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2011-03-25T14:18:00.003+05:00

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Salman Rushdie comes to Atlanta

2011-03-09T06:55:00.005+05:00

On my way to work a couple of weeks ago, right as I pressed the button to change radio stations after my commune with NPR radio on my way to work, the words “Salman Rushdie speaking on memories at Emory University” snagged in my ears. Rhianna was moaning about whips and chains on the new radio station and I was in the mood to sing along, so I made a mental note to hit Google up with those words later since the Emory campus is down the road for yours truly.

It turns out that Salman Rushdie is a visiting professor at Emory University in Atlanta, GA this semester. I had already missed the first public dialogue he’d done with Deepa Mehta. (Midnlght’s Children is being turned into a movie with Deepa Mehta directing it. When I have my novel published, I’m going to hold out for Deepa Mehta to come knock on my door – or, the more likely reality, go bang on her door until she answers just to rid herself of the knocking.) So, amidst disappointment, I scanned on down on the press release and saw that Rushie was doing another public conversation on the role of memories in writing that coming Sunday.

Now, I’m not a super-fan of Rushdie. Magical realism just isn’t my thing, so after reading the first two pages of Midnight’s Children, I walked away from the book. In fact, as long as I’m playing confessions here, I haven’t read a single Rushdie novel. However, what does intrigue me as a creative non-fiction writer is the role and use of memories in writing; plus, there was the fact that Rushdie is a renowned South Asian writer and I want to be one, so I figured I should go be in his presence.

The event was held in a church auditorium on the Emory campus, on Sunday at 5 PM, free and ticketless. On the big day, I showed up at 3:30 PM and was fifth online. All 5 of us had plunked down onto the floor and buried our heads into a book as we waited for the doors to open, which I now find amusing. I snagged a seat front and center in the first row. Make no mistake: Salman Rushdie saw me. When I finally get my book published and he sees my photo on the back jacket, he’ll say, “She was the woman who kept fidgeting and texting while I spoke.” To clarify: I wasn’t texting. I was taking notes on my cell phone so that I can write this blog entry for the good of mankind and memoir writers everywhere.

There were a few highlights throughout the event. It was a conversation between Rushdie and a senior member of Emory's upper echelon around the construction of memory, of how we believe the truth of our memory more than the actual facts themselves. Rushdies example elicited chuckles from the audience. He explained when the Indo-Chinese border wars were happening and China essentially beat the Indian army, conversation amongst the adults took place that he overheard about how, now that India was no longer part of the British empire, we might become part of the Chinese empire and how people might have to learn to speak Chinese. As he mused on this memory with his family, Rushdie's mother interrupted him and essentially told him not to be daft because he was in boarding school in Britain when all of this went down. When Rushdie checked the actual records, he found that he really was in Britain at the time. Rushdie had literally reconstructed this memory through others’ and placed himself in that moment in time. This made him fascinated with the construction of memory.

Since I have every intention of writing a memoir, I'm quite fascinated with this idea of a construction of memory, especially since the only thing I have to compare the fallacy of my own memories is those of the family and friends. In that scenario, how does one determine whose truth is stronger? This is something I’ve struggled with in my writing – my perception of what I know happened versus others’. I felt marginally at ease when, as Rushdie discussed problems of truth in the novel, especially for things like verbatim dialog, he very bluntly dumped on our heads that “there's no way people remember dialogue the way it is written in memoirs. It is partly--if not completely--made up, but they are making it up in service of the truth.” Memoir authors, including myself, are clearly making things up; the question is how much are we making up.

The conversation meandered its way through how we look at the past with the eyes of the present and the way we see the past is transformed by the times of the present, which is quite true. Three years ago, I might have ended my bestseller with the main character going on to live a morose, melancholic life, the sort of life heroines in Bollywood movies live when fate takes her down before her happy ending musical. Today, however, I know my main character, no matter what she does, will live, whole-heartedly, wildly. None of the facts of my past has changed; my perspective, however, has, so I shake my head in agreement with Rushdie.

Then we came on to one of my favorite subjects: on how to write a memoir, about the differences and similarities in writing fiction and non-fiction. Rushdie stressed that one must create "novelistic elements," in non-fiction writing, where we must make the people come to life on the page, even the character baring our own name. "If you can't make them live on the page,” he stated matter of factly, “then it doesn't matter that they really live." One point that struck home was that, in writing a memoir, we have to be particularly critical of the character representing ourselves. We cannot go easy on ourselves - and we cannot write out of revenge. Rushdie encouraged really looking into if something needs to be said or not. Of course, if it is vital to our story and truth, then it must be told, but if it's not, he recommended rethinking it, to examine why we feel the need to recreate an event that didn't add to our truth - which essentially is saying that if it doesn't add to pushing your story forward, you don't need it.

Rushdie was quite witty actually - there were a reference to how he's quite tight with Jerry Springer after being on a talk-show together (long amusing story that involves poking fun at a leader of the gun rights group in the U.S.). When the topic of the abundance of memoirs in the market was brought up, he attributed it to Oprah Winfrey and the creation of the confessional culture.

Q&A took the conversation all over the place. Somewhere in there, it came up that Rushdie himself wrote the screenplay for Midnight”s Children, describing the experience "like cutting off both arms and limbs" since he had to cull the novel to exactly what needed to be in the movie and what could be abandoned. Someone piped up with the question of whether Rushdie regretted writing Satanic Verses; Rushdie shut that question down with a quick no and moved on. When asked for tidbits on how the progression of his own memoir was going, Rushdie was quite tight-lipped on the content but elaborated that he believes that if he keeps his mouth shut, then the words will come out through his fingers; he finds that projects often lose their steam because people talk about it too much. I wonder if that was a message specifically for me. When asked if he would choose to categorize himself as a writer or as his public speaking self, Rushdie ended with "I chose the life I chose to tell stories."

The man is strangely charismatic in person. I have a feeling Padma might have had an effect on his fashion sense. Rushdie very charmingly was dressed in a quite dapper suit with red socks. His voice and accent, if I closed my eyes, I could quite attribute to a much younger, debonair man.

He's going to be at Emory the entire semester. On my way out, I overheard a current Emory student casually toss of that Rushdie would be visiting his creative writing class. I wonder if he truly comprehends the depth of the privilege he has or if he will look back years later in amazement and thump himself on the head for the opportunity he let pass by.

DWL pilots its YouTube channel

2011-03-09T01:35:00.000+05:00

Exciting news! We've just taken a significant step to cementing our online presence as an international writers' community. With the soft launch of the new DWL/Papercuts channel on YouTube, we're looking to reach out to a wider audience and to promote our writers in a more diverse manner.

The experience of reading something, be it a poem, story or article, totally changes with some context or perspective. Audio-visual content provides both. We hope that supporting A/V material will make the content more accessible, easier to interpret and more interesting for readers.

Just to clarify: this is a pilot. We've only put two videos up so far and are gauging the response to them. If people like the concept, we will launch the channel formally and improve the production quality. The videos will always have an 'at home' feel to them, though, because we want to keep them real and to represent the true essence of amateur writing.

Go to http://www.youtube.com/user/DesiWritersLounge to check out the channel. AND DON'T FORGET TO CLICK ON THE 'LIKE' BUTTON!

Karachi Literature Festival – Day 1 contd.

2011-02-21T03:17:00.003+05:00

By the end of the first day, the festival was running well behind schedule. Mics weren’t working, sessions were starting up to an hour late and audiences were getting fidgety. Fortunately, an amazing aura of excitement continued to surround the hotel, so while there was some annoyance amongst the festival goers, no one really cared for too long. In retrospect, it’s quite possible that the organizers just didn’t plan for so many people to attend the event and got overwhelmed with the response. Some of the sessions were crammed to maximum hall capacity, particularly the Works in Progress session at the end of the first day.

This session was going to be a crowd puller from the start. The US embassy, which was a major partner in organizing this year’s KLF, had brought together quite the celeb group at one table: Ali Sethi (The Wish Maker), Daniyal Mueenuddin (In Other Rooms, Other Wonders), H.M. Naqvi (Home Boy), M. Hanif (A Case of Exploding Mangoes) and Sunil Sethi (The Big Book Shelf). I don’t think anyone was expecting anything really solid to come out of this little sitting; for most of the fans sitting there, it was probably just a chance to kill five birds with one stone. Considering that, one still managed to walk away with some interesting little nuggets from the aforementioned writers.

Ali Sethi was the youngest and the most intense member of the panel. Everything about him was geared to create an impression, from the stark rims on his glasses right down to the dramatic way in which he read out passages from texts about religious minorities in Pakistan. Evidently the writer still most concerned with ‘finding himself’, Sethi spoke passionately about the need to know one’s social reality and to figure out what one’s ‘social and economic inheritance’ was. His investigations into violence against religious minorities were driven by this same need to understand events as they unfolded around him; a process that his idealistic education abroad did not prepare him for, he said. Writing could help you decide what you believed in, said Sethi. This was an interesting turn from what one had normally heard, which was that you inevitably put to paper what already exists in your head and heart.

Daniyal Mueenuddin was by the far the most relaxed person sitting at the table. Leaning back comfortably for the most part, he listened with careful (though at times incredulous) attention to the rest of the panelists. He was adamant that writing was play for him – that he sat down to write when he wanted a break from real life. This stood out in sharp relief from the others’ descriptions of the writing process. M. Hanif, for example, spoke about the sense of loss that he felt when he was done writing a book: as if ‘an old friend or lover you’ve quarreled with every day has suddenly upped and left’. “I think all writers are mad,” Hanif grinned. “What kind of person sits in a corner and makes up stories and expects to be taken seriously?”

Sunil Sethi then followed with the opinion that all writing was ‘a hardship post’… by which point Mueenuddin, who’d clearly had enough of all the intensity, was compelled to sit up and disagree. Somehow, listening to him speak, one understood why he felt this way. Daniyal Mueenuddin’s work thrives on honesty and simple statements of fact. Nothing is strange in his world. The entire strength behind his debut novel was its easy, un-judging frankness. So yes, if I were to imagine Mueenuddin working at his desk, the image would not be of a tortured artist wringing his hands over the multiple layers of meaning hidden behind every sentence; it would be more a picture of a slightly relieved man writing his diary after a day of not quite being himself.

It was Hussain Naqvi who brought the whole picture back into perspective.“The production of prose becomes incidental,” he said. “Being a writer means negotiating life, family, making a living; and producing something that resonates within you as well as with others.” While Ali Sethi's write-or-die attitude was infectious and Mueenuddin's writing-is-play approach made sense, it was probably Naqvi's exposition of the process that summed up the reality of being a career writer most effectively.

Karachi Literature Festival - A DWLer's observations

2011-02-17T00:36:00.000+05:00

This entry has been submitted by Hamdan Malik.

Day 1: Confused, anxious, even shivering slightly.

My first KLF sitting was the Zulfikar Ghose writing workshop, which was quite interesting even if more of a lecture than a workshop. Some of what he discussed had already been advised on the DWL forums. He encouraged writers to write with brevity and recklessness and insisted on avoiding generalization and abstract notions.

At the end of the session, I met Jalal, Batool, Afia and Faraz. After a few minutes of chitchat, they ordered lunch and I took a zuhar break.

Returned to attend “Kia Urdu parhney waley kam hotey ja rahe hain” late and was sure I won’t find a place to sit, but all went well for me since they'd had technical difficulties and were running a half hour late.

The session started with Ms. Arfa Sayeda Zehra apologizing for the delay in very pure, refined Urdu. After a few initial remarks, she handed the floor to panel members - interrupting only when the discussion veered too far off its course. It was pointed out that regional languages were facing the same problems across the Indo-Pak region as Urdu; various causal factors were put to light. One of the problems noted was the print and binding method used here; others were more abstract like natural birth and death of languages.

Day 2: Ego, anger, compassion and conclusion.

"A talk on Sufism with a foreign majority panel... this should be interesting," I said to myself. It was interesting but to be honest I felt the only thing they did was to endorse contemporary mazaar culture and very safely ignored the real essence of tasawwuf . I had a question for Wasim Frembgen that I tried to ask in the lecture but they didn’t have the time to field it then.

Came back after Zuhar to find Afia distributing flyers. Then she had to buy a book and at the bookstall we bumped into fellow DWLer Madiha. We went back to the same table where we were sitting the day before and started chatting with some people who were sharing the table with us. They left after a while and we still hadn’t placed our order before Afia started running around again, trying to catch celebrities to milk interviews out of them. Finally, we had coffee and a short while later I spotted Wasim Frembgen and had my questions answered. It didn't change what I thought of the Sufism talk, but we finished off nicely with a walk to Karen Armstrong’s lecture.

We're Back!

2011-02-14T10:20:00.002+05:00

So that didn't take too long! We're back online after having switched to our new host. The forums are up and running and within the next day or so, Papercuts will finally be available on its permanent address www.desiwriterslounge.net/papercuts.

Meanwhile, watch out for the next installment of Vol 7 material, coming your way on February 15th!

We are grateful for your patronage and your patience during the host switching.

- The DWL Team

Website down for maintenance

2011-02-13T04:45:00.003+05:00

Hi everyone,

Just an update that the DWL website is undergoing maintenance right now. We hope to be back online within 24 hours. Till then, you can always head over to the temporary Papercuts site www.paper.takhleek.com and read the latest issue and comment on the pieces.

We'll see you soon!

The DWL Team

Karachi LitFest - Day 1

2011-02-11T02:57:00.002+05:00

Well into the first half (okay, the first paragraph) of this blogpost, a nasty little strain of Karachi fever came around to make my acquaintance. It started with a pain in the legs that, in the subsequent delirium of the fever, was misdiagnosed by me as a blood sugar surge (this assessment also had something to do with the fact that I’d guiltily consumed half a tub of pure, Swiss chocolate ice cream just minutes earlier). It was only after I’d groaned to Shehla that I’d finally given myself diabetes and had started preparing for my final farewells that a well-timed cup of chai parted the heavy curtains of delirium and showed me that I was simply running a temperature.

Yes, Lipton can do that.

Anyway, the fever's been beat and we're back to the real blog entry! As we’d mentioned earlier, there was a DWL contingent at the Karachi Literature Festival 2011, which kicked off on the 5^th of February at the charming little Carlton Hotel in DHA Phase VIII. One look and you knew that the programme was an ambitious one. The organisers had divided the day into one-hour sessions running simultaneously across several of the hotel’s halls. This meant that attending one session almost always entailed missing out on another promising one, which was frustrating but also made one feel like one was pleasantly spoilt for choice.

It was evident that the ‘celebrity author’ card had been played to pull in the crowds and that the strategy had worked amazingly: an enormous number of people attended the event and there was a fantastic buzz throughout. The true success of a literature festival probably depends on its ability to create that vibe, trumping other more obvious indicators such as the number of books being launched or sometimes even the quality of the discussion. For two days, one could have contentedly sat in the central café area of the Carlton and soaked in the charged conversations for hours without getting bored or attending a single session. It also helped that after every twenty unknown faces you’d see a famous one. (I’m a celebrity junkie… now stop raising your eyebrow and move on.)

Those of us who were there the first day were excited about attending the creative writing workshop by Zulfikar Ghose. If you’re interested in creative writing, here are some of the lessons we took away from that session.

Probably the most valuable thing that Mr. Ghose tried to drum into our heads was to ditch the nonsense and get straight to the point. He spoke in some detail about the model of the traditional, well-made story as exemplified by Anton Chekhov’s work and shared some golden ‘rules’ of writing stories (all the while insisting that there were no rules, btw) that Chekhov himself had penned in his time.

The key thing about this form of writing is that it is pretension-free and doesn’t beat around the bush. Clarity and brevity are the order of the day, and the skillful storyteller is expected to steer clear of abstract words, generalizations and subjective assessments. Consequently, Mr. Ghose himself seemed to be a little wary of a stream of consciousness approach, which lends itself more easily to the dreaded abstractions, biases and generalizations that Chekhov warned against. He seemed to be more in favour of a good, old fashioned story, written with complete objectivity and brimming with expectation, continous action and ‘fluid movement’.

