This conference was a joint partnership between Manchester University and Commonword
and was run as an extension of the Black and Asian Writers Conference 2013

Conference and Book Launch

Friday 4TH July 2014 10am – 6.30pm

Racism, Writing and Resistance:

British Diasporic Literature in English and Vernaculars

Manchester Central Library Performance Space, Elliot House, 151 Deansgate, Manchester M3 3WD

We have seen a decade of re-energised racism and orientalist representation in Britain, particularly in the demonising of Muslims and Islam. English language literature meanwhile, often stereotypes, ridicules, simplifies and homogenises in its representation of non-westernised/modernised characters: it can often seem as if writers, assumed to be ‘writing back’, have taken over the mantle of orientalist representation by the west. Certain ideologies become invisible in ‘literature’; their normalised values are assumed to be ‘universal,’ and ‘humanist;’ whilst literature and literary criticism that questions such assumptions overtly, or presents alternative ideologies is branded as ideological, polemical, essentialist.

What role can literature and literary criticism play in perpetuating and resisting racism, imperialism? What is the relationship between literature and government policies of multiculturalism, integration, assimilation, the war on terror? What is the relationship between political struggle and literature?

What is the politics of writing, representing and publishing in Britain? How does representation and ideology differ in English and vernacular literature? Bringing together South Asian, Arab, African/Afro-Caribbean diasporic writers, along with academics and activists, this conference seeks to explore some of these questions. Through conversations across these ‘professions’ that are increasingly seen as distinct and become ever more unintelligible to each other, we seek to revive connections between writing, activism and ideas.

 

10 – 10.15 ` Introduction to day

Dr. Virinder Kalra, Kavita Bhanot

10.15 – 11 The Politics of Publication

Dr.Tariq Mehmood, Peter Kalu, Dr. Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

11 – 11.30 A conversation between Shamas Rehman and Daalat Ali

11.30 – 12 A conversation between Dr.Nicole Thiara and Dr. Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi

12 – 12.45 Lunch

12.45 –1.30 Writing out of Political Struggles: Boundaries of Fiction and Non- Fiction

Dr. Tariq Mehmood, Selma Dabbagh, Chaired by Ashish Ghadiali

1.30 – 2.30 Not literature: Vernacular Poetics and Practice

Amarjit Chandan, Dr. Rajkumar Hans, Dr. Anita Mir

2.30 – 2.45 Tea

2.45 – 4.15 Literature in Islamophobic Times

Fadia Faqir “Geographies of the Soul”

Introduced/chaired by Dr Dalia Mostafa

Panel – Dr. Humaira Saeed, Ayesha Siddiqi, Naylah Ahmed

4.15 – 6 Performances by Peter Kalu and Yusra Warsama

Book-launch for Basir Kazmi’s ‘Passing Through’

Participants
Naylah Ahmed has written for stage, radio, screen and publication. She has had a few plays produced for BBC Radio 4 and her short stories have been published by Tindal Street Press. Her most recent stage play was Mustafa, co-produced by The Birmingham Repertory Theatre and Kali Theatre Company. Her play, Butcher Boys, was one of four joint winners of the Bruntwood Playwriting Prize in 2008. Naylah worked as a script developer, script editor and producer of radio drama at the BBC from 2002-2012. She is currently exploring children’s writing both for screen and the page.
Adalat Ali is a politician, writer, analyst and university lecturer. Originally from Mirpur, ‘Azad’ Kashmir, Adalat Ali migrated to UK in the 1970s and began his life in the UK as a textile labourer. He found a way through community activities to public sector employment and higher education, and on the way he became actively involved in Kashmiri politics. One of the pioneers of Pahari-Pothwari writing in Britain, Ali Adalat is the coordinator of Kashmir National Identity Camoaign (KNIC) coeditor of ‘CHITKA’ Magazine and founder of Alami Pahari, Adabi Snagat (APAS) in Britain. He has been actively involved in setting up of earliest Kashmiri satellite TV channels in UK, Appan and KBC. Adalat has written scores of papers and articles on various aspects of Kashmiri politics and diaspora Kashmiris. He authored and produced the pioneering Pahari films ‘Mehndi Laan De’ a musical and ‘Lakeer’ (Line of Division) a feature film that is showing in Jammu and Poonch Theatres now. Currently he teaches politics and democracy at Manchester Metropolitan University Manchester.

