South Asian Heritage Month (SAHM) is celebrated annually from July 18th to August 17th. This month-long observance aims to honour and remember the vibrant cultures, histories, and communities of South Asia. It serves as a celebration of the rich heritage and diverse cultures of the region, while also highlighting the enduring connections between South Asia and the UK. In this blog post, we shine a spotlight on four exceptional works by writers of South Asian heritage that explore themes of identity, migration, courage, and resistance.
Kular unfolds her creative journey and life as a working-class woman of colour in this bold first collection. Written and created intuitively, Kular seeks to unravel the past, in order to understand the present and to heal. Here, unbelonging is power. These poems are love letters to the reader, to never give up on creative dreams. Through writing circles, co-writing spaces and Our True Nature writing workshops for women of colour – Kular encourages women to discover the power of their own voices. Her essays have been shortlisted for the Wasafiri New Writing Prize and Class Action Nature Writing Prize.
These selected poems are a brave testimony to Sundra Lawrence's linguistic ambitions. Told from the voices of first and second generation British Tamils, this pamphlet spans a thirty-year history, against the backdrop of the Sri Lankan civil war. Winner of the Aryamati Poetry Prize in 2021, Warriors seamlessly interweaves themes of migration and conflict with empathy and a deftness of touch. Lawrence peels back layers of cultural identities, shifting through zones of language; forging new identities in found locations. We are privy to a poetic sensibility in this collection that holds a candle to the dark, brimming with courageous and complex love.
In her unforgettable debut novel, Mulay introduces us to four complex characters whose lives intersect in the ever-evolving landscape of contemporary India. Mulay intricately weaves a tale of Aparna's courageous stand against the patriarchal norms, Hari's ideological journey, Naseem's exploration of her own sexuality, and Kashi's struggle to live authentically. Against a backdrop of religion, politics, sex, and the societal expectation of femininity, Disobedient Women tells the interwoven stories of two families and their battle of ideologies. A novel of the choices women make under pressure, where to be disobedient is the only option that offers change.
What is home, beyond concrete, relationships, and postal addresses? These poems, with such characteristic thoughtfulness, seek to untangle the strings of guilt Sree Sen found herself wrapped in after her move from Mumbai to Dublin. Born out of worn-out soles, when Sen went fundraising door-to-door in Dublin, these poems are a personal exploration of fractured identities and the essence of 'home'. Drawing on her own words, Sen achieves powerful poetics of "coming together, splintering apart".
Through the voices of Dal Kular, Sundra Lawrence, Sangeeta Mulay, and Sree Sen, we are invited to explore the complexities of identity, gender and resistance that shape the experiences of South Asian communities and diaspora. As we prepare to start this years South Asian Heritage Month, these books are a celebration of South Asian histories and cultures.
Listen to Sree Sen and Sangeeta Mulay's interview from SAHM 2022 on Facebook here:
To learn more about SAMH and to find upcoming events, visit the South Asian Heritage website here.
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