Not to worry, though, as achieving this is not as difficult as it sounds. Mr. Ghose made a simple and (I thought) utterly gorgeous articulation of what we as writers set out to do. In his opinion, writing is nothing more than a formula of language to understand the world around us. In other words, everything is an ongoing story… you just need to figure out how to get it down on paper. And for this, you don’t need an idea or a great Point to get started; you could just as well begin with an image. After that, stay with objective description and the rest will take care of itself, said Mr. Ghose. Aim for clear images, cliché-free messages and none of the tedium of lengthy, overly descriptive paragraphs.

The technique he suggested for this was to imagine that you, the writer, are a camera and that you can only see as much as the lens will show you. Move from character to object to situation, describing things as you see them. Weave background information into that description, thus allowing the reader to absorb the details at a subconscious level without being hammered over the head with them (we keep saying this on the DWL forums as well: show, don’t tell). Aim to create an image that will convey a larger story, basically, and that will give the reader subtle insights into the plot.

There’s a hilarious example here from a short story that he was reading out to the workshop group (A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O’Connor). The writer describes the character of the mother as ‘a young woman in slacks, whose face was as broad and innocent as a cabbage and was tied around with a green head-kerchief that had two points on the top like rabbit's ears’. To compare a face to a cabbage was odd, to say the least, Mr. Ghose pointed out to us. But could she have done it any better? Probably not, in my humble opinion, because the cabbage says it all. It implies that the young woman’s face wasn’t radiantly innocent as the face of a saint may be, rather it was bland and insipid. Right from the first sentence on her, we get the feeling that this is a woman who lacks character. Another thing our workshop moderator pointed out was that no woman in the West would wear a head-kerchief unless she was bald (unlikely in this case as the woman was young) or her hair was unwashed! Suddenly, the young mother was sketched out clearly in front of us and we knew exactly what kind of person was being introduced here, all with the help of a cabbage reference and a hair accessory.

Mr. Zulfikar Ghose highly recommended reading O’Connor’s story, incidentally, as a perfect example of a narrative with continuous action. For an alternative look at restrained characterization, he pointed to Flaubert’s Madame Bovary. As general reading, he suggested that any aspiring writers go through Henry James’ famous essay, titled The Art of Fiction.

Hope you enjoyed reading this and got something out of it. God knows it took long enough to write! Next we’ll be posting a more informal entry by Hamdan Malik, one of our DWLers who was present at the festival and who proved amazingly adept at dragging unwilling waiters to our table to take down the order!

This Business of Books - KLF 2011

2011-02-06T06:03:00.001+05:00

The Karachi Literature Festival (5^th and 6^th February 2011) has followed fast on the footsteps of its counterpart in Jaipur and, some say, has held its own against larger, better funded literary events elsewhere in the sub-continent. With an impressive array of authors in attendance even in its nascent stages (Kamila Shamsie, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Ali Sethi, Hussain Naqvi, Mohammad Hanif and Mohsin Hamid, to name a handful), the festival has boldly sent out an important message to the literary community within and outside Pakistan: We can do this, and we can do it well.

The festival is being attended by a contingent from DWL, mainly: Hamdan Malik, Jalal Habib Curmally, Batool Habib, Afia Aslam, Faraz Mirza and Madiha Riaz. Perhaps more than a learning experience, this has been a fantastic networking opportunity for DWL and Papercuts. We have distributed our signature yellow flyers promoting Vol. 7 and have brought the magazine to the attention of many authors at the event, ranging from the newbies on the scene to the biggest names in the industry.

Keep watching this space for news on how the festival went! We're going to start compiling it for you as soon as it rolls to an end on Sunday, the 6th of February.

Thank you, DWL.

2011-01-22T10:07:00.004+05:00

It was my birthday on the 17th. My husband's family was here, and he decided to take on a DIY project for the weekend. We are the people who laze in front of the TV on Saturdays, put off doing laundry until we can see the bottom of our drawers (no pun intended), and call a plumber for fishing out a nail out of the sink. A DIY project in this house presented itself like a looming disaster. And this is not just any project I am talking about. It's not like he was planning to hammer some nails and hang our pictures, not at all - a monkey could do that. My husband, ladies and gentlemen, was planning to put tiles all over the kitchen walls above the granite counters to create a dazzling backsplash. Aaaaarrrgh!!!

So, the project began on the 15th. The boys made several trips to Home Depot, selected tiles and grout, and began putting adhesive on the walls, christened chipkum by our cousin, between annoying sessions of FIFA on PS3, endless cups of chai, and loud, harmless cursing. By the time the chipkum was done, it was the 16th, and my kitchen was in complete and utter chaos. At this point, they started to press down the tile sheets on chipkum while I was cooking a birthday feast...wait for it...for myself! Yes, I was, in fact, required to cook a feast for the entire family on my birthday to celebrate. Charming, right? God bless our cousin's wife, she did most of the cooking while the boys showed mock annoyance and worked around us. At midnight, a wannabe black forest cake from a chain grocery store was cut by yours truly. All of us looked like construction workers. Grout was all over our clothes and all over my kitchen counters (gasp!), the chai was still flowing freely, and of course, FIFA was still being played.

Such was my birthday celebration. Imagine my surprise then, when I logged on to DWL on the morning of my birthday and found AMAZING, beautiful, thoughtful, absolutely wonderful birthday wishes from the mods and members. It REALLY made my day, guys. All of a sudden, it was OK that I was working like crazy on my birthday, cleaning up wretched dried-up grout from the newly installed tiles. My arms were ready to fall off, but it was all good - DWL loves me - and that made it all bearable.

Almost a week later, I am sitting in my living room. My husband is STILL cleaning the grout. We are almost ready to seal the tiles, and in two hours, my kitchen will look amazing.

For this difficult birthday and horrible week, I thank you, DWL. The 'Lounge has been with me through some grave times; this last week was one of the "insignificantly troublesome" variety, but I would have pulled my hair out if it weren't for DWL and Papercuts.

Brimming with love,

Papercuts Volume 7 is out!

2011-01-19T16:34:00.004+05:00

This is going to be short and sweet:

Volume 7 of our biannual magazine is now available. We've all worked really hard to revamp the magazine, and we're hoping you will enjoy reading it. Don't forget to comment on any pieces you might like.

Go to www.desiwriterslounge.net and click on the Papercuts tab to read!

Delusions of grandeur

2011-01-14T05:14:00.004+05:00

The first time we were going back to India after moving to the States, in the summer of ’97, my father declared that I was allowed one pair of jeans, one pair of sneakers and a shirt to travel in. My attire after landing in India was to be salwar kameezes, lenghas and long skirts. As a fifteen year old and a part of the 1.5 immigrant generation growing up in NYC, I cracked a few smart ass comments at my father’s dictate, but didn’t fight it too much. See, this wasn’t worth beating my already sore hands on the drums of teenagedom caught in the middle of the immigrant experience. I could mouth off to mom and dad, insist on my independence, rail against the stereotypes they attempted to impose on me and generally be an Indian version of the bratty American teen (where, really, my parents got off quite easy) all in the safety of my life in Queens. Being on Indian soil, however, wasn’t reality; it was vacation, where what happened in India, stayed in India. For a month or so while we visited family, I could play pretend and be the Sati Savitri type if that’s what my family wanted.

While in India, I never made an attempt to explain my life in NYC to my family members. Maybe it was sheer selfishness on my part of wanting to avoid the lectures on how I’m still Indian even though I live in America that came with opening up with my conservative family about my life in NYC. Staying general usually worked best: yes, school was good; yes, I still remember how to speak Kannada; yes, I do have Indian friends. I smiled a lot, I ate a lot, I wore what they wanted me to wear and I wrote in my journal a lot. I was polite, respectful and most of all, just plain quiet. We never discussed anything deep and certainly nothing related to sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll.

My writing, however, has never been quiet. I will break my personality into pieces for the various different compartments of my life, but my writing is one place where I live, whole and complete with total honesty. It never concerned me in the past that when I get published (yes, I said it - when, dammit, when), as a creative non-fiction writer, I would be laying my life out for public consumption. With my immediate family, I began to hang the family’s dirty laundry out to dry starting at 16, so it would be nothing new to them. Everything else, I justified. My parents are so closeted about their lives that it’s not like their friends and acquaintances would recognize me as the child of someone they know. My extended family in India – well, I’ll just make sure the book never gets translated into Kannada and besides, how are one brown woman’s words ever going to travel across the ocean anyway? It’s tough enough getting published and being known locally.

What I hadn’t counted on was technology shortening the distance between my lived reality and the person I pretended to be to keep the peace with my extended family. Before, there were phone calls between NYC and India where surface words lay like sweet, sickly icing on top of a cake. Now, there are emails and Facebook updates between my life and my cousins’ in India. With the internet came Google and Facebook and off they ran, snatching my delusions that my writing and my life could be kept separate from my extended family in India.

While working with Noor to edit a short piece of mine for volume 7 of Papercuts, towards the end of the process, I realized I hadn’t changed one of the characters’ name. That realization broad-sided me as I realized I was telling quite an intimate tale that involved people other than myself. With Papercuts accessible online and subject to Google’s tentacles, there’s a possibility that my cousins in India would now have access to that part of me that I hid from them. (Sidenote: I’ve seen the re-designed website for Papercuts and it rocks. It’s shaped up to be quite a strong representation of the talent at Desi Writers Lounge. You all should be uber-excited!)

There was a brief moment where I considered breathing into a paper bag, but then the writer in me, the one who has always had the backbone, snarked, “Well, then you either better hope they never find it; hope that if they find it, they’ll understand; or if they read it and don’t understand, then you better get ready to deal with the fall out - because this story is getting told.” After another dirty look thrown at the hyperventilating pansy, the writer strode off to start penning the continuation of her story.

Plans for the Resource Board

2011-01-06T03:56:00.006+05:00

Our team was extremely excited about the resource board when it was launched last year. We are very pleased with the exercises that some of you participated in, specifically the ones featured in "Breaking the Block." I find those to be very helpful and now that the content for volume 7 has been finalized, which we are all completely in love with, I will be making frequent appearances on the forums in order to encourage everyone to write more.

I will be introducing an interesting new dimension as well. I am taking a course here at Stanford titled "

Happy New Year

2011-01-05T03:19:00.006+05:00

Happy New Year, everyone.

I can't believe it's 2011. Babies born in nineteen ninety are going to turn twenty one this year. I feel ancient. I am a mid-eighties baby myself and really detest the ugly hairstyles and questionable fashion trends associated with my decade. But really, my decade was the nineties, the late nineties particularly when I finished school. Ah, those last few years in an all-girls missionary school were full of day-dreaming teenagers. The poster boys were Shahid Afridi (he still is a hero, was just younger and clean-shaven back then), Shahrukh Khan ("Kuch kuch hota hai, Anjali. Tum nahi samjho gi" and "Senorita, aisay baray baray shehron mein aisi choti choti baatein hoti rehti hain" - eww, and yes, I still remember these lines!), The Backstreet Boys (I thought they were horrible, frankly), and the ones who wanted to be really "different" liked Saqlain Mushtaq/Shoaib Akhtar, 'N Sync/Boyzone, and Amir Khan/Salman Khan. Sigh, ten years after graduating, I still think my world at that time was perfect for the fifteen-year-old me.

I remember these trivial details well. There was no fear, no worry, just a normal and healthy childhood. When I called home this morning from the warm comfort of my commuter train, my thirteen-year-old brother answered. After exchanging pleasantries he said, "Do you know Salman Taseer was assassinated today?"
"Yes," I said. "It's horrible."
"Not so horrible for me. I get a day off from school tomorrow," said my brother.
Both my sister who was sitting near him, and I, a world across from him said "Shahzil! Someone DIED! Should you be saying this?"
"Sorry, sorry," said my brother, completely non-committal.
How's it possible to think this way? Did I have the same mentality as a child? Granted he is twelve years younger than me, but in that moment this morning, I felt decades older. I have never felt so distant from him before.

In this situation, who do you blame? We've both had the same parenting, same facilties, similar schooling. The circumstances, however, of our respective childhood are different. When I was his age, I never heard a bomb blowing up my neighborhood marketplace. I didn't ride my bike across the carnage. My mother didn't go looking for me frantically in the street because she had heard hand grenades going off two roads down our house. My brother has seen and experienced all this in his thirteen summers. He has switched three schools to be closer to home. He has lost distant family members in street violence, bombings, and suicide attacks. His mother and uncle have been robbed multiple times at gunpoint. He has seen two monumental natural disasters in his country: the earthquake and the floods, along with the mass migration of internally displaced persons. His parents and sisters are paranoid about his safety. All this has led him to treat death as something trivial, an everyday occurrence. Something about his childhood is lost and damaged. He has grown up too fast, too soon. His eyes have hardened and narrowed. I don't see the mischief in them that was so apparent when he was five and was waving goodbye to me at Lahore International Airport in 2003.

It is two thousand and eleven, everyone. My little brother will turn fourteen this year. When I was as old as him, I was writing really bad poetry inspired by nineties Bollywood. They are horrible poems, but my childhood was beautiful enough to turn me into a poet. Hopefully we can all make an extra effort this year and do what we can to improve the world we live in. Resolve to make the world better in any way you can. Go green, even if it involves a small change like switching to paper bags. Write a small check for a charity every month this year - every dollar helps. Blog about what you see around you, raise awareness for the causes you believe in. Write to make someone's life better, even if it is for an instant. Put a smile on someone's face even if you have to contribute a joke to a local paper. This year, don't make colossal commitments. Start small. Do something for someone else. A tiny little thing. And see where it takes you.

Happy New Year from all of us at DWL. Sorry for the sadness, but some days laughter eludes me after the first paragraph.

Best wishes.

Papercuts Pre-Launch Meeting/Reading

2010-12-30T12:09:00.005+05:00

Exciting news! We're holding a small reading in Islamabad next week to promote the next volume of PaperCuts! Kuch Khaas has graciously agreed to host us on January 4th, but we HAVE to be certain of the number of people in attendance! If you are planning on being there, please get in touch via email at shehla(at)desiwriterslounge(dot)net. This event is not open to the public, so get in touch with us if you want to attend! (And to get the details, of course).

DWL Update

2010-11-19T04:06:00.007+05:00

It has been a while since the blog was updated, and in case you're wondering what happened, here's your answer: shortlisting and editing for volume 7 of PaperCuts is in full swing!

This means the editorial team is working hard at putting together the content, and not really focusing on blogging too much :) We are super excited at how the thematic content is coming together. There are several wonderful articles in store for you in the next issue, and of course, we will be featuring prose and poetry from the forums as well. In the coming week, the DWL members whose pieces have been selected for editing will be getting emails from the editors, so if you are on the forums, make sure your email address with us is current.

We're also looking forward to sharing with you the brand new look for PaperCuts, which is being finalized by the creative team as we...type.

So, as you wait for January to roll around, why not come up with some suggestions for next issue's theme? We would love to hear from you!

Translations

2010-11-02T12:00:00.011+05:00

posted by Noor

We recently posted Mohammad Umer Memon's interview conducted by chapatimystery.com on the DWL forums. I was particularly intrigued by the quality of work he has translated from Urdu to English. I have always felt that literature in Urdu is overwhelmingly rich - like the arable lands of the country it originates from.

I grew up reading books and short stories in Urdu - literature that was perhaps more suited for an adult than a child. My parents, both writers by profession, maintained an overbearing library - a room with an imposing desk, carefully decorated with fountain pen holders and crystal paperweights, rocking chairs, floor pillows, sketches of writers, my parents' awards, and wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling shelves overflowing with books and magazines. From a very early age, I began to know names like Bano Qudsia, Nazir Ahmad, Ishfaq Ahmad, Qurat-ul-ain Haider, Imtiaz Ali Taj, and the like. I devoured these books just like I ate up every last word of Dickens, Shakespeare, and Eliot.

I remember, I was in the library once, and my father came in and saw me with one of Manto's anthologies. "Perhaps this is better suited to a young lady's tastes," he said and extended a copy of Mira'at-ul-Uroos towards me. "After you're done with this one," he said pointing to the book I was holding. Manto is nothing if not controversial. But so layered is his work that I find something new and rather chilling every time I read one of his stories. So rich with metaphors - there was this one story in which a man collects empty cans and bottles and ends up marrying someone who looks like an empty bottle after getting rid of his collection. Sigh! I have butchered it. If you have not read Manto, READ MANTO! His work contains perhaps the most powerful social commentary that I have ever read. Alas! I digress.

