sunday

12:00
Campbell Room, Munk School of Global Affairs

12:00 – 1:00
On-stage Interview: Girish Karnad, Mahesh Dattani
(with Dalbir Singh)

1:00 – 1:30
refreshments

1:30 – 2:30
classical vocal concert: Kamini Dandapani

3:00
Book Launch:
Cheran: You Cannot Turn Away (bilingual Tamil/English poetry); Sasenarine Persaud: Lantana Strangling Ixora (poetry); Surjeet Kalsey: Colours of My Heart (poetry in English); Suwanda Sugunasiri: Untouchable Woman's Odyssey (novel)

Readers and Seminar Participants

Canadian:

Baidar Bakht (Toronto), Navtej Bharati (Windsor), Nandi Bhatia (London), Rana Bose (Montreal), Cheran (Toronto), Cyril Dabydeen (Ottawa), Ramabai Espinet (Toronto), Andrea Gunraj (Toronto), Sheniz Janmohamed (Toronto), Sally Jones (Toronto), Shaista Justin (Toronto), Surjeet Kalsey (Vancouver), Chelva Kanaganayakam (Toronto), Kwai Li (Toronto), Anand Mahadevan (Toronto), Rabindra Maharaj (Toronto), Ashok Mathur (Vancouver), Julie Mehta (Toronto), Ameen Merchant (Vancouver), Ananya Mukherjee (Toronto), Arun Mukherjee (Toronto), Uma Parameswaran (Winnipeg), Sase Persaud (Toronto, Florida), Ajmer Rode (Vancouver), Nuzhat Siddiqui (Toronto), Dalbir Singh (Toronto), Suwanda Sugunasiri (Toronto), Priscila Uppal (Toronto), Rahul Varma (Montreal), Padma Viswanathan (Toronto/US), Nalini Warriar (Quebec City), John van Burek (Toronto)

International:

Meena Alexander (New York), Kamini Dandapani (New York), Mahesh Dattani (India), Asif Farrukhi (Pakistan), Girish Karnad (India), Harish Narang (India),
Neerav Patel (India)