Basir Kazmi, born in Pakistan (1953), studied and taught English at the Government College Lahore. He edited Ravi (1974) and was the office bearer of the college literary and dramatic societies. He did his M.Ed (1991) and M.Phil (2000) at Manchester University, and PGCE in English (1995). He was the news editor/reader for the BBC’s Asian Programme (1990-91) and a Literature Adviser to the North West Arts Board (1993-1996). He conducted poetry and drama workshops all over the UK and has read widely in Britain, Pakistan, India, Middle East, Europe and USA. Basir has taught at a few high schools, colleges and a university (Bradford) in the UK. Basir’s collections of Urdu poetry, Mauj-e- Khayaal (1997) and Chaman Koi Bhi Ho (2008), a long play Bisaat (1987) and Bisaat’s translation of The Chess Board (1997) have been published. English translations of Basir’s poems have appeared in several magazines and anthologies. Basir has also written extensively on the life and poetry of his father Nasir Kazmi (1925-1972), a famous Urdu poet.

Amarjit Chandan lives and works in London. He has published five collections of poetry, and two books of essays in Punjabi including Jarhan (Poetry), Phailsufian and Nishani (Essays). Two of his books are also published in Farsi script from Lahore, West Punjab. Amarjit has edited and translated over thirty anthologies of poetry, fiction and creative non-fiction by, among others, Brecht, Neruda, Ritsos, Hikmet, Vallejo, Cardenal and John Berger in Punjabi. Chandan was one of the ten British poets selected by Andrew Motion, the Poet Laureate, for the National Poetry Day in 2001, and participated in the International Alderburgh Poetry Festival. Amarjit received the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2004 from the Language Department, Government of the Punjab, India; and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006 from the Panjabis in Britain, All-Party Parliamentary Group, London.

Selma Dabbagh is a British-Palestinian writer of fiction. Her first novel, Out of It, set between Gaza, London and the Gulf, published by Bloomsbury in 2011 was a Guardian Book of the Year. She has published short stories with Granta and Telegram, and written a play set in East Jerusalem, The Brick, produced by BBC Radio 4 in January 2014.

Fadia Faqir is the author of three novels: Nisanit, Pillars of Salt, My Name is Salma (U.S.A. title The Cry of the Dove) and Willow Trees Don’t Weep. She was born in Amman, Jordan, and moved to Britain in 1984. Her work has been published in nineteen countries and translated into fifteen languages. In 1989, the University of East Anglia awarded her the first Ph.D. in Critical and Creative Writing. She currently holds a writing fellowship at St Aidan’s College, Durham University, where she teaches creative writing. She often writes on issues of gender, identity, and culture. She divides her time between Durham, London and Amman.
Ashish Ghadiali trained in Film Production at NYU, has worked as a screenwriter for producers including Shekhar Kapur, Mukesh Bhatt and Josef Aichholzer, was once the Director of the Freedom Theatre Film Unit in Jenin Refugee Camp, Palestine, and once the Guest Editor of Red Pepper Magazine. Over the years he has also won some awards. He is an active member of the Kramblers walking assocation.

Raj Kumar Hans was born in a Punjabi village and graduated from Guru Nanak Dev University in 1977. For doctoral studies he moved to the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda where he has been teaching history since 1983. He shifted his field of research from economic to social and cultural history. Taking a comparative view of the regional cultural formations of the Indic civilization, he has been studying Gujarat and Punjab. For the last few years he has focused his attention on the study of Sikhism and Punjabi Dalit literature. His articles and papers on Gujarat and Punjab history have been published in journals and edited books. He was awarded a Fellowship at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (2009-11) to write his monograph on a history of Punjabi Dalit literature which is now being finalised for press. Currently he is working on history of Dalits in the Sikh religion.

Peter Kalu is a Manchester based novelist, playwright and poet. He started writing as a member of the Moss Side Write black writers workshop and has had five novels, two film scripts and three theatre plays produced to date His work has been widely published, performed and displayed within the UK. Prizes he has won include the BBC Young Playwrights Award, Liverpool Kodak Film Pitch Award, Leicester University Radio Play Commission, The Voice/Jamaica Information Service Marcus Garvey Scholarship Award and the Contact/BBC Dangerous Comedy Prize for his play, Pants. Peter Kalu is  Commonword/ Cultureword’s Artistic Director.

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi is a Ugandan writer of fiction. She completed a PhD in Creative Writing at Lancaster University where she also teaches as an Associate Lecturer. Her novel Kintu won the Kwani Manuscript Project 2013 and was published in 2014. Her short story Let’s Tell This Story Properly was both the African Regional and overall winner of The Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2014.