I slowly discovered poetry in Urdu, too. I cannot claim to fully understand Ghalib and Iqbal, but took a particular liking to Mir Dard and Mir Taqi Mir. Contemporary Urdu poetry opened up to me like a ball of yarn running loose around the house. The romance in Parveen Shakir's work took me through my angst ridden adolescence. I found thehrao, control, clam (how would I translate this?!) particularly in Mansoora Ahmad's work. Gulzar's "Chand Pakhraj Ka" remains a favorite to this day.

There is such a wealth of Urdu literature in our country - both classic and contemporary - and it's tragic that many in our generation are not familiar with it. In a time when Urdu is no longer the fashionable or cultured language to speak, Mohammad Umer Memon is translating books and short stories from Urdu to English to introduce the depth of human emotion, understanding, and wisdom contained in them.

It's unfortunate that I, too, living in a world where Urdu is seldom recognized as a language in existence, let alone spoken or read, am losing my command over it. Sometimes, I find myself wondering how a word is spelled - if it uses "tay" or "tuaein." Small, everyday battles to keep a little bit of my roots alive. For people who are not familiar with the richness that is in the works of authors who write in Urdu, Memon comes as a fresh breeze, a rescuer of the ignorant. More importantly, he is an ambassador of literature written in Urdu and is a voice that reaches everyone in the world and proclaims: "This is how we do it!"

Currently reading: Harper Collins Book of Urdu Short Stories by Mohammad Umer Memon.

Get a copy!

How to Tackle Writer's Block (By Indirection!)

2010-10-20T05:17:00.003+05:00

posted by Noor

We have all encountered this beast at some point in our writing careers. Sometimes you can fight it head-on; other times you have to cheat it, find a way around it, and give it a surprise defeat.
These techniques may work for you!

1. Start with Chapter Two. Pretend that you have already given all the background information about your characters. Start writing the second chapter.

2. Dessert First. When you're just writing, write the delicious parts, write the parts that you like.

3. Resist the rapture of research. Stay away from Google, the library, reference books. Look up information later. Write now.

4. A good idea that doesn't happen is no idea at all.

5. XX factor. When you don't know a fact about your story, don't stall to ponder it. Put XX there and move on. When you are ready, go back and fill the gaps later.

6. Listen to your characters. How do you know who they are?

7. Interview your characters.

8. Take a shoebox and put physical things in it that remind you of your character. For example, you see an easy chair in a catalog and your character should be sitting in that chair or you can imagine him/her sitting in it, cut it out and put it in the box.

9. What if? Ask creative what if questions that might just jump start your story.

10. Even if you feel like life is interfering with your writing, remember that you need that life and its activities in order to write.

11. Banish the devil on your shoulder - the critical voice. You need a critical voice at some point, but certainly not when you're blocked.

12. Write letters. Besides being an emotional catharsis, it also leaves you with a bank of emotions that you can withdraw from later.

13. Responsive writing. Keep asking yourself questions, they can be random questions, and keep answering them. Question-answer loop on a page to break out of the block answer by answer.

14. The Hemingway Technique. Hemingway often stopped writing at a high point, frequently even in the middle of a sentence. Instead of writing and writing until you get stuck so that the next day you're dreading the point where you left of, you should perhaps stop when you are in the zone and you're loving to write, so that you will be looking forward to the writing the next day.

15. Sometimes writer's block is a message to you that you have picked something inherently wrong to write about - emotions, material, characters, voice, it can be anything. Once you have recognized and acknowledged this message, the writer's block becomes a building block.

16. Sometimes the silence of the black screen is really a shout - it's the silence of incubation.

Useful Resources, Good Books, Websites:
JEFF HERMAN'S GUIDE
Publisher's marketplace http://www.publishersmarketplace.com/
Halldor Laxness - Independent People
Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein
Enzo - book written from the perspective of a dog - Garth Stein
http://theopening.org/
What If?: Writing Exercises for Fiction Writers - Anne Bernays, Pamela Painter
The Paris Review Interviews (3 volumes)
Bird by Bird - Some Instructions on Writing and Life - Anne Lamott

My friend: The Social Media

2010-10-08T21:45:00.001+05:00

posted by Ayesha

The ever changing social media vs. the conventional word of mouth advertising was the debate I read recently on a blog. Not a known blog, just a random rant of an advertising professional who had retired to blogging to pass his time.
On most of these blogs that analyze the impact of social media, while the writers rave on about the role of tweets in changing the world to a well informed, well read contruct; I read on for some heady stimulation that will tell me something I don’t already know.
Or something that I have not already read (Not that I am suggesting I am a reading addict, far from it actually - just imagine my disappointment thus).
Maybe I am jaded but then I know this for sure, from the blogs that I follow to the Facebook likes that I love to click on, I am yet to find a real place for social media in my world.
Other than filling my free moments, I have yet to see if it really fits the role of a life changing, an opinion shaping, an earth shatteringly strong/ mild dose of information inject that it is perceived to be by the analytics. Does it shape my opinion? Yes.
But I don’t think I can *share* it yet. Maybe I can do it on the next Tweet that catches my attention.
But then that’s the whole point. Social media is offering us freedom and superfluous socializing opportunities.
The idea behind this particular article that I read was about interaction having become two way through the medium. One relevant point that I am all for; of course it’s all about clicking submit.
The writer managed to convince me that conventional advertising through word of mouth was in an incomplete campaign in itself. The consumers when now have the chance to use a product and then comment on it, have the power to now change the dimension of advertising completely. I totally agree.
What I do have a problem with is the fuss that is being made about the social media in the process. Fully aware of the fact that it is a medium that cannot be controlled in any of its dimensions, how much can we trust an entity that is absolutely free?
I understand how one relevant opinion piece by Fasi Zaka is repetitively *shared* on facebook for that mere percentage of our youth who can read and ARE able to connect on FB.
I also appreciate how it serves to highlight an issue that would probably not find its due share of attention on traditional media. bBut what happens to an anonymous writer who makes a point and is not able to put it on an authentic blog; does he/ she find h/is/er trust with the reader? Just a random thought.
In his 3 dimensional advertising theory, the writer talked about the content spreading like a wild fire. I then wondered about the fires that do spread in our part of the country.
The wondering being that I am, I couldn’t help but also wonder about the use of the word ‘wild’ by the author.
How wild is the news we read on social media. Oh better yet, how wild are we to believe it? And how many of us are wild enough to write it? Okay that last question is perhaps better left unanswered.
While I am ABLE to comprehend the power of social media in the small, budding life of the PR industry in my country where literacy is little and internet penetration a small seed; I often think about how significant is social media for us?
Here I am referring to the US - Us who are the elistist facebookers and are linked on the In. With our supersonic broadband / wiresless connections, we who are the real people affected by the social media in this time and place, WE - who can read and write and rewrite. Wonder some more and then wonder again.
I am wondering still.
In the PR industry where I am a professional content developer, I understand and realize the constraints that research resources of the noble social media bring with them. When I speak of constraints here, they are not lack of speed or how I cannot stream enough. They are a wee bit more complicated than that.
For one, authenticity of content is such a huge issue for people like moi that I’d probably never be able to whine enough about it. Maybe someone else out there can scream for me.
While having the internet is such a great blessing, Google being the best thing that happened to man since the telephone, I am also faced with the downside of the blessing.
In the big bad world of internet, for me nothing is real and nothing is safe. Everything I see is a creation (not always in a good way) or a re- creation and I don’t mean recreation there.
With all due respect to inspirational writers on the social media and the analytics of its impact, I believe that the this untamed world belongs to an intelligent user/ writer/ reader.
A person who understands that not everything on the social media can be *shared*. Not everything is credible and not everything is correct.
I don’t believe we can entirely keep up with the pace of the changing phenomenon but what we can do is be a part of it. However little is the feedback we can provide, we must do our part at least. Interactivity could be the key.
One thing to note is the communication we make - It reflects on us, on what we portray; the world of internet is only visual, a little care to choose the interaction could go a long way. Choosing the interaction means two things:
One - Choose a platform that helps you.
Two - Choose your words wisely.
When the flood relief news broke on the channels, I was already a little informed because of the industry I am in, but the way the information spread over blogs, Facebook and websites gave me a fair idea of what a wild fire actually is.
The same content that I had prepared was all over Facebook and telecom blogs. Even now I see it being replicated and pasted, even in places I wouldn’t want to be seen but there it is. I have no control and little control is what drives this form of media. Whether I like it or not it is *shared*. A great way to make noise but is noise all we want to make?
So while I am jaded and a little old fashioned, a wee bit wary of the content I find on my RSS feeds and a little fed up for the lack of real NEWS on news feeds, I am a little hopeful too.
Maybe the social media will evolve into some kind of a process or an institution in itself. It is possible that we will give birth to the intelligent user who will not be carried away in the fire but use its warmth and light to see the way.
And carry it too. More power to interactivity and a little wisdom to us - the users!

On The Dock

2010-09-25T04:49:00.012+05:00

posted by Jalal

- in which the author discovers a new condition to his life, attempts to develop a whole new communicable disease, tries to change, is targeted by Halliburton, out does the Pakistani Cricket Team, takes a hike and socks it to big Pharma.

It starts innocuously enough.
There’s a pounding in my head, my vision is swirling, I have a shooting pain in the left side of my chest and three fingers in my left arm go instantly numb. So I chalk it up to:
a. Stress
b. Bad posture (damn those office chairs)
c. Last night’s, not-gas-attack-inducing-at-all, masala daal fry
d. The horrible project briefing my team is giving me
Until it gets scary and my colleagues are staring with giant ‘O’s at my face.
“Eeeerrr…boss?”
His voice is a whisper in the thundering now emanating from my ears.
“What?”
“You look pale,” my colleagues have a gift for understatement I discover.
And from that moment, from my desk to the emergency room, it took only twenty minutes to be introduced to the rest of my life as a blood pressure patient.

My dad was using the car when I called for it so he came along for the ride. Distinguished elderly gentleman that he is, the doctors and orderlies all assumed that it was he I was accompanying and not the other way around. So they all looked at me funny as I lay down on the bed when the doctor ordered, ‘Will the patient please lie down!’
‘What’s the issue?’ says he.
‘I feel funny,’ Says me.
‘Oh holy crap! Why are you not dead?’ says he, ‘You call this a BP?’

British Petroleum has instructed me inform you that they disavow all knowledge of the unnatural disaster that is this post and besides…it was all Halliburton’s fault anyway.

Halliburton at this stage have also instructed me to inform you that nothing is ever their fault. Nothing. Whatsoever. SAY IT BITCH! OR THE US ARMY WILL BOMB AND OCCUPY YOUR DILLHOLE!

You know you have a serious problem when your heart has a higher score than the entire Pakistani Cricket tea…DAMN YOU CRICKETING SCANDAL! NOW I CANT EVEN BE SURE OF MY JOKES ANY MORE! And here I had this awesome joke about how my BP hit 190 over 140…higher than our cricket team’s batting average.
HOW DO I KNOW! HOW DO I KNOW THEY WEREN’T MATCH FIXING THAT DAY TOO! Dirty Buggers.

The doctor in the emergency room put me on BP meds and gave me tranqs and told me to just lie there and go to sleep. Three hours later…I’m still not asleep. The doctor looks at the monitor and says that if the numbers don’t go down soon, I’m getting hospitalized. They go down. I go home. Word travels that Jalal was in an emergency room for three hours. Everyone, family and friends, gathers at my house that night, all concern for my brush with high blood pressure and soothe down me frazzled nerves and racing pulse with such comforting homilies like,

‘YOU GET A STROKE IF YOUR LOWER FIGURE GOES OVER 110!’
‘IT’S A SILENT KILLER, YOU KNOW THAT!’
‘BLOOD PRESSURE KILLS MORE PEOPLE THAN CANCER, AIDS AND RERUNS OF DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES! COMBINED!’
‘DUDE CAN I HAVE YOUR XBOX WHEN YOU DIE?’

What followed were constant trips to the doc’s to figure out the optimal chemical concoction that is to keep my BP within normal ranges and out of the stratosphere. And doctor’s room conversations with my beloved like the one below:

‘No salt.’
‘Really…just a little…from time to time’
‘NO!’
‘FUCK!’
‘Mind your language. And don’t get upset. You have high BP! You’ll pop a blood vessel! What will I do then?’
‘Well I wouldn’t be on edge if you let me eat a little salt.’
At this stage the doctor feels she needs to interject to prevent my then fiancé now wife from killing me with kindness and worry, ‘Actually, he can eat normal food salt. Just don’t sprinkle on more on the top like you have been doing…’
‘HAH! See?’
‘Shut up Mr. 190 over 140.’
‘Are you sure you two aren’t already married…?’

And injunctions from all and sundry that the best thing for BP is constant exercise and the Miracle of all Miracle exercises, God alone knows how we ever lived without it, was…
Prepare yourselves
It may sound like crazy talk
The miracle, universal panacea, the Holy Grail cure for-every-frakkin’-thing is….

…Walking!

Doesn’t it strike you as strange as how the healing powers of tramping up and down are touted as nothing short of miraculous? Or that over 30 odd years of education to become a highly qualified physician and ‘talking a walk’ is the best that you can do for a patient? What next will you be prescribing?
‘Doctor! I’m Dying!’
‘Quick! Take two Nikes and one Reebok then call me in the morning!’

Well after spending 10 minutes circumnavigating the Aunty ridden walkways of Hilal Park, I called up my beloved, then fiancé now wife, and said,
‘Hi Baby! Guess what. I’m off to go shoot myself! Love you. Bye!’
And then life has since settled into a comfortable rhythm. I take my meds, watch what I eat and walk regularly…
Okay. Semi Regularly.
Okay. I walk sometimes.
FINE! I THINK about walking sometimes!
Oh have it your way Mr.Factanista! I lounge on my ass all day and play computer games in the evening and call it exercise. Happy?

And the BP has not been that bad to live with. It could have been much worse. Sure I have my episodes when I push myself or am irregular with my rest. Some days I wake up feeling low and like I’ve been running. The numbers are 150 over 110 and the office gets a phone call from me, ‘Hi team. I’m not coming in today because I’m sick. Don’t do anything that could make me get sicker. Just do what I’ve told you to do. Don’t use your heads too much and remember that I will yell at you if I see you haven’t used your heads at all. Enjoy figuring that out. Bye!’
I am now doing my best to turn high BP into the world’s first disease communicable over cell phone.
No Twitter, I am not talking about you.
At one point, when my episodes kept coming with more frequency, it was time to go get a professional consult. The cardiologist pooh poohed it and told me to get an ECG. That resulted in a rather humorous episode involving a cell phone, two tubes of Anne French, Magic Carpet Rides and perhaps the most bizarre trip to the loo I’ve ever taken.
The ECG is clear so the doctor advises that I quit smoking,
Oh yeah! Absolutely. Tomorrow.
That I keep up with regular walks
Uh huh. Yup. As soon as there comes out an XBOX Walk. Till then…will lots of guitar hero do?
And that I maintain a Zen like calm and inner peace to manage my stress.
Now those of you who know me also know that in my head I am much akin to the hyperactive squirrel from Ice Age, on speed, and crack, with ADD, trying to decide between the world’s biggest pile of nuts or Mad Donkey Stud Monkey sex.
But methinks I have discovered the ultimate groove to mellow out in. Once in that groove not even work can harsh my calm, bro.
It has to do with the Missus. I can come home raging like a lion, pace the floor like a tiger and tirade against the world like Hitler addressing Berlin. Then all she needs to do is go,
‘Aw Poor Baby! Did yoo haz a bad day?’
I pout.
‘Aaaawww,’ she melts. ‘Did the big bad world eated your cookie?’
‘It did! It did eated my cookie.’
‘C’mere!’ she holds out her arms…
…
Hah! Suck on THAT big Pharma!

