Minal Hajratwala's Blog, page 10

It's National Poetry Month!

This Thursday, I will be reading poems about beauty pageants, anger, fast food, and possibly unicorns…

…as part of two events in one day to help launch INDIVISIBLE, the first anthology of South Asian American poetry, which U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins has praised as "among the best anthologies of poetry." More info: http://www.indivisibleanthology.com/anthology/

Would love to see you!  And don't forget to celebrate National Poetry Month:  write a poem, get a poetry book (like a

SF: Tuesday, April 13, Lambda finalists reading

I'm excited to share a stage this week with 14 other fabulous writers who are finalists for the 2010 Lambda Literary Awards. The "Lammies" are kind of like the Oscars for LGBT writers in the United States. You're welcome to wear your red carpet attire if you like.  And if you're looking for great books to read, click here to see the whole list of finalists. Winners will be announced May 27.

I hear the food at the reception will be awesome, so come early if you can.

Tuesday, April 13

San...

Come out 'n' see me

Just returned from a writing residency in paradise, and am feeling super-recharged by three weeks of communing with the unicorns.

I am delighted by the news that Leaving India is currently a finalist for both a California Book Award and a Lambda Literary Award. How excited will I be if I beat Dave Eggers? Ha ha!  Seriously, it's awesome to just be a contender, and I'm looking forward to meeting many amazing writers whose work I've admired for a long time.

I seem to go through periods of...

Fan Girl meets royalty

Laura Albert aka JT Leroy

On Sunday, I got to meet two writers whose work I've been interested in for a long time: Laura Albert, who wrote the amazing J.T. LeRoy books, and Lucy Jane Bledsoe, an award-winning novelist as well as anthology editor and children's book author. I met them at separate events and ended up having fascinating (private, sorry!) conversations with them, and by the end of the day I was glowing in that particular way that only talking with other writers gives me.

I was...

Snapshots

• Jodhpur: "I look back on life—it's funny how things turn out. You, the creator of beeping sirens and honking cars, yearn for the solitude of the mountains. You, a connoisseur of fast food, now gaze at water that took years to gather natural minerals as it trickled its way down from the Himalayas to within your reach. And I, some of the purest water in the world, stand here, trapped in a bottle. Come, enjoy the irony." — actual label text from Himalayan brand bottled water, sold by Tata in I...

Goa picks

Just arrived in Bombay / Mumbai after 10 relaxing days in Goa, on the coast — lovely beaches, food of the gods, and twice-daily yoga.  I am so relaxed that my shoulders are now seriously three inches lower than they've been all year!

I was quite lazy during my week in Goa and did not see all the sights by any means, so my recommendations are more idiosyncratic than comprehensive.  But I'll share anyway…

My Goa favorites:

There are lots of yoga and ayurvedic options in Goa, and I was really...

India book tour details

What I'm eating: Dragonfruit (pictured)

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What I'm reading: India edition of my book, prepping for readings and interviews; Hindustan Times (delivered free to my hotel room);  Poets & Writers magazine

What I'm doing next:  Going for lunch at Eatopia and taking a walk in Lodhi Gardens before tonight's launch event

And now for a brief commercial …

LEAVING INDIA launch schedule

If you or people you know are in India and would like to come to book events, here is my tour schedule. The India edition...

From India with love

What I've been eating: lotus roots sliced thin and fried in honey-chilli sauce (at Kylin, Vasant Lok); Burmese khao suey noodle-coconut curry (at Kitchen, Khan Market); bear naked fruit & nut bar; custard apple; parathas, rotis, brown rice, home-cooked vegetable curries; pizza

What I've been reading: Perdido Street Station by China Mieville; Wicked by Gregory Maguire; Lonely Planet India; The Cost of Living by Arundhati Roy

What I've been spending (43 rupees = $1): 44 rupees to have 2 days'...

Found Poem

Facebook Flarf

(created without intention over 17 hrs by 1,097 'friends')

making persimmon velvet floor length curtains for the front parlor

fantastic padded throne like chairs. It is pretty big. Free WiFi, and iced mocha

all the hula

one of my favorite Modern Loves

All-male college cracks down on cross-dressing

in my pink tutu (hope it holds up till the end!)

hoping to attract an Indian family who owns a restaurant

I want to know what you ache for and if you dare to dream of meeting your...

Arts Journalism Summit

This Friday is the National Summit on Arts Journalism, which convenes some key thinkers in the worlds of journalism and the arts, in Southern California. Ten projects that are supposed to represent promising directions for the future of arts journalism and arts criticism are being presented in front of a live audience and online. You can watch them right here. (If the links on this page don't work, go to http://najp.org/summit/).

The times are approximate, but here's the rough agenda (Friday...