Tariq Mehmood is an award winning writer and filmmaker. Hand On The Sun was published by Penguin, 1983. His second novel While There Is Light was published by Comma/Carcanet, 2003. He won the Francis Lincoln Diversity in Children’s Literature Award for Unpublished Novels for You’re Not Proper. He is co-director of the award-winning documentary film Injustice (www.injusticefilm.co.uk) which dealt with deaths in British police custody and which the police tried to suppress. He is currently teaching at the American University of Beirut.

Anita Mir is an academic and writer. Her PhD was from Exeter, and she has taught at the universities of Essex, Exeter, Birkbeck, University of London and LUMS in Pakistan. In September she begins teaching at Fordham, an American university in the UK. Her work is on mystical poetry and on political Islam. She writes plays and has had two shorts on (The Space and Soho) and rehearsed readings of several plays: RADA, Rich Mix, King’s College and Southwark Playhouse. These are under consideration with theatre companies.

Dalia Mostafa is Lecturer in Arabic and Comparative Literature at the Department of Middle Eastern Studies, the University of Manchester. She has published in both English and Arabic on the contemporary Arabic novel, Arab cinema, and popular culture in Egypt. Her current research focuses on the cultural elements of the 25th January 2011 Egyptian Revolution such as literature, cinema, and song. She is currently editing a special issue entitled ‘Women, Culture, and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution’, which will appear in the Journal for Cultural Research in 2015.

Shams Rehman, born in Morra Loharaan, Akalgarh in Mirpur is a Kashmiri author, activist and presenter residing in Oldham, UK. Shams gained Honours and MA in Sociology from Karachi University. He migrated to Britain in 1988 and completed an MA (Econ) in Development Studies and MSc Sociological Research at University of Manchester. Shams is a founding member of Karvan-e-Adab, a British Asian Literary Forum, Chitka, Soochan/Kashmir Insight, Kashmir National Identity Campaign & Association of British Kashmiris, Appna Des Channel, KBC Channel. He has written many articles in Pahari (Mirpuri), Urdu and English on various aspects of Kashmir and Kashmiris.

Humaira Saeed is Lecturer in English at Nottingham Trent University. Her current research addresses how the gendered trauma of the Partition of India has lasting ramifications for the ways in which Pakistan and Pakistani identities are narrativised in cultural texts. She has published articles on the Partition of India and Pakistani fiction and film, and co-edited a special issue of Women: A Cultural Review on Transnational Feminisms. She maintains a scholarly and activist interest in the ways in which queer modes of belonging become asserted through racialised attachments to the nation state.

Ayesha Siddiqi is a PhD candidate in Comparative Literature at the University College of London. Her research examines the post-9/11 Pakistani novel in English through the lens of trauma theory. The three writers of her focus are Nadeem Aslam, Kamila Shamsie, and Mohsin Hamid. Ayesha did her MA in Critical Theory at Sussex University, where she focused on the writings of Thomas Hardy and E.M. Forster. She is also interested in psychoanalytic literary criticism and deconstruction. Outside of the PhD, she writes fiction and plays.

Nicole Thiara (PhD Manchester) has been Lecturer in English at Nottingham Trent University since 2013. She is author of the monograph Salman Rushdie and Indian Historiography: Writing the Nation Into Being (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009) and has published articles on Rushdie in the Journal of Commonwealth Literature, the Journal of Commonwealth and Postcolonial Studies and contributed to Critical Insights: Salman Rushdie, edited by Bernard Rodgers (Salem Press, 2012). She is currently working on a project on the representation of Dalits in Indian Literature and film. She is also the principal investigator of the AHRC funded research network ‘Writing, Analysing, Translating Dalit Literature’ (2014-16). An international conference ‘Contemporary Approaches to the Analysis of Dalit Literature’ at Nottingham Trent and a symposium on Dalit Literature at Leicester University in June 2014, were the first events of the research network series.

Yusra Warsama is a performance poet, actor, writer and theatre practitioner, her passions lie in creating work through play and exploration of life experiences in world we live in. Past, present and future work takes many forms, from her developing a one woman show which uses spoken word, storytelling, live art and physical expression, to ‘Grace’ (05) and ‘Make – Believe’ (09) with Quarantine, which looks at exploring theatre without focus on characters but the one to one relationship between performer and audience. Yusra began her theatre career at The Contact Theatre, Manchester, whilst studying (BA HONS) Criminology & Sociology, from there she worked alongside national and international artists and companies such as Morganics, Sista Native, Lemn Sissay, Victoria- Belgium, Afro-Reggae -Brazil. Major collaborative work includes Don Lett’s ‘Speakers Corner’ this was a spoken word theatre piece alongside artists such as rapper Skinnyman and Mad Flow, to commemorate the abolition of slavery. Yusra is currently writing a play for the Birmingham Repertory Theatre with two other writers, and filming her first international feature.