The Problem of Imagery

2010-09-15T06:38:00.001+05:00

posted by Noor

“There is a simple trick at the heart of imaginative writing…The trick is that if you write in words that evoke the senses, if your language is full of things that can be seen, heard, smelled, tasted, and touched, you create a world your reader can enter.”

-Imaginative Writing – The Elements of Craft by Janet Burroway. Second Edition. Page 3. (Not following a standard citation method here).

I have often belabored a singular point in my critique to poets who must have come to detest it by now: introduce more concrete images to your poem. When you create a poem, no matter how commonplace the language written, it evidently transforms into a masterpiece in your mind. It is the same instinct that makes a mother love her child beyond its physical appearance. Obviously, the devotion to the poem from the poet is of (slightly) lesser magnitude.

During my years at DWL, I have come across countless poems that hold great potential. The themes may be very strong and refreshing, the idea nothing short of genius, but more often than not, the poems fall flat once written. The most important thing that the poet must understand is the importance of getting the reader involved. No one cares about your personal suffering, plight, identity crisis, break-up, et cetera, if it doesn’t somehow pull them into the theme of your poem. If readers can’t hold on to the poem by some kind of tactile imagery offered to them, they will not give a damn about the story you have to tell. Essentially, they want to be able to find a world they can enter – aptly phrased in the quote above.

In my experience, the best way to check a poem for its impact and quality is to take yourself out of the poem. Invariably, my poems are in first-person. Empathy dictates that a large ratio of a random sample of readers should be able to relate to my experiences as written in the poem. If I am to write about my life however, without giving them a chance to be a part of it, chances are empathy will be flushed down the toilet in 2 seconds flat. Even if I am writing about something that is of extreme personal significance, I must make the poem “friendly” for my readers. I generally try to do this by introducing the reader to my world, getting them acquainted with my life and surroundings. I mention the pile of dirty laundry at the foot of the bed in passing. A bamboo bowl of two month old potpourri on the nightstand – almost completely scentless, except the times when a wayward breeze from the broken window teases it. A red lampshade throwing diffuse light on a dried ring of stale chai on the coffee table. These are concrete images. Something the reader can recognize and hold on to. Now if I throw in a hurtful fight with my significant other somewhere between the dirty laundry and the caked ring of chai, with the emotional outburst highlighted metaphorically by the red lampshade – aha! I have a poem and I have pulled. You. In. I do this by writing out what exactly I want to say in the poem (the fight) and slowly fleshing it out with images, metaphors, and similes – figures of speech do wonders for your poem. Be creative with them. The way to flesh out your poem is best done by trying to look at what you have to offer beside yourself and your personal experience. So if you take yourself out of the poem, what is left? If you’ve got a handful of articles and a weak line of introduction, then you’ve got work to do. Build a world around yourself in the poem and you’ve got what you are looking for.

I am going to leave you with a short poem by Yusef Komunyakaa. It is a very personal poem (as most of them are), but please try to look for concrete imagery that he cleverly introduces along with spectacular metaphors and similes. Enjoy – and of course, happy writing!

Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa
My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn’t,
dammit: No tears.
I am stone. I’m flesh.
My clouded reflection eyes me
like a bird of prey, the profile of night
slanted against morning. I turn
this way – the stone lets me go.
I turn that way – I’m inside
the Vietnam Veterans Memorial
again, depending on the light
to make a difference.
I go down the 58,022 names,
half-expecting to find
my own in letters like smoke.
I touch the name Andrew Johnson;
I see the booby trap’s white flash.
Names shimmer on a woman’s blouse
but when she walks away
the names stay on the wall.
Brushstrokes flash, a red bird’s
wings cutting across my stare.
The sky. A plane in the sky.
A white vet’s image floats
closer to me, then his pale eyes
look through mine. I’m a window.
He’s lost his right arm
inside the stone. In the black mirror
a woman’s trying to erase names:
No, she’s brushing a boy’s hair.

Piled Higher and Deeper - writer's block of an unusual kind

2010-09-07T10:06:00.002+05:00

posted by Shehla

I once watched a documentary on Leonard Cohen and was struck by his discipline in writing. He insisted that to be a writer, he had to "go to work" every day, and therefore, to write every day. I'm much more liberal in my approach to writing, choosing to wait for revelation, the right mood, the perfect environment. It is one of the main reasons why I often tell people I am not a "real writer".

So imagine the gravity of the task at hand. Writing the introduction chapter of my Ph.D. dissertation. Is there ever a perfect environment to sit down and regurgitate facts about prostate cancer and molecular signaling pathways? Can one ever be in the mood to describe, in great length, the zonal anatomy of the prostate, the gaping holes in knowledge about the disease, and the dearth of treatment options available for advanced stages of said disease? No prizes for guessing the right answer.

It hasn't been all that bad. I've learned some very intriguing things, which 5 years of doing experiments and reading the literature never taught. Did you know, for instance, that prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia - the precursor lesions that lead to prostate cancer - can be present in men as early as at 20 years of age? Now there's a reason to be grateful I'm not a man. Sadly, this documented, reference-able fact takes up only one line to communicate. I'm supposed to write an entire CHAPTER. It also makes for very strange conversations, as I go around punctuating dinner with my treasure of "believe it or not" prostate cancer facts.

As stuck as I'm feeling, this is a very exciting time in the life of a graduate student. Years of hard work has finally shaped up to form a coherent theory. And nothing can match the feeling of coming up with and proving a novel hypothesis. My thesis mentor told me writing the intro will be hardest part of the process. I couldn't imagine what would be so hard about collecting background information on a topic I have lived and breathed for years. Turns out (as always) he was right. It's not so much collecting the information than figuring out how best to summarize it. Gives a whole new meaning to the term "writer's block". For inspiration (or for lack of it), I have resorted to perusing my favorite comic website, www.phdcomics.com. Yes, it's real. Yes, they really do put up comic strips on the life of graduate students. I can safely credit them with hours of procrastination, and in addition to providing the title to this blog post they have also been an amazing support group over the past half-decade. Too bad they can't summarize the different stages of metastatic adenocarcinomas.

Watched a Movie Lately?

2010-08-27T23:16:00.001+05:00

posted by Ayesha

Well-written scripts should be given a well-deserved round of applause. But how rare it is to come across a script that meets expectations, let alone exceeds them.

Most times when I am watching a movie, I am pleasantly surprised if the script manages to add texture to the plot. More than often, the interaction between characters is either overly done or is way too cliched.

As I watched an Indian movie only recently (Once Upon a Time in Mumbai) I realized how thoroughly disgusting over-the-top lines spoken in intense situations can become - especially when you have the likes of Devgan and Imran Hashmi delivering them. In addition to the experience being quite ridiculous, I could not help but marvel at the loss of common sense on the part of the director when he had decided on this match between the screenplay and his super-star cast.

It is a rare situation when the script is exactly the way it should be: defining the story, tapering the edges and moving it along. A good script, while focusing on the story, challenges the skill of acting just enough. The right words simply add some spice; they do not steal the limelight from anywhere else. Most importantly, it is evidence of a worthy story when the screenplay can provide more than one dimension to its viewers.

A screenplay that I found quite amusing and rather original was of the much celebrated Peepli [Live], which I managed to watch over the weekend. With a pint of sarcasm and shadowed treatment that borders on comedy, the movie is not mainstream to say the least. A thorough bashing of the media made for an interesting watch and definitely a fresh POV for an audience that is deprived of originality and the right kind of film making.

In a day and time when bizarre technologies, special effects and twisted psyches have rendered us insensitive to story plots and screenplays, it is a relief to watch a movie with a fresh perspective, whether it is the director who has visualized the concept with a real lens or the writer who has managed to take the time to write an original story line.

In a country where we have hardly any recreational activities, a handful of cinema screens feed my appetite for the love of this art. Only recently have I realized how thoroughly disappointing all the movies I have seen in the past few months have been. I wonder then about how these movies are chosen to be put up on the big screen; are there any criteria at all? Do we realize the impact this media has on our culture/the audience? Who is to be accountable for the disappointment we take home?

This brings me sadly to the conclusion that our audiences don't really give a crap about what goes up, as long as it has some tasteless nudity, at least a few scenes full of senseless action and at most the hint of a story. We have been watching the art for many decades but our sensibilities have not really seasoned.

Perhaps we can't really complain, as who do we know who would want to write for a film? Literature as it is, suffers from a lack of quality writers - script writing is a long shot.

A Sombre Update

2010-08-21T23:16:00.001+05:00

As an unimaginable disaster unfolds in Pakistan in the shape of massive floods, the Desi Writers Lounge community is planning an initiative to take part in the relief efforts as best as it can. We have several ideas brewing on the forums. Primarily we are focusing on ways to get the international community to take note of the horrific plight of millions of Pakistanis. The biggest source of distress right now is the weak response and media coverage internationally, and what that means in terms of aid money that is required urgently.

We have issued a call for articles and eye witness accounts from members based in Pakistan who have the means to visit relief camps and collection centers, which we intend to promote on international blogs and online publications. Another idea in the pipelines is that of a writing competition with an entrance fee in the form of a check made out to a specific relief organization (we have not decided which one yet). We are thinking of promoting this writing competition in universities outside of Pakistan, and roping in guest judges who are established authors and journalists.

These and other ideas are being discussed on the forums currently, and we would love to get feedback and input from you.

sincerely,
The Desi Writers Lounge Team

"All your dignity is belong to us."

2010-08-11T23:11:00.008+05:00

posted by Omair

Soon, war will be upon us. Not the fun kind with armies and explosives and fascist dictators. But a far more quiet, more sinister war. It'll be clean, quiet, bloodless, and mundane. A war we'll be fighting without even knowing it.

Look at us. If you're reading this, I'm shocked. But that's besides the point. If you're reading this you're probably within three feet of an LED. Look at that smug little bastard, glowing innocently, lulling you into a false sense of security. Pretty colour though. Hehe, shiny.

But yes, the machines are everywhere. In our homes, our offices, our bags, even in our pants. Everything you do, everything, is probably being uploaded on Facebook, youtube, twitter or what have you right now. What's more, you're probably doing it yourself. Some of you, to an annoying extreme. (That's right, you status update fetishists, I'm talking to you. Get a life, and keep it to your damn self.)

Now, because we're people, we do stupid things from time to time. It's our privilege as sane rational adults, to do stupid things. Often in the company of others. Often when someone in said company will have a mobile phone with a camera built in. And that act will be stripped of all context and become a permanent digital testament to the wonders of you, and will remain forever googleable to your friends, family, boss, police, your children and your children's children down the generations.

Your dirty laundry, once safely locked in with the skeletons in your closet, will now not only be aired, but delivered directly via courier to friends and strangers alike.
And that's just us grown ups. What about the little ones? Children thrive on stupidity, and parents ensure their silliness is captured in all its glory and promptly uploaded. Twenty years from now, these kids will grow up and have their childhood rubbed in their faces repeatedly, a curse they will never be able to shake off.

We are merrily skipping down a brightly lit, digitally enhanced, OCD- fuelled dangerous road. Stop the madness! Stop the incessant updating, newsfeeding, twittering and blathering.
For god's sake, live your life without advertising every moment of it.

Keep it real.

*Like*

There’s Death, Good Sir, And Then There’s Death

2010-08-04T04:20:00.009+05:00

posted by Osman

There’s death in a blinking cursor; death in a blank page.

I often find myself staring at the John Doe of poetry titles, ‘Document1’ (Microsoft Word); a thousand words bled white. I then look through my poetry archive [read: ramblings of the poor man’s Stephen King/M. Night Shyamalan] and think Holy Frack, what the pig’s scrotum happened to me? I could find terror in a teacup, a tale of macabre waiting to unfold behind the steely blue eyes of a doorman.

Now, there’s only wretched white noise. I think ‘vampire’ – bam! Head stuffed with images from the latest episode of ‘The Vampire Diaries.’ Next thought: evil fetus that drives its mother insane through violent nightmares – hello, ‘Nightmare on Elm Street’ slash ‘Splice’ slash ‘Alien.’ Every thought is unoriginal, derivative. Where once all I needed was a word [‘Whack!’ was my inspiration for ‘Incubus’], a phrase [‘Eat some of my remorse’ from ‘a la carte’ just came to me], or a character [suicidal closet-homosexual, for example – see ‘Sodom’], now I find myself fishing for inspiration; forcing my hand on the keyboard. I wrote two poems recently – they were as effective as Stephenie Meyer’s take on Nosferatu [my umpteenth ‘Twilight’ reference; do you see where I’m going with this?]. To her credit, though, I found ‘The Host’ to be a particularly riveting read. Gaah – I’m digressing again. I can’t write 224 words without – sigh. Moving on.

I once wrote a concept about a little boy who walks in on his parents having sex; he’s told they were playing a ‘wrestling game.’ I must have forgotten all about it: just came across the document while cleaning up my ‘My Documents’ folder. [I also came across a document that only read: ‘PRIVATE MALE ESCORTS NOW AVAILABLE, HANDSOME GUYS FOR YOUR SWEET MASSAGE, DINING AND NIGHTLIFE PLEASURES’ – and before you triumphantly pump your fist in the air, Shehla (she insists on interpreting 'Sodom' as my subconcious urging me to come out of the closet!), that was character research: I played a gigolo in a Lahore Grammar School production – but that’s a story for another time].

The draft/concept read:
“9 year old boy (8? 7? How young is too young?) sees parents in Kama Sutra position number – oh just pick a number. Goes batshit ballistic till daddy tells him they were ‘wrestling.’ Boy wants to ‘wrestle’ with sister – [comment added later: ‘You’re fu***ng sick, Obi, make it girl from school.’], scary freaky shit – to show or not to show?
‘I drew mommy as a trout’ / daddy as (what’s a really big fish? Shark? Lol, this gives ‘Jaws’ a whole new meaning.)”

When I couldn’t think up of anything more original than that concept, I decided to write out a poem based on the material my perverse mind conjured more than a year ago. This is what I came up with:

I drew mommy as a trout; Snotty Steven thought it was a grey
SpongeBob SquarePants - he doesn’t know they don’t have
spines; silvery freshwater seafood – Steven laughed when
I used the fuchsia pink crayon to fill in mommy’s cheeks; but that’s her
only camouflage against the rose bed spread when daddy plays
the wrestling game with her. Mrs. Trellis was quite bemused (I learnt the word
in English-II today) when she saw daddy
devouring mommy; a great big shark, or the whale that wolfed down Geppetto
“Why would you draw your parents that way?” she asked me; but that’s how I saw them,
Swear on the old ghoul that lives in the attic. She said she’d call home when it’s
After dark, but that when’s they play the wrestling game most; the trout and
The shark. Tonight, canvas in hand, I opened their bedroom door, just as
Daddy was done wrestling her on our hardwood floors; they were so quiet after those
Three seconds I was sure he was going to dogheaven (just like old Scooby did)
From a heart-attack, just like that mostly shirtless man from mommy’s favorite soap opera –
And mommy was going to be crushed under that human grand piano
(Sylvester does many times, but a cat has nine lives, doesn’t he?)
They were staring at me but not staring too; so I asked mommy if what they were doing
Was just for fun; and my heart skipped a beat – what if daddy turns into Jaws and mommy’s
No more – sometimes I wish Steven hadn’t made me watch that movie – but then mommy
Laughed in a voice that was much too hoarse, and said of course, baby, of course.
Daddy took me to my room, and while fidgeting with my Transformers model said
that it’s not scary what they do; that might be true
I’ve seen them pray sometimes in between their game; just yesterday I counted
Mommy taking the Lord’s name
Five times (or was it six?) – so maybe it is holy and daddy’s not a monster after all; he crinkled
His eyes and laughed when I showed him my picture;
he tousled my hair and said
I’d have my fill of the wrestling game one day
Little Peggy makes me all funny inside, with her painted toenails and
Maple syrup scent; I wonder if she’ll be at school tomorrow
I wonder if she’ll play.

After writing this, trying to change and alter it into something worth salvaging [read: making it so complex it seemed as though the poor boy was spewing Sanskrit], I have now resigned myself to the following:
a) I should stop trying to enter the mind of an eight-year old (as poetry protagonist, gaah – this reads like I’m a bizarre Inception pedophile),
b) I should stop trying to write poetry that rhymes,
c) I should just … stop?

Oh sweet Krishna, I started off this blog post saying there’s death in a blinking cursor.
Well, there are some things worse than death.

How we write when we write about IDENTITY (The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison)

2010-07-23T07:16:00.004+05:00

posted by Noor

I have always thought of writing as a narcissistic activity. Many of my characters invariably start looking, sounding, and even acting like me. They are always conflicted - struggling with identity, roots, cultural values, treading two value systems at the same time, their senses continuously at war. It is often difficult to separate yourself from your writing, take a step back and view it from a stranger's eye - but you don't always have to. Sometimes, to preserve the integrity of the story you want to tell, you absolutely have to draw from what you know best, what you have lived through, what you have observed, witnessed, and learned. Most importantly, in order to recount a story and remain true to its essence, you must do so in an unapologetic fashion and write it not for the reader, but because the story deserves to be told. I learned this from one of my favorite authors - Toni Morrison and the genius that is her first novel, The Bluest Eye.

Published in 1970, The Bluest Eye spans a year in the life of Pecola Breedlove, a young black girl in Lorain, Ohio. I am not going to recount the story for you all, because that will take me away from the themes that I want to cover today. If you have not read this book, PLEASE do yourselves a favor and get a copy. It is a very fast read, and though the story is tragic, the imagery is delightful. I was struck by the vividness and beauty in the images that Morrison has so effortlessly created. What I really want to focus on is the narrative organization and themes of the novel and how she has managed to create this book of immense power without actually victimizing or criminalizing any of the characters. You are simply told about the suffering and the way Pecola experiences and internalizes it.

1. "Writing without the white gaze"
Toni Morrison has written this book without being cognizant of a white audience. She has not explained herself or her characters. She has simply written this story without apologies or warnings. She has incorporated important elements of the black culture of Lorain, Ohio around the time of the second world war. She has talked about music extensively - both jazz and blues - to the point where you start to hear it as you're reading the book. Most importantly, she mentions in the afterword that it was very significant for her to use "speakerly" language.

2. Seasons in The Bluest Eye
The novel begins thus: "Quiet as it's kept, there were no marigolds in the fall of 1941." This is compounded by the organization of the book in seasons: autumn, winter, spring, and summer. Right in the first line, Morrison introduces this idea of something being wrong - and we all know it's not just about the marigolds. There has to be more to it, but she employs a beautiful distraction to develop her theme. By introducing this idea of nature and marigolds that did not sprout, Morrison has skilfully started to build upon the themes of seasons, the natural order, and the thought that "something has gone wrong." Right away, we learn that Pecola Breedlove is having her father's baby - the problem of marigolds skirts this horrific reality, which is mentioned in passing, perhaps to make it more bearable. This theme of seasons continues throughout the book.

3. Developing "foils" for the main character and explanation without excuse
(Foil: A character that by contrast serves to highlight the distinctive nature of another character).
Throughout the narrative of The Bluest Eye, we see many contrasts between the Breedloves and the MacTeers. Pecola's story is so horrifying and tragic that if it had been presented without the strength of Claudia and Frieda, perhaps we, as readers, would not have been able to accept and process it. So Morrison developed the characters of Claudia and Frieda as foils for Pecola's character. Claudia and Frieda shoulder the weight of Pecola's suffering because their positive experiences and their strength allows the reader to digest the horror in Pecola's story. Pecola by herself is too frail to carry the book on her own. Through their positive experiences alongside Pecola's harsh life, we are able to read the book with a sense of loss and despair, but without getting completely despondent. This is helpful because it allows the reader to see why the characters choose what they choose and how their choices are ultimately a reflect of their experiences.
Cholly, Pecola's father is a product of his circumstances. This is explanation without excuse. We understand how and why someone like Cholly might come to be. Morrison, at no point, makes excuses for his behavior, but when you learn about Cholly's experiences - how vulnerable he is made by all that he faced as an adolescent, you begin to understand his motives and why he committed the terrible act of sexually assaulting his daughter. All this is done by Morrison's organization of the narrative. It is important to pick up a few things here.
The narrative is organized so that we immediately assume that Cholly is a heinous person. Right from the beginning, we know that Pecola was having her father's baby - many of us immediately develop a bias against Cholly for this reason. However, as the narrative unfolds and we gradually begin to discover what brought Cholly to this stage in his life, we begin to understand his intentions and motivations. This is an extremely difficult task for a writer. To make your reader understand your character, think like your character, and realize that what your character does is a culmination and reflection of his/her life experiences is paramount! And very, very difficult. As I mentioned before, however, Morrison has done this effortlessly and seamlessly. The narrative flows from one character's story to the other's in a fluid manner.

There is a long list that I still have in my notes - topics that I wanted to highlight in this entry, but I think I should stop now and let you all mull this over. But if you take away anything from this entry, let it be the importance of organizing your narrative. The Bluest Eye is one of my favorite books, and I discover something new in it every time I read it. Please have a clear theme in your mind when you begin to tackle a story. Even if you know exactly what you are writing about, it is very easy to be distracted - adhere to the themes that you want to establish and develop in your work. Use creative ways to explore the nature of your characters. Develop foils - they do more for your characters and your story than you can possibly imagine! Write without apologies and explain without excuses and keep building on those themes.

Here's to writing like Morrison one day!

Random Trivia: The title of this entry was inspired by a Raymond Carver short story. GUESS WHICH ONE?

Austin’s Favourite Haunt

2010-07-11T05:03:00.008+05:00

posted by Afia

Picking up from Shehla’s blurb from last week, consider this the first in a line of completely unrelated posts. Now that we’ve started our group blog format, you can expect to see a LOT of randomness in this space: fiction, news, comment, observations on life and, of course, DWL updates. The only common feature in these blog entries will be that the team behind Desi Writers will be penning them. We’ll get to yap on everything under the sun, and you’ll get a peek into the sordid minds that run this place.

Experimental? So was LSD, a long time ago.

Speaking of tripping, I have a delicious story to tell. About three weeks ago, my husband and I made a dramatic, weekend getaway to Austin. Alright, so we had our toddler with us – but it was the weekend and we did get away from Houston and anything could be considered dramatic as opposed to this city. Unknown to me, ye ol’ better half had set up a real experience for us on our arrival (if you’re still thinking this is about drugs, you’re about to be sorely disappointed). He had booked us into the swanky Driskill Hotel in the heart of downtown Austin – one of the city’s most famous historic landmarks, a living testament to the opulence and grandeur of the South’s past, and widely known to be Texas’ most haunted hotel. Eep!

No, really. There is something about the Driskill that makes it exceptionally susceptible to ghostly activity (some of the staff likes to joke that it’s better than Heaven, so the dead don’t want to move on). Whatever the cause, incidents abound. Grown men (as if that’s supposed to be some measure of rationality) have reported waking up in the middle of the night to find all the faucets in their bathrooms on. Sounds have been heard of a little girl bouncing a ball on the hotel’s main staircase – these have been attributed to a US Senator’s daughter who fell to her death while playing with her ball on those stairs in the late 1800s. Even celebrities have had their share of ghostly experiences at the Driskill: Annie Lennox stayed at the hotel while visiting Austin for a concert, and apparently received some paranormal assistance in choosing what to wear for the performance (she laid out two dresses on the bed and went in for a shower; when she came out, one of the dresses had been neatly put away in the closet).

The story that really caught my attention was a classic case of unrequited love resulting in tragedy. It took place in Room 427, also known as the bride suicide room. In 1989, a young socialite from Houston had been all set to get married when her fiancé broke off their engagement at the eleventh hour. Heartbroken beyond consolation, she escaped to Austin, where she checked into the Driskill and then took the ultimate revenge: she went on a huge shopping spree on her ex’s credit cards and spent every cent of credit he had to his name. Amongst the many expensive purchases she made that day was a gun. The last time she was seen alive was when she walked through the hotel lobby to the elevator, laden with shopping bags.

Her body was found a few days later, crumpled in the bathtub of Room 427. She had clutched a pillow to her chest and shot herself with the very gun that her lover had unknowingly paid for.

Ten years later, two women on a vacation checked into the hotel and requested a room on the 4th floor of the Historic Wing. Some of the Driskill’s formidable array of ghosts were thought to make appearances on that floor. They were disappointed to find that the Historic Wing was closed for renovations. Not to be deterred by logistics, however, the two adventurers took the elevator up in the middle of the night, hoping to catch some paranormal activity. They found the floor dark and completely deserted, the walls swathed in black plastic sheets. A little unnerved, they reconsidered their plan and decided to return to their room.

This is where it gets really interesting. At the elevator, the two ladies were stunned to bump into a young woman who was evidently returning to her room after a full day of shopping. They called out to her and asked if the renovations had been bothering her. The woman stopped in front of Room 427 with all her bags, turned around slowly and replied, “No, not at all.” Sensing that their presence was not welcome, the ghost-hunting friends returned to their room for the night. They were determined to take on the hotel management the next day for refusing them a room when clearly other guests were being allowed to stay in the Historic Wing.

When they did return with the baffled concierge the next morning, not a soul was to be found on the floor (pun intended). The room to which the mysterious guest had gone was empty, save a ladder and a few paint cans. No one could explain why anybody would be returning from a shopping expedition at 2 am.

I’ve heard a lot of spooky stories in my lifetime (who hasn’t had those late-night, giggly assemblies with cousins where everyone’s terrified out of their wits but still strangely compelled to recount one ghostly incident after the other?) but somehow, this one really affected me. The thought of a jilted bride who took it upon herself to die by her own hand, alone in a hotel room, knowing that the only way she could touch the love of her life was through his wallet… it signified such terrible loneliness and absence of hope. Could it be that her spirit actually roams those corridors, reliving those final terrible moments over and over? Could she still be keeping watch over the last door she ever walked through?

We’ll never really know… but there are two women out there somewhere who have their suspicions.

New Chapter, New Goals

2010-06-28T23:10:00.014+05:00

posted by Shehla

In the interest of preserving my reputation as a writer/blogger, a disclaimer: I have not blogged in years, and never seriously.

As we undergo a management change, there are many new ideas and plans in the pipeline for Desi Writers Lounge. This post is meant to introduce the blogosphere (see, I know all these bloggy words, I'm legit!) to some of the developments that are scheduled to happen at DWL over the next few months.

First off, we’re revamping the Lounge’s blog. Previously, this space has served as a place where DWL-related announcements go up. We are now trying to morph the blog into something a little more... meaty. We are switching from a primarily solo authorship to a joint one. The purpose is to introduce people who haven't registered on the forums to the kind of topics, debates and discussions that make the community that much more enjoyable for writers. The less noble motive, of course, is to kick ourselves back into writing mode. Over the last few years, the editing and forum moderation, though pleasurable responsibilities, have taken time away from most of the founders' writing. We are hoping to get our butts back into the writers' seats again, so from now on you will see us posting on a host of different topics, reflecting the diversity of our experiences but always seen through the lens of a writer (or something to that effect). We are also hoping to give the members a chance to get to know the team behind DWL.

Many of you may not know me at all, as my involvement with Desi Writers Lounge has mostly been behind the scenes. Being away from Pakistan has also made it harder to interact with the members offline. But DWL has been a big part of my life since 2005, and on most days, my main link to "back home". I think this is a big reason why DWL is so important to me. As I navigate cultural assimilation and the constant sense of detachment that is the core of the immigrant experience, DWL allows me a forever-open window into my Desi-ness :)

Last night, a few of us founder members were discussing some of the changes that you will all see unfold at DWL in the near future. In the middle of the discussion, one thing struck us. We started as a collective dream of 12 individuals. When it came down to practically implementing that dream, it faded down to five. Now, as life brings new possibilities and challenges, we have essentially whittled down to three.

We have achieved a lot in the past half-decade. We have all grown, as individuals, and most of us also as writers. But we have also been guilty of many mistakes - one of those being not setting achievable goals for the community. There were many wonderful ideas, many strokes of genius, but not many implementable ones. The result was a loss of interest in the project for many of us. There is so much potential in this platform, and we never fully explored it.

I am not here to be Debbie Downer. I am simply admitting that DWL, for all its glory and unique strengths is far from where it can be. And that is what the new administration is hoping to change, with your help. For starters, we are planning on being a lot more stringent with writing samples from now on. Second, we are hoping to recruit more by word of mouth. That is where YOU come in. If you know someone who writes really well, tell them about us. Tell them how a group of random strangers will take time out of the day and give detailed feedback on their writings. Tell them about this wonderful writing workshop that will cost them nothing, but give back plenty (and of course, tell them about the joys of venting about anything and everything on the vengeful B*tch Letters thread, or having the coolest writing prompt in One Day Two Minutes).

We are also planning on taking things to the next level for our writers. Papercuts is going to change significantly from its current format. We’re hoping to build a serious readership and to ensure a broader exposure for our members. And while it's great to aspire for Papercuts publication, we are now also contacting publishers about a potential DWL poetry anthology to come out in print. We are also going to be on the lookout for competitions and other opportunities for our members regularly, an effort spearheaded by Noorulain Noor. Along with the workshopping of material that goes on in the forums, we’ll also be introducing several exercises, a teaser of which you saw in the shape of the 2010 Desi Awards Competition. (And we do need a better name for that, don’t we? Alright, add that to the list).

These are all things that we have already started the groundwork on, and if things stay on track, there is a lot more coming. Achievable goals to help this community of writers grow. That is the promise, and it’s one we intend to keep :)

p.s. How was that for a "welcome to the new and improved DWL blog" post? How did I do? Good? Terrible? Don't care?

p.p.s. This is where I shut up, right?

p.p.p.s. Ok, thought so. Bye then.

Formal Goodbye

2010-06-22T23:45:00.000+05:00

After five years of serving as the administrator of the forums and 2 years as Editor-in-Chief of PaperCuts, and now that it has become official on the forums, I take this opportunity to bid farewell to the Lounge. I have been accepted at a postgraduate program for creative writing in the UK and will be attending in the fall, fingers crossed.

It will therefore be completely impossible to give this blog, the forums and the site their due share. As a result, I am stepping down.

From what I understand, the blog will change and update itself to a new vision incorporated by a new Editor-in-Chief, a new administrator and a new creative director, each of them separate individuals. I wish my co-founders the best of luck in continuing this brilliant idea and co-creation and look forward to what the future holds for it...and me.

Tally ho, my lovelies!

- MP

Future Events / Competition Results

2010-06-01T17:39:00.000+05:00

Things have been a little slow on this blog, our Facebook group and pages (although recently, that part isn't entirely our fault!), twitter pages and website and for that, we apologize. Please know that we are reviewing competition results for our first members only Flaunt It, If You've Got It writing competition and associated Desi Awards.

Now that the cover's ready and designed for Volume 6, the issue will be published shortly as we contemplate further policy changes for our ezine submission format.

Meanwhile, the next pick for the Isloo book club is Kafka's Metamorphosis, a meaty philosophical classic and possibly the first heavy read our participants have selected. Details on the whens and where's of the event will be announced on this blog, on our website and (if Facebook's accessible in Pakistan again), on our FB group and page.

We are alive! Things have just been in hibernation mode these past few weeks...

- TPTB

Of White Tigers and Mockingbirds...

2010-04-18T22:34:00.000+05:00

With a solid turnout for the book club meet for The Five People You Meet In Heaven, and the meeting lasted just over an hour. Because the book itself was such a light read, the discussion was light enough.

We also chose a new selection, with an overwhelming majority: Harper Lee's classic, To Kill A Mockingbird. We'll be meeting on May 22nd to discuss the book.

A Facebook event will be created shortly, where interested participants can RSVP. This is an Islamabad/Pindi event.

The Lahore Book Club is meeting on May 8th, to discuss The White Tiger. You can RSVP to that event, here.

:)

- TPTB

Bump Book Club Reminder

2010-04-16T11:28:00.000+05:00

To remind our readers, we're meeting up on Sunday, April 18 @ 5 PM sharp at Civil Junction (F-7/3; adjacent to Hotspot and next to Gellato) to discuss The 5 People You Meet In Heaven.