 

 

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The  Conference was unique in bringing together black writers from across the UK to discuss changes in publishing and the spoken word arena, and how these changes might affect them.  It was also a rare opportunity for black writers to network with one another, tackling difficulties jointly as well as swapping news about innovations and sketching plans for collaborations and partnerships.

There have been some major changes over the last five years in the publishing industry. Some changes –such as the demise or absorption into mainstream presses of  independent black presses –  X Press, Mantra, Arcadia, Angela Royal Publishing, and  Tamarind Press – have affected black writers particularly.  At the same time the growth of vibrant new presses Flipped Eye, Saqi Books, and a host of micro black-focused  or black-run presses such as Dog Horn. Add to that the vistas  opened up by digital publishing and clearly it was time for black writers to come together and get a collective take on these changes.

Meanwhile, spoken word poetry had been moving at a rate of knots.  The proliferation of venues and the merging of what used to be disparate media of  film, sound, dance, theatre, stand-up comedy, & poetry to create  contemporary spoken word practice means that what has been the oldest of art forms, -in his time, Homer’s poems were spoken and heard not read – has rejuvenated. It has transformed itself into an at form that sits at the centre of contemporary arts practice and is innovating new artistic engagements all the time.   The Conference set out to explore what new poets, especially young poets setting out to make their name in spoken word, need to be aware of regarding these border-dissolving  shifts.

Panellist Bios (2012)

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Feedback from the Conference was overwhelmingly positive.

“I found the e-books and children’s sessions particularly interesting and informative.”

“I can’t say how impressed and inspired I have been by your outstanding services to literature over the years in Manchester and beyond. Perhaps unwittingly, you have also had a very strong influence on my own thinking and to my commitments in my work.”

“Thanks to everyone who organised Saturday’ event. I found it really useful and enjoyed myself so much. I now feel really excited to keep writing and inspired to embark on future projects.”

“The discussions were lively and informative.  The poems in response to the day were fab – the last guy in particular is very talented – but you don’t need me to tell you that.”

“It was very well done and well organized! Thank you for all your hard work in putting it together! (via facebook).”

“Excellent day, very informative, well done!”

“Moved by one particular writer’s story.”

“Time to think, great atmosphere, sense of our legacy of creativity.”

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The sessions

11–12pm ‘Poetry Futures’ :       Spoken Word:  What Next?  The Way Forward

The spoken word scene has come alive. Young people have embraced the form.  Primary recent influences have been the Brave New Voices Spoken Word competitions in the USA.  In the UK, the post-dub, post-punk  live performances of seminal artists such as Linton Kwesi Johnson, John Cooper Clarke,  and Jean Binta Breeze are being superseded by a raft of younger spoken word voices –  Saul Williams, Kat Francois, Patience Agbabi, Tony Walsh (Longfella), Polar Bear and Inua Williams to name a few.
As video begins to be an integral part of the performance event, and as sub-genres proliferate and influences expand, where will the next innovation come from?  What is the future for the spoken word and, crucially, what do new poets need to do to prepare themselves for this future?

Panel: Khadijah Ibrahiim of Leeds Young Authors, Madeline Heneghan of Liverpool Young Writers, Shirley May of Manchester’s Young Identity; Derri Burdon of Curious Minds, Shamshad Khan, poet.

This large debate took place with panelists, Khadijah Ibrahiim, Leeds Young Authors, Derri Burdon, Curious Minds, Shirley May, Young Identity and Elmi Ali, young person’s representative and Shamshad Khan, spoken word artist.  There was a great deal of audience involvement both in asking questions   and in offering statements reflecting on the future of poetry and the best way of fostering talent among young poets.  The role of schools in creative writing development was also touched upon.  Film of the debate can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QspgNDXk2Z4

 

12pm-1pm     Ebooks and social media:  The Book is Dead. Long Live The E-Book

There are more poets than poetry readers.  Or at least, sales figures suggest nobody seems to want to go and buy a tree-based book of poems.  Will the advent of ebooks shake this up?  How will Kindle and other ebook platforms –some of which allow embedded audio and video at the same time as scrolling text – change the market?   And how can poets –both page poets and spoken word artists – best take advantage of these changes?

Panel: Zahid Husain, Manchester based, author; Simon Murray, Yorkshire based poet, author and blogger; Nii Parkes, flippedeye publisher and web designer, Adam Lowe, writer, publicist, blogger.