We will also, as always, be picking out our next selection in this session so please come with your book lists mentally prepared, or bring your picks along with you.

This also marks our first departure from The Paper Microphone / The Niche Cafe in 10 months. We continue to be on the lookout for new and interesting venues, to compliment our message and voice.

If you've got any suggestions, please email them in to info@desiwriterslounge.net.

:)

-TPTB

Book Clubs & Game Nights Galore...

2010-04-07T12:23:00.003+05:00

Realizing this blog hasn't been updated for a while to reflect our jumping activity scene, here we are again.

Lahore has proven itself with a marvelous turnout to discuss In Other Rooms, Other Wonders and is well on the way to becoming a staple at the city's literary scene. Desi Writers Lounge has finally got a foot into that door.

Meanwhile, our Isloo book club and readings continue along with a reintroduction of our game nights. Details on that below. Please note: all our events will take place at The Niche Cafe, formerly The Paper Microphone, above Bukhari Furriers, Main School Road, F-6 Super Market.

Book Club: On Sunday, April 18 @ 5 PM sharp, we meet to discuss Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven. The book is easily available at Saeed Book Bank and all other bookstores in the twin cities. For those of you interested in online purchases, you can find the book at Liberty Books. You can RSVP to the event here

Game Nights Word games galore as Game Nights kick right into gear on Saturday, March 24 at 6 PM at The Niche Cafe (details above). Pick your poison from Boggle, Balderdash, Taboo, Scrabble and Pictionary as you play to win a cash pot at the end of the night. Winner takes all. There are no second places, and no, everybody's not a winner! :) Consider it healthy competition for old fashioned gamers. The entry fee is Rs 200 with 50% going to the cash pot, and 50% as a cover for the event.

Readings will restart in the beginning of May. No dates yet, but as always, you can present your material at readings@desiwriterslounge.net.

That's it for now.

- TPTB

March / April Events

2010-03-09T23:37:00.001+05:00

We've been a little lazy in updating the blog with the recent events, so we'll make this short and sweet.

March 15, 2010: Our writing competition finally ends; we have been disappointed with the entries thus far and because of the limited number of entries received, will look for just the one winner instead of the promised 5. If we get 6 entries, choosing 5 is kinda pointless!

March 28, 2010 (Islamabad): We meet on Saturday, March 28 to discuss Nathanial Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter at 6 pm at the Paper Microphone Cafe, our usual spot for our events.

April 3, 2010 (Lahore): On Saturday, our Lahore chapter meets to discuss Danial Mueenuddin's In Other Rooms, Other Wonders at a venue and time yet to be decided. Details on that soon, but meanwhile there's a date and a book pick. So if you haven't already read the book, now's the best time to read...or reread it.

And that's what the next few weeks look for Desi Writers Lounge. If you'd like more details on the Lahore events, email us at lahore@desiwriterslounge.net (that's right, the city has its very own email address!), because we take you seriously...

Meanwhile, our FB page and group are linked to on the right and for general queries, we can always be reached at info@desiwriterslounge.net.

Plan out your calendars!

- TPTB

Confirmed Feb Events

2010-01-31T19:52:00.002+05:00

This winter, we've got a couple events lined up extending our official reach into Lahore and hopefully, soon into Karachi as well. Meanwhile, a heads up to our Lahore and Isloo members: we're coming your way!

Book Club (Islamabad): On February 21st, the Isloo chapter meets after discovering the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in old Barcelona, the setting in the New York Times bestseller The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon). We will also pick out our next selection in this session, so bring your picks along with you. The Shadow of the Wind is available in all bookstores in Islamabad/Pindi, most notably Saeed Book Bank. The book is also available online through Liberty Books or free (as an ebook) via DWL's Dropbox folder (click here to download).

Book Club (Lahore): And on February 27, we bring the book club to Lahore...also with The Shadow of the Wind as our first selection. The book is available in all major bookstores in the city, and is available online through Liberty Books as well as our online dropbox folder as an ebook. Click here to download.

2010 Reading Series (Isloo): We're all set to restart our reading series for 2010 on February 27, which coincidentally is the same date as the Lahore book club meeting. As always, we are taking in material now up till February 23. Material can be sent in to readings@desiwriterslounge.net. We hope to hear from some of our newer members during the course of the series.

Writing Competition: Encouraging our entire membership to participate in the competition, a reminder that the deadline is March 15. There is no word limit to the pieces you send in, which can be anything from a poem to a short story to a runt, with varying themes, as long as they contain all words of your respective titles. For more details, click here. You can email in your work to entries@desiwriterslounge.net.

Facebook events for all the above will be created a little closer to the date.

If you have any questions regarding the above, place them in the comments below.

So now that we're all set to start 2010 off in style, we're hoping you're as excited as we are to join us at any of the above.

Bottoms up, peoples!

- TPTB

Icebreaker Pushed

2010-01-22T13:09:00.002+05:00

Hello Everyone,

So by common favor, the ice breaker has been cooled (we couldn't resist) off in favor of selecting a book first and then meeting up to start discussing that. Dates of course, will be pushed in favor of late February or early March, depending on how fast we select.

Tally ho!

- TPTB

Going to Lahore...

2010-01-11T23:41:00.003+05:00

DWL Lahore will have its "official" launch some time in mid-late February as we kickstart activities in the city, with a book club ice breaker meeting. The ice breaker will be used as a way to literally break the ice as we get introduced to our membership in the city, and they get introduced to one another, along with welcoming additional members and readers into our fold.

Needless to say, we are very excited for this endeavor and hope the Lahoris will be too now that we're "finally" coming to Food Central.

So, a show of hands...how many of you are excited DWL's coming to a cafe near you?

PS We appreciate the positive response concerning the print publication and can assure you that it is definitely in our future.

PAPERCUTS Print Publication?

2009-12-20T19:26:00.003+05:00

With both the Lahore ice breaker and Islamabad Book Club meet behind us, we turn our attention towards new possibilities.

We're thinking of bringing PAPERCUTS (our online literary journal) to print, which would be mapping the same content along with print only additions. Selections will still be web-based with the work of our members undergoing the same rigorous workshopping and editing sessions, pre-publication. The circulation will just be a lot wider.

There are a lot of details to work out, but this is something that's both been long in the making and comes at the right time for us.

So...yay or nay?

- TPTB

DWL, Lahore Comes Alive!

2009-12-18T15:03:00.002+05:00

It started with the LUMS Creative Writing Workshop and on Saturday, December 19 we're convening at Cafe Life to formally kick off the currently dormant chapter, into a hub of life. Future events like book clubs, readings, game nights along with other one-off events in collaboration with LUMS and other universities, are on the cards.

It all starts with the meet and greet, ice breaker on Saturday. Details, below.

The What: Lahore Icebreaker

The Where: Cafe Life (Gaddafi Stadium, opp Pakistan Cricket Academy and next to Tobacco Masters)

The When: Saturday, December 19 5PM-9PM

The Extras: Not a member, but interested to see who is? Drop by. A member, but you've been dormant for so long, you can't remember your last post? Come along anyway. Have a friend who you think will be interested? Bring em!

If for nothing else than meeting with likeminded people, who'll give you something to talk about and then some. Don't be shy...show us some Lahori spirit. Don't give us a reason to be disappointed with this city. Besides, if you'd like an in to future events, come along.

We realize that this is exam time for a lot of our student membership, but if you can pause for an hour or two, take a bookmark or flier, along with the possibilities of the future, we'll be happy to have you.

Just please...don't let the opportunity pass you by!

- TPTB

PS, It it counts for anything...Maryam Piracha, DWL Administrator and Papercuts Editor-in-Chief will be in attendance, so if you've got a bone to pick with MP, now's your chance to corner her!

Book Club (Isloo) Convenes For The Exorcist

2009-12-15T16:12:00.002+05:00

Click here to be redirected to the Facebook event created for this purpose. But just to let you know the overall details, we will be picking out the next selection for January so if you'd like to be involved in that decision, come along. Remember to bring your book pick selections along, either as a list or in hard copy form.

And now, to the details.

The What: Book Club Meeting, Islamabad Chapter

The When: Saturday, December 19 @ 6.30 pm (sharp!)

The Where: Paper Microphone Cafe

The Extras: Click here for the FB event or here for any questions.

Hope to see you guys there!

LUMS Workshop Deemed Success!

2009-12-13T03:25:00.003+05:00

For more information on how it went, check out Maryam's post here. Attendees, if you're reading this...let us know what you thought, either here or by emailing it in. We're always on the lookout for ways to improve, so bring.it.on.

- TPTB

LUMS Poster Unveiled

2009-12-09T21:44:00.004+05:00

Check out the poster (inset), signifying that one of our own will be speaking at the university's first such event. As desi writers, we are excited! Are you?

We've been told that there will be a fairly solid turn out of desi writers there and as TPTB (the powers that be), we're excited to finally put faces to those (creative) voices.

See you all there! Meanwhile, enjoy...

Creative Workshop at LUMS

2009-12-03T22:05:00.003+05:00

For anyone who isn't on our FB group, a forum member or who isn't a fan of our page, this is for you.

LUMS is holding a creative writing workshop on Friday, December 11 at 5.30 pm sharp. There will be four speakers at the event, including our very own administrator and PAPERCUTS Editor-in-Chief, Maryam Piracha speaking about various aspects of the craft. Details below:

The What: Creative Writing Workshop
The Where: Main Academic Block, LUMS
The When: December 11 @ 5.30 pm sharp. Rs 100 entrance fee
The Deadline: Registrations end at December 9. RSVP to Hamza Farooq (hamza50@gmail.com)
The Speakers: Tamkeen Nadeem, CEO of Scribble Magazine will giving a talk on Creative Writing 101.
Miranda Hussein, a journalist will be speaking on creative writing with a focus on journalism.
Maryam will be speaking on the importance of workshops and critique, and help participants flex their brain cells.
Fariha Rasheed, CEO of Ink Magazine is another guest speaker.

We think this is a great, great opportunity for our Lahore and possibly Islamabad membership to take part in a first of its kind workshop, and are looking for a positive response.

If you have any questions, please email Hamza who is the event coordinator for the event.

Hope to see some of you there!

:)

Book Club New Date Announced!

2009-11-26T01:21:00.004+05:00

December ~~5th~~ 19th, 2009

Saturday

Desi Writers Lounge Book Club, Islamabad

In Session @ the Paper Microphone Cafe

6.00 pm.

Don't be late!

And bring your suggestions with you. See you there!

Something Wicked Isn't Coming This Way Yet

2009-11-21T21:42:00.001+05:00

Although our administrator and event coordinator (yours truly) was a preplanned no-show for the book club, most of the other confirmed attending membership backed out at the last minute. As a result, we've had to cancel the meet and will be rescheduling it for some time in the future.

If you're interested in attending and haven't read the book, now's your time to catch up. We'll let you know when it's going to be, at least a week in advance.

So see you on the other side!

Flaunt It, If You've Got It

2009-11-20T15:37:00.005+05:00

The members only writing competition has gone live. Details available here. The caveat? You need to be a registered member, but the incentives for scoring a Desi Award are many.

For starters, we're going to bring out a special issue of PAPERCUTS specifically for the best five entries submitted; entries will be judged on creativity and general well togetherness of the piece. Participants have six different titles to choose from and one limitation: they have to include the title in their piece, every word of it. How they do it, is entirely up to them.

Along with the above, we're gearing up to compile and publish our first anthology; winners of the competition (Desi Awards will go to the Best Poet and Best Writer) will be guaranteed a spot in the anthology.

Thirdly, winners will get a certificate, a proper certificate of participation along with their names and the award won. They'll be encouraged to frame it for display in their homes. :)

And finally, as a forum member participants will get a forum medal in their honor that they'll carry with them forever. Something along the lines of 'Best Poet, Desi Awards 2009'.

The deadline is December 31.

If you're suitably interested in the above, why not register if you haven't already and give it your best shot? Fresh registrants should have at least 10 posts to their name, and should be fairly active on the community in the run up to the deadline. We don't want members simply registering for the competition and then forgetting all about us later. Members who truly appreciate the written word, are who we're looking for, and who the competition truly stands to represent.

One of the many advantages will be direct publication, without having to go through our very brutal workshops. Needless to say, the piece has to be very well put together to qualify.

We are insanely picky that way.

Good luck!

Unveiling Our First Cover & Other Things

2009-11-15T04:24:00.004+05:00

We are going through with the book club and The Exorcist as our pick of the month, on November 21 at the Paper Microphone Cafe at 5.30 pm sharp. We will also be picking the next selection, so if you know interested people in the city, or will be attending yourself, bring along some easily available books with you, as suggestions.

We had to change our original book selection because Divisadero wasn't easily available.

And now, take a look at our first "official" cover for the latest issue of Papercuts; Vol 5 or our Fall issue. Like, dislike?

Post in the comments, below!

New Website Launched!

2009-10-29T17:31:00.003+06:00

Our new website design just went live! Go on, check it out here. Tell us what you think; whether this new look suits us.

The Events tab is currently empty, but that will be filled in shortly. We've been working on new layouts for the e-zine and promise some covers coming your way.

Also, catch the new We, The Craftsmen link: an introduction to the team behind DWL from the people themselves. We've got our pictures up for now, those will soon be replaced by our caricatures. Yes, we will prove writers are willing to laugh at themselves!

So...what do you think?

Announcing PAPERCUTS

2009-10-26T02:40:00.002+06:00

Hello Everyone,

We've finally settled on a title for our online literary magazine; the decision involved some pretty cool choices and a large poll. It ran for a suitable period before the unanimous decision was...yes, that's right: PAPERCUTS.

We're planning a new design layout in commemoration of the new title. Part of the reason of changing the design, was because we needed to upgrade our website in terms of the development aspect (migrating from Joomla 1.1.x to 1.5, a much more stable and universally acknowledged version). So that's something to look forward to in the next couple of days.

We're working on getting ourselves some more media exposure, so if anyone has any ideas or suggestions for that, we're definitely welcoming them. We'll be registering ourselves as an organization in late November/early December, and along with that, we've got the largest scale event we've ever had which will involve sponsors, people from all over Pakistan, and lots of exciting stuff like that. We're excited. Are you excited? :) We've been hinting at it for a while, and once the new website goes live, you'll see it with a little more prominence.

Book clubs, readings and game nights will still proceed as normal. We still have the DW corner at the Paper Microphone Cafe that lets you write there and then, and leave the sheets there or take them with you as you see fit. Columns are Khutt, The B*tch Letters and ODTM (One Day, Two Minutes). Who knows? We might expand in the future. Be sure to check us out there, though and bring a little patronage to the Cafe while you're at it; they've been our gracious hosts.

Book Club Reconvenes Today

2009-10-17T15:16:00.002+06:00

Alright, so we're picking up where we left off in a slightly new and rejuvenated fashion. Today's ice breaker is all about you and selecting books you want to read. So, we're allowing participants to join us today, and either physically bring their selection with them (mine's Shadow of the Wind, complete with the book itself), or create a list of books that's on their must read list.

We'll put all scraps of paper selections in a bowl, toss em around and pick one at random. We'll open up a box of selections for the book club, allowing random visitors to the cafe to help us decide. The box will be left at the cafe.

Every month, we'll pick a new title from the box and the cycle will continue.

So if you're interested, join us today (Saturday) at the Paper Microphone Cafe, 2nd Floor, above Bukhari Furriers in F-6, Super Market at 6pm.

Game Night Announced!

2009-10-03T20:30:00.002+06:00

After much dillying and dallying, we're finally announcing a finalized date for our second game night, the (hoped for) success to August's event. We're increasing the games played from wordy games to a slightly more pictorial debut, introducing Pictionary to the circuit bringing our games to Scrabble, Balderdash, Taboo, Boggle and now Pictionary.

The details are below:

What: DWL Game Night, Issue 2
Where: Paper Microphone Cafe (2nd Floor, above Bukhari Furriers, F-6 Super Market, next to the Shell Petrol Pump)
When: Saturdya, October 10 at 7 pm sharp
Extras: Rs 150 admittance fee. Please come early to secure a seat; space is limited.
RSVP: Click here (FB event)

Along with the GN announcement, there's been a slight change of rules with regards to applying for registration in the forums. We now require a writing sample just to get an overall feel of incoming members, in particular their grammar and English language inclinations. This comes as an effort to streamline the quality put up on our forums, and in turn those that deserve critique less on the basis of grammar and punctuation, and more on the basis of structure and plot which is the heart of our collective vision at the Lounge.

Meanwhile, we still have the readings and the book club gatherings coming up in the future and our DW @ the Paper Microphone Cafe is operational, so please do check that out and let us know what you think.

We'll be putting up event notifications on the white board at the corner as well, so if you patronize the cafe, check out their White Hot Chocolate and sip it while composing the next brilliance at the Corner. :)

Cheers!

Naming the 'Zine

2009-08-20T04:52:00.003+06:00

Hello Everyone,

Thanks to one of our members for putting up the suggestion, we're looking to brand our 'zine with its very own name, creating a distinct identity for it apart from our site. So if you guys have any suggestions, either put em in the comments or mail them in.

Hopefully, we should get a positive response for this.

Meanwhile, yes we will update the Game Night post soon. We promise!

- TPTB

Game Night Success!

2009-08-17T01:28:00.003+06:00

Whoops, didn't realize this blog wasn't updated to reflect the success that Game Night was. We'll upload the pictures and a more detailed write up, soon. :)

- TPTB

We Get Our Game On, August 8th. Be there!

2009-08-06T14:40:00.002+06:00

Game Night (First Edition)

Where: Paper Microphone Cafe (2nd Floor, Super Market, Main School Road. After the Shell Petrol Pump, right above Bukhari Furriers)

When: August 8, 2009 @ 7 PM (tables close at 10 PM)

Entrance Fee: Rs 100/person

The Details Consider this your chance to get even, especially if you've taken flack from us about your work. Codename: Revenge. Games include Taboo, Balderdash, Scrabble and Boggle...and Pictionary, for the artistically inclined.

Bring in a friend or two, create a two-player group or compete as individuals, it's entirely up to you. Come early to nab a seat at your favorite game (we're spreading things out Vegas-style, a game a table), register as a team or single player, pick up your score card and player number and let the festivities begin!

Play for fun, to win, or to get some cool prizes including cash...the admission fee goes to a cash pot, that will be awarded to the player (or team) with the highest score at the end of the night. More people, more cash! So rope in as many people as you can.

No registration for the event is required, just show up with your game face and play!

We hope to see you there!

Book Club: A Case of Exploding Mangoes & Other Avenues

2009-08-03T10:49:00.002+06:00

We met on Sunday to discuss the book (for some of us, the book had the impact of restoring our faith in Pakistani lit at large, and for all of us it was a most thoroughly enjoyable read. We also welcomed three new attendees to our group, one of whom is a Lahori and was interested enough to start a Desi Writers Lounge chapter in Lahore, or at least play a significant role in its coordination.

Our next pick is Ali Sethi's The Wish Maker although we will, in all likelihood, be meeting post Ramadhan to discuss it. That said, there may be one or two plain DWL Isloo meetups/iftaris at the request of many of our members. Furthermore, after next Saturday's Game Night, it will mark the last of our events until Ramadhan ends, after which the Game Night depending on the turnout will become a monthly event, as will our book clubs and the readings will continue to be once in two/three months.

Meanwhile, next week is Game Night and that cash prize incentive. The admittance fees pooled for a cash prize at the end that can go to either one individual or a voluntary team of two, playing as one. If there's a deadlock, we'll go into Death Match mode where an agreed upon game will be chosen to settle the final score. Festivities begin at 7pm and go through till about 10pm. Please come on time.

We'll be issuing a formal invitation, soon. But meanwhile, check it out on our site. Event announcements will be going up on both our website and Facebook group, along with (hopefully) the Paper Microphone Enthusiasts group as well.

If you're interested in attending our book club gatherings in the future, all that's required is to show up, book in hand and preferably register with us so we can remind you a little closer to the date. We now have a field to input your cell phone details; please rest assured, this remains in complete confidence with yours truly (administrator) being privy to the information, and being used to send a reminder of the event you've registered for, only. We advise you to consider it.

And...with that, we wrap things up! Hope to see you at our coming events and at the other side of Ramadhan, when we pick up again. :)

- TPTB

Mixers, Competitions, Publication...It's All Happening (Hopefully)

2009-07-25T22:44:00.003+06:00

Having met up with Nadine yesterday, we came back with much brainstorming to do and a whole lotta events on the brain. For starters, we have our own little section for event notifications over at the Paper Microphone Cafe so you'll see us setting camp over there. Also, we've opened up Game Night to the public, instead of making it an invite only event, so hopefully that should help things along. It probably doesn't matter now though, registration wise, as long as you show up and are prepared to fork over the Rs 100 admittance fee and agree to order. You will get the fee back in a way, however, because we're planning on issuing cash prizes to winners which ups the stakes...by a whole lot. More people means more cash, means a whole different ball game. So spread the word to people you think will be interested in playing them wordy games. :)

We're planning for the "official" launch of the DWL Corner with Game Night which is on August 8 at 6pm at the cafe. Aside from that, we're also thinking of holding a formal mixer for writers, editors and publishers to all meet in one location, and discuss possible future collaborations held jointly under the Desi Writers Lounge and Paper Microphone banners. The DWL Corner may become a vantage point for editors and publishers to scope out new talent. So...yaay!

Another thing that is now most definitely on our horizon, post Vol 5 e-zine publication, is bringing out our own collection of short stories and poems. We need to compile the work into something presentable before pitching it forward to interested parties.

Writer and theater workshops are also on our list of things to get around to doing as and when the resources become available. Along with this, we're thinking of hosting a scripwriting competition, which would result in the winning playwright getting the chance of converting his/her play into a fullscale theatrical production, with no other than Osman Khalid Butt aka our Poetry Editor, as a mentor and director. It would be a great experience for any budding playwright, and something for which we are incredibly excited. We're hoping to launch that event either by the end of this year or some time in 2010.

And throughout all this, we're still going to continue with the book club and readings as the hallmark of what Desi Writers Lounge is all about, in essentials.

So there's a lot to look forward to in the coming months. Hope to see you guys at some, if not all our ventures. Everything is full of possibility, at this point.

Tally ho!

- TPTB

Game Night Registration Goes Public

2009-07-23T14:23:00.001+06:00

Instead of keeping this a closed event and having advertised it for so long for the last 3 odd months or so, we're opening up registration to the public. So go ahead and register.

:)

- TPTB

Game Night Announced...at last!

2009-07-18T14:15:00.004+06:00

August 8th. Be prepared to bring your best game, a healthy sense of competition and a whole lotta fun. We're finally bringing out our Game Night, featuring family classics like Boggle and Scrabble and newer additions like Balderdash and Taboo. Bringing the family activity to a cafe and opening up DWL to as much as it can be opened, with being a members-only event.

But don't let the members-only tag fool you. Members can invite whoever they want to, so if you're a member or know a member, good for you. The reason that we're not opening things up is to gauge interest for the event. If we have substantial interest, we will open things up. Hopefully. We have a thread over on the Coordinations, Coordinations board of the forums where we're encouraging registrations.

There will also be a cover of Rs 100. This marks the first time that we're charging for one of our events, and since the amount is nominal at best, we hope this won't deter participants from taking part in what promises to be a lot of fun.

If the event takes off, we might just include other games like Pictionary, Trivial Pursuit and any other games requested by participants.

Comments, questions, suggestions? You can always mail them to info@desiwriterslounge.net or write them in the comments.

We're boldly going where we've never gone before. Here's hoping we come out of this in one piece.

:)

- TPTB

Mark Your Calendars for July 12th

2009-07-05T21:25:00.003+06:00

We're pushing forward with our July and August readings. August is going to be a busy month for us, with the conclusion of the Spring/Summer readings along with another book club discussion meeting and first game night. We're hoping to do a game night every month, but will be charging for this event. A nominal fee of Rs 100 at the minimum. We might or might not issue a set of tickets available at Paper Microphone.

Anyway, if you'd like to register for our reading, click here. And if you'd like to present your material featured, please send that into reading@desiwriterslounge.net no later than July 9th.

- TPTB!

Book Club New Pick Announced; Expansion Plans

2009-06-29T15:53:00.002+06:00

Book clubs are being launched in both Islamabad and Karachi, which has started its own thread. Email us for more details and to put you in touch with our coordinator in the city. Meanwhile, we're still looking for reading material and because we've kept an open and revolving door policy, your material will be presented in a first come, first serve basis so if you're interested, now's the time to let us know!

Meanwhile, we're issuing a formal invitation to anyone in Islamabad to attend our next discussion meeting. Have your thoughts and ideas at hand. Without further ado, your invite:

Heralded as a breakthrough first novel, A Case of Exploding Mangoes reimagines the conspiracies and coincidences that led to the mysterious and still unexplained 1988 plane crash of Gen Zia-ul-Haq.

On August 2, we invite you to join us at the Paper Microphone Cafe to discuss the book over coffee, muffins and other delightful delicacies.

The What: Desi Writers Lounge Book Club Meeting #2

The When: Sunday, August 2, 2009 @ 6 PM (please be punctual)

The Where: Paper Microphone Cafe (2nd Floor, Main School Road, Super Market right after the Shell petrol Pump)

The Registration Details: Click here

The Extras: If you can't find a copy of the book at your local bookstore, you can always order it online at Liberty Books. Not pimping out their service or anything, but the prices are great and shipping is free so what's not to love?! :)

The RSVPs: Won't be there? Not enough time to finish? Bringing in a guest? Mail in your comments here. Also, if you've already registered prior to this posting, please don't register again.

Hope to see you there!

- TPTB

Possible TCF-DWL Collaboration

2009-06-12T12:30:00.003+06:00

A few months ago, we were considering extending the muscle of Desi Writers Lounge towards social work and to that effect, had a meeting with representatives of The Citizens Foundation (TCF). With both parties suitably interested, we'll be taking a trip down to their two schools close to Islamabad to assess the situation.

Our ideas included holding a book club/reading session and a creative writing workshop, both activities conducted in the English language. Needless to say, we're looking for volunteers interested in literary and educational progress. So if you're interested, drop me a line with your name and any questions or suggestions you may have.

We're committed to this project and are looking for individuals who can help us further the cause.

- MP

Readings Soon To Be In Session Again

2009-06-10T11:52:00.002+06:00

We realize it's been a while since our last reading session and want to give our member- and readership a heads up that we'll be taking material in for July's session now. If you're interested and/or know others you might be interested, direct them to this post.

Pieces (poetry, prose, random rants of non-fiction) can now be sent into readings@desiwriterslounge.net. Registration for the reading will be opening up shortly. Watch this space and our website.

Any questions, you know where to find us!

- TPTB

Book Club Discussion Meeting Date Set

2009-06-09T23:51:00.002+06:00

The time, date and venue for the first DWL book club session for Daniyal Mueenuddin's In Other Rooms, Other Wonders have now been finalized. For those of you who've registered, the email will go out shortly. For anyone else that hasn't registered, but has read the book and might decide to join us, the open invite is below:

The What: Desi Writers Lounge Book Club Meeting to discuss In Other Rooms, Other Wonders
The When: Sunday, June 21 @ 5PM
The Where: Mocca Coffee, Shop No. 1, Kohsar Market (Right above Al Saleem Salon)
The RSVPs: info@desiwriterslounge.net, maryam@desiwriterslounge.net
The Extras: Bring along your notes, thoughts and opinions about the book. Maybe bring the book with you to point out your favorite passages and why they rang home to you as much as they did...alternatively, you can use your copy to effectively debunk the opinions of somebody else!

So that's about it.

- TPTB

An Open Letter to Book Club Registrants

2009-05-26T00:13:00.003+06:00

The following is the letter sent out to all book club registrants, and has been reproduced below:

Hello everyone,

If you're getting this email, you have registered or shown interest in our book club, which officially launched on May 24, 2009 with Daniyal Mueenuddin's In Other Rooms, Other Wonders.

We held an ice breaker aka an informal meeting for our attendees to get to know one another before the discussion would inevitably turn into more serious venues. While this was not a mandatory requirement, it was recommended.

If you attended the ice breaker on the 24th, more power to you and if you were unable to do so, you still have the chance to participate in our Club which will convene sometime at the end of June (exact dates will be announced a little closer to the date set). That's why you've been included in the mailing list.

If you're still interested, now's the time to prove it by picking up the short story collection available at any and all major bookstores in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

If you have any questions on any of the above, please let me know by sending me an email.

Meanwhile, constant reminders will be sent at two week intervals so if you haven't bought the book yet, didn't attend the ice breaker and are wondering where you stand on things, I'm here to tell you that all is not lost and you can buy the book, read it and join us at the end of June to discuss things.

Hope to see you there!

- TPTB

Book Club Ice Breaker Set for May 24th

2009-05-12T11:58:00.002+06:00

We've finalized the date, time and venue for the first ice breaker meeting for our book club, as well as its selection. Starting out with Daniyal Mueenuddin's short story collection, In Other Rooms, Other Wonders that easily won a majority vote in the poll we set up for this reason. The Case of Exploding Mangoes followed in second place.

The reason we're calling the first meet an "ice breaker" is so that all participants can meet up, introduce themselves and generally just mingle, talk about books, words, whatever comes to mind really. The reason we're putting in the directions on the blog is to invite people who haven't registered and who aren't sure if they will and give them a chance to sample out the crowd.

So come along, bring in a friend or two and see if you can't appreciate things. Here's the invitation to formalize things:

The What: Book Club Ice Breaker
Then When: Sunday, May 24th @ 5 PM
The Where: Mocca Coffee, 2nd Floor Kohsar Market (it's above Gloria Jeans and the entrance is on the extreme left side of Kohsar Market)
The Who To Get In Touch Withs: info@desiwriterslounge.net

Hope to see you guys there!

- TPTB

Book Club Meeting Postponed

2009-04-23T11:40:00.003+06:00

The first book club meeting (also known as a meet and greet, for attendees to get to know one another a little...an open house of sorts) has been postponed, partly because the Paper Microphone Cafe is closed for renovations, and partly because one of the organizers is currently in Lahore (that may explain the post below).

The new date has been tentatively set for Sunday, May 10 until further notice. We apologize for the late message, but look at it this way: more time to register for the reading, more time to vote for your favorite if you haven't already done so already, and more time to spread the word). If you have issues with the date, because they're coinciding with exams, please let us know at info@desiwriterslounge.net. We might shuffle things around so that the book club takes place in hardcore summer.

:)

- TPTB

Impromptu Lahore Reading In The Works...

2009-04-22T17:11:00.001+06:00

'ello Lahoris,

So here's the thing. We're throwing an impromptu reading session in Lahore, and yes, there's barely any time, and yes, we don't know where it's going to be or when but that's where you come in.

If you're interested, mosey along to this thread and start the planning (forum members only, sadly). This could be the very first in a series at Lahore, after all! Who knows, we might jumpstart a book club here as well? If you're interested, tell us. It's the only way we'll know for sure.

Hope to see you...well, somewhere! :)

- TPTB

Online Registration

2009-04-09T01:02:00.002+05:00

Interested members can also register on our site. Apparently, the forms are currently unavailable at the cafe. We are imploring participants to only register if they are absolutely certain they will be participating. There were a lot of registrants to the reading, from which only a handful showed up despite confirming.

So please, please save us and yourselves the trouble of being continuously harassed and only register if you're absolutely, positively, 100% interested and sure about your attendance.

- TPTB

Book Club Pushing Forward

2009-04-07T19:47:00.002+05:00

We've put up a poll on the main site for anyone interesting in having their voice heard on what Desi Writers Lounge should "officially" start with. We have six options to choose from, and in addition to this we've got some forms of interest over at the Paper Microphone Cafe for people interested in relaying their interest to us. We're starting with 15 people max to keep book discussion maintainable, but might increase in future events.