This lively session had a smorgasbord of panelists : Chaired by Nii Parkes, MD of FlippedEye, and including Zahid Hussain, novelist and social entrepreneur; Adam Lowe, leading tweeter and  Dog Horn publisher; and Simon Murray, poet and former marketing executive.
The central question up for speculation was the death or otherwise of the paper form of the novel. Arguments raged to and fro with the consensus opinion being that both would survive though ebooks could only grow.  Authors (and publishers) were advised to think multi-platform: to launch texts in all formats.  Film of the debate can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QspgNDXk2Z4

1pm – 2pm    Informal  Salon session:

How are writers making use of various social media, not only to promote/market themselves but to share/get feedback on their writing, and even develop new collaborative forms?  Three writers showcase their innovations.

2pm-3pm Writing For Children & Diversity: Why Are So Few BME Writers Published In This Genre?

While the achievements of Malorie Blackman, Bali Rai, Benjamin Zephaniah and (in poetry) John Agard are to be applauded and their publishers congratulated, nevertheless, the publishing industry struggles to publish books for children that reflect the diversity of the society that those children live in. Why is this?   How do we address this?  What initiatives exist, and what more is needed?

Panel: Jacqueline Roy, author and academic at Manchester University; Catherine Johnson, London based, children’s author; Melvin Burgess, Penguin author; Jake Hope, children’s librarian and judge of the Diverse Voices prize; Verna Wilkins of Tamarind Pres, Kuljit Chuhan, creative producer.

The panel here came from all parts of the literary and publishing spectrum, from Carnegie Award winning novelist, Melvin Burgess, to acclaimed novelist and academic Jacqueline Roy, and included two judges:  Catherine Johnson, children’s writing specialist and judge  of the Commonword Diversity Writing For Children Award, and  Jake Hope, judge of the Frances Lincoln Award. The session was chaired by the savvy and experienced Kuljit Chuhan, cultural activist and multimedia specialist.  Stiff argument debated the reason for the relative dearth of BME writers getting published by mainstream children’s publishers.  The solutions ranged from sharper editing, to black writers orienting their work more toward s more ‘commercial’ ends, to grass-roots activism.  The main practical assistance offered (though somewhat lost in all the smoke and heat of debate), was the existence of the two Diversity focused Awards – the Frances Lincoln Prize and the Commonword Diversity in Children’s Writing prize.

3pm -4pm  How To Get Your Novel Published

What publishers are looking for; how is the publishing industry changing; how submissions are assessed; common errors and misunderstandings; how to stand out from the slush pile.

Panel: Jeremy Poynting of Peepal Tree Press; Kavita Bhanot, writer, editor for Tindal Street Press anthology ‘Too Asian, Not Asian Enough’; Divya Ghelani, author, Betel Martin, Bristol based publisher, Chair: Jacob Ross, London based  author.

A packed venue saw the final debate. Offered an impossibly short time of one hour to cover this terrain were five panelists: Kavita Bhanot, writer’s representative, Divya Ghelani, editor at Tindall Street press, Jacob Ross, novelist, editor and reader at Literary Consultancy, Bertel Martin, the Bristol based publisher,  and Jeremy Poynting, MD at Peepal Tree Press.   Surprisingly, the most speaker who had the audience eating out of her hand was newcomer, Divya Ghelani. Her heartfelt story of her trials and tribulations trying to defy the limitations of editors’ ideas of ‘Asian’ writing, engaged and moved the entire audience.  The common denominators of the panels’ views were that the market is very tough at this time; that t mainstream likes to pigeonhole;  and that therefore persistence is a prerequisite of success.

 

Break out Sessions & Fun!

The delegates loved Young Identity and their acerbic poetry reporters who performed poetic summaries of each debate at the end of the Conference.
Link here (Reporters are from 1min 06sec)   http://youtu.be/CxneJQXERYs
They also loved the evening showcase for its wide range of acts and artistry.  Link here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNkPTIUmv8E

Most of all, they loved networking with one another . They came, with a thirst to network,  from many different parts of the UK –  Leicester, Bristol,  Manchester, Birmingham,  London, Cardiff among other places , as well as from Jamaica, the United States  and Nigeria! The buzz of the informal sessions in the packed cafe overspill gave a great sense of a community meeting and cross-fertilizing. It was tempting to consider that the Conference agenda was being fulfilled as much in the cafe and overspill spaces as in the Conference main theatre auditorium.

Panellist bios: http://www.culturewordconference.org/panellist-bios-2012

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Finally here is a short video focusing on the talented Young Identity group who so impressed the delegates.

To find out more about Young Idnentity visit: www.youngidentity.org

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