A quick rundown on your options:

Burnt Shadows (Kamila Shamsie)
The Crow Eaters (Bapsi Sidhwa)
Without Dreams (Shahbano Bilgrami)
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders (Daniyal Mueenuddin)
The Case of Exploding Mangoes (Muhammad Haneef)
The Reluctant Fundamentalist (Mohsin Hamid)

If you're interested or know of people who are interested, send them over to the cafe and ask them to leave behind their email addresses so we can keep in touch with them (we never spam), and let them know when the club will start and reconvene.

Any questions, comments or points of contention email them in to info@desiwriterslounge.net.

- TPTB

Short Story Event: Life's Too Short

2009-04-03T17:15:00.002+05:00

From the Life's Too Short site:

"The short story is what you make it. As a genre it has been used by writers as varied as Maupassant, Chekhov, Faulkner, Mansfield and Manto. It can be a gem consisting of a few paragraphs or the seed of a larger idea – both The Great Gatsby and The Sun also Rises started life as short stories.

The life’s too short Short Story Prize was conceived to reinvigorate this oft-neglected genre in Pakistan. With the increasing success of short story collections in the global publishing market, they are becoming big news again. Now we would like people to read yours.

Sponsored by the ZZ & Zohra Ahmed Foundation, entry to this competition is free of charge and the prize money is the most substantial for any such endeavour in Pakistan."

The Prize Money referred to above ranges from Rs 10,000 to 100,000 although of course no true writer writes for money...right? :)

"Entries must be emailed to entry@lifestooshort.pk

‘The life’s too short short story prize’ should be written on the subject line of the email

The short story should be the body of the email. Emails with attachments will not be considered.

Each entry must include the name, address, telephone number(s) and email address of the writer

Submission deadline is June 30, 2009."

The judges for this competition are well known desi authors: Kamila Shamsie, Daniyal Mueenuddin and Muhammad Haneef.

So if you're interested, you know the details...for further information click the link above. Happy writing!

- T(he)P(owers)T(hat)B(e)

Future Events

2009-03-29T17:48:00.001+05:00

Now that the reading's over, we're turning our attention to organizing future events, more particularly the book club whose official selection may or may not be Muhammad Haneef's The Case of Exploding Mangoes.

Aside from the above, we're also working in collaboration with The Paper Microphone to bring out a Desi Writers Lounge corner at the cafe, allowing interested writers to write in any of our four regular columns on the forums: The B*tch Letters, A Writer's Journal, Khutt and One Day, Two Minutes. They will be writing material on our official letterhead, and will have the option of either taking it with them or leaving it at the cafe for it to be featured on our site.

We will create a separate section here, called 'DWL @ The Paper Microphone Cafe' where material written there will be published on our site, as is. Of course, we realize much of the material most especially things like Khutt, which are letters written to receive closure, are extremely personal and may or may not want to be published, so we acknowledge that right to privacy and offer the participants a choice. The important thing, however, is that you're being inspired to write. Even if it's not being shared, it's being written and that's the most we can hope for. However, you can also post things anonymously, so things can be published on the site anonymously and no one will ever know.

Expect to hear more about the corner in the coming days. Meanwhile, our readings will either be held once a month or once every two months, depending on the organizational skills of our management. Also watch out for the book club.

Should you swing by the cafe, be sure to pick up our fliers and bookmarks on display.

The above text is also in our newsflash ticker on Desi Writers Lounge.net. Clarifying any redundancy issues that may arise.

- TPTB

DWL & The Paper Microphone Cafe

2009-03-20T14:42:00.003+05:00

If you've taken a trip to our website recently, you'll notice an announcement on the Open Mic nights held by The Paper Microphone Cafe. And if you've been following our reading announcements, you may have noticed our reading will be taking place at the cafe as well. We have formed a verbal commitment with the cafe to host our events there, which currently include readings, book clubs and possibly an invite only game night (if you know someone who knows a desi writer, your chances are great).

Our reading is taking place on March 28th at 5PM sharp with the bulk of the material being presented by our own members. Realizing the guts it takes to read out your own material to a bunch of people you don't really know, our members have stepped up to take care of things. We're hoping, however, that after this reading more people outside of the fold will step forward with their material.

We will be announcing our book club during the reading to gauge interest as well as put it to a democratic vote on what book we should start with, using the shortlisted books we've settled on.

So there are a few events coming up for the remainder of '09. As of this reading, attendees can register in advance to show their support (and attendance). If you have any questions, you can get in touch with us at info@desiwriterslounge.net.

That's it!

ETA: Entirely forgot to mention we're creating a Desi Writers Lounge corner at the cafe allowing interested writers to jot down their thoughts on our letterhead, and either leave it at the cafe for open display on our site or take it with them if they'd rather not share. We'll detail this further in our next post. But to sum up, we'll be incorporating our columns (One Day, Two Minutes; A Writer's Journal, The B*tch Letters and Khutt) on hard copy, along with a folder containing our past e-zine issues.

- TPTB

Reading Postponed

2009-03-14T13:17:00.002+05:00

Due to the Paper Microphone Cafe (our venue) being closed on Sunday due to the security situation of the Long March, our reading has been pushed back to March 28 until further notice.

We apologize profusely for the short notice, but were just notified ourselves and thus passed the message along to the general webosphere. The good news in all of this is attendees now have more time to send in their material! So start sending yours in for consideration if you're interested.

Hoping to see you then...

- TPTB

Reading in light of Long March Security

2009-03-14T02:50:00.002+05:00

We've had a few questions on whether we're still going to proceed with the reading taking place at F-6, Super Market (at the Paper Microphone Cafe) on March 15, a day before the scheduled march. Currently, our plans remain unchanged but things could swerve around on Saturday if the situation looks particularly dire. Hopefully, we shouldn't face too much of a lag in terms of attendance especially since we were considering discussing future events in this session.

That said, fliers, bookmarks and business cards for the founding members have come back from the printers and things are looking dandy! We've made specific bookmarks for attendees to the book club, so hopefully that should kick off soon enough. We're still unsure on whether we should have a meeting once a month or make it a little less frequent. Although a book a month seems quite reasonable, as long as its length isn't too long. However, if we give our audience a deadline they might well work better in that perimeter of time. This will be, I suppose, a more hardcore book club...not one to be undertaken by the faint of heart.

Oh well, there are a lot of things that still need ironing out and that will be ironed out soon enough.

Meanwhile, event registration has been officially closed along with the deadline for sending in pieces for this session. It was a little disappointing to see that not all registrants who were going to read something out, sent in their material but we have quite a few of our own members in attendance and the bulk of material will be represented by the Lounge. We are hopeful, however, that for subsequent readings we will be able to present writers outside of the fold and thus wholly "undiscovered", so to speak and subject them to our process of working at the Desi Writers Lounge.

Fingers still crossed for a full house on the 15th.

- TPTB

Reading Attendance Surge

2009-03-02T22:12:00.003+05:00

Tabulating the totals from the event posted on Facebook with the onsite registration, and removing any redundancies, the total number of people attending the reading is 25. The total is a little over double the number we've boasted on one of our reading, which until then had the most number in attendance.

To be honest, we're a little nervous to cater to so many people and are hoping that not only we, but the event delivers and brings some of them back again if not to attend the readings, then at least the book club and other events we have on the horizon.

Meanwhile, we're always on the look out for writers and the event announcement and alliance with The Paper Microphone has brought on a member surge into the Lounge. However, we're still looking for further material to present at the reading so as a reminder: the deadline's March 12 for sending in material for consideration.

Fingers crossed, people! Fingers crossed...

- TPTB

DWL Reading #5 Announced!

2009-02-24T09:15:00.004+05:00

'ello peoples! So we've finally settled on a date for the reading. Details are what follow.

The What: Desi Writers Lounge Reading #5
The When: Sunday, March 15 @ 5 PM
The Where: The Paper Microphone (details and registration info here)
The Details: We're doing something different and inviting you to register for the event, including whether you'll be a reader or writer and whether you'd like critique if it's the latter.
The Important Stuff: Write in to readings@desiwriterslounge.net with your material no later than March 12, to be considered.

Please, spread the word! We've also created an event on FB (although you're requested to register via the site). Here's the link to our group if you didn't know about it earlier. :)

DWL Going Beyond Readings In Events...

2009-02-17T19:03:00.003+05:00

Our first 2009 reading has been planned for Sunday, March 15 @ 5 pm (sharp) at the Paper Microphone, a cafe built to serve the purposes of events like these.

However, in the future we're planning other events like Poetry and Prose Workshops (including a possible series of summer workshops aimed at grades 8-10 and possibly beyond; it's all under discussion). Aside from the workshops, we're bringing you a book club in the future which will naturally be open to members outside of the Lounge. The entire point of these events is to bring together like minded people and offer them activities that are hitherto relatively unknown in this country of ours.

If you're interested in any of the above, soon we'll have an event registration/reminder so people can register for an event and we'll be notified and can make the necessary arrangements. This will be in place before the flyers and other promotional material is handed out.

The workshops will be limited to 15 people/session, since that's a manageable group of people and still maintains a comfortable rapport between the attendees.

Needless to say, we're extremely excited about the above ventures. We'll create FB events for the readings and book club.

It's important to note the difference between our readings (where writers who present their work receive light feedback only) and a workshop (which will involve heavy critiquing and writing in a close knit, but nonetheless intense environment). The book club will involve reading books together and discussing the impact, etc. Again, details are being ironed out. This space will be updated accordingly.

But meanwhile, we're moving forward!

- TPTB

Readings to Recommence

2009-02-02T17:37:00.002+05:00

'ello peoples,

Now that the e-zine is out of the way, at least for the next few months, we're jumpstarting our reading series again. This new series; new because it's a brand new year, will be marketed around town so you're encouraged to write in to readings@desiwriterslounge.net to send in your material.

Like our past readings, this is more of a writer's workshop where we collectively offer insights and opinions on a piece if you're open to that kind of thing. If you'd just like to read it to an audience, we provide a listening ear too.

We're excited for this run, hopeful that more people will get to know just what we do at the Desi Writers Lounge, so keep a look out for our posters and/or fliers and if you have an idea for what else we can do, to boost our rep, write in the comments and let us know. :)

- TPTB

Volume 4 Published!

2009-01-29T14:38:00.002+05:00

Volume 4 was published early morning, Wednesday or late night Tuesday (whichever way you want to look at it). You can see all the wonderfulness that is Reprisals, here.

Meanwhile, we've restarted our old FB Desi Writers group that we let fall into oblivion thanks to the management of the web site along with the various readings, international meet ups and of course the monstrosity that was the e-zine. So if you're not a member yet, and would like to keep abreast of our events and what not, you'll need to head on over there. However, we're soon going to open up registration to our events over at DWL's main website, along with incorporating a newsletter function to keep interested visitors up-to-date with our events.

Our readings based in Isloo will soon be restarted as will other events (a proper Book Club and Poetry/Prose night and possibly a dedicated writer's workshop which might mean separating readings and the workshop as separate events). If you don't know about us, but want to, please consider yourselves invited to our next event. We place no censors on material presented, but please do let us know if you'll be presenting anything (readings@desiwriterslounge.net) so we can make the necessary preparations (distribution of all material falls to us).

Alright, so that's pretty much it.

:)

- TPTB

Selections Finalized; Writers Informed of Decision

2009-01-22T22:21:00.003+05:00

It wasn't easy. The path was long and winding, especially in lieu of the new clause of involving the respective editors in any final decisions concerning the work they were responsible for. But it's done. The task of wading through the 34 (out of the approximate 1-200 we started with) or so pieces that were brought forward for final e-zine consideration subject to the grueling editing process, has concluded.

14 pieces were struck from the final line up resulting in a medley of poetry, prose and the abstract fusion of both. Two pieces are still awaiting judgment, but the couple not withstanding, 18-20 pieces will be up for display this January 25th, 2009.

Yes, a date has finally been set.

Guess we'll see you there!

And now? Allow us to take a breather before going through the whole process all over again in April-July '09.

- TPTB

Editing Concludes...Selection Begins

2009-01-16T22:40:00.003+05:00

Now that the editors are wrapping up on the work of their mentees, putting any last minute touches on whatever's left and sending it forward to the Chief Ed, the real work of wading through all the shortlisted work (taking care of the respective editor's thoughts on the piece) and final selection begins. If, for whatever reason, your work doesn't make the cut please note: it's nothing personal and you were warned earlier on that no piece was final, even after going through the grueling editing period.

It's never easy to go through each piece and decide on what should or shouldn't make the cut despite all the work that's gone in, but it has to be done. Of course, "quality" is relative and very subjective but in this instance (as in the past), I'm afraid the final word still rests with the Editor-in-Chief.

So...no more apologies. Good luck, everyone!

:)

- TPTB

Crossing Borders

2009-01-12T01:03:00.002+05:00

Well, it happened and while it mayn't have been everything hoped for (for one, we couldn't get the visual stuff to work unfortunately!), it was still a kick ass meeting! At the peak of things, we were on three continents, spanning six cities all across the globe and we got to hear the voices of the participants. Not to mention, we talked about everything under the sun. A small clip might be uploaded or not, depending on what we're willing to disclose.

Meanwhile, the chat log will be uploaded on the forums relatively uncensored. We managed to record a portion of the teleconference so there may be something for posterity (the audio part, that is--the chat log was separate).

But yes, this was one for history and the search for the elusive and perfect videoconferencing software continues. We may have to invest in something on a later date if this becomes a permanent fixture.

Here's to a new year full of new possibilities!

:)

Who We Are

2009-01-04T23:52:00.004+05:00

We've had a recent influx of members lately.

The best thing about Desi Writers Lounge, is the quality we demand from our members and the utmost confidence we place in them to achieve it. Compliments really are a writer's enemy as is unfounded criticism, but helpful critique...yes, that's useful and I would like to think we provide just that, aside from sharing a healthy camaraderie with one another. It doesn't take too long for a new member to join the circle of friends and writers that Desi Writers Lounge is made of. It's just nice to know we've accomplished that.

Another good thing about the Lounge (we're feeling particularly immodest today!) is the fact that we don't encourage censorship considering the variety of material and subjects our writers write on and are accepted into publication. True freedom of expression, and that's a tremendous accomplishment on our part. Look at Chowk; they never published "Snow Angels", which is on the lighter side of the spectrum as far as "out there" stories go. Considered a test on our part to gauge their reaction, the result makes us feel prouder of what we've accomplished as a collective.

There might be a lesser number of members, but we're damned if the posters aren't extremely talented or at least, haven't been brought out of their shells and begun to reach their truest potential. That's what you get when you're a Desi Writer, I guess. Everything else comes hand in hand.

Here's to a brilliant surge of creativity in 2009!

New Year's Eve

2008-12-31T21:52:00.001+05:00

Just wanted to take this opportunity to wish all our readers and members a happy new year! Hope you hold true to whatever resolutions (if any) you make on the cusp of 2009.

- TPTB

Kapow! Bam! Splat! Introducing the Millenials...

2008-12-15T17:59:00.004+05:00

From what started as a casual discussion of impending milestones for our members approaching 1,000 posts and a suited name for them (we settled on the "Millenials", courtesy of one of our only members who's reached the coveted spot, JC), and an elaborate comicbook type plot perpetuated by the aforementioned member, the idea has taken root and is now blooming into a full fledged comic strip idea, to be featured on our website once the characters have been sketched out.

For now, there are just two three four in the Millenial gang - Justice Jalal, the Mpress, Sahylar and Darth Noor (a shoutout to Star Wars fans everywhere!) - however, they will soon be joined by Imaginary and clarice - the purple princess. Our members have been alarmingly good sports about this, and have accepted their "millenial" names as their forum personas.

So while the Millenials mayn't be making their first official appearance until after the E-Zine debuts in mid-late Jan, 2009 they will be seen sometime after that.

What do you guys think about the idea? Interested, curious or turned off entirely at the idea of literary superheroes battling it out with the worst enemies of writers everywhere? Comment away!

Edited: To include S and DN, our latest Millenial(s).

Readings on hiatus until New Year

2008-12-11T20:03:00.004+05:00

Due to the combined workload of the e-zine editing and coordinating the first transcontinental, Internet meeting, any subsequent readings held in either Islamabad or Karachi have been pushed back to somewhere in 2009.

As always, if you're interested, send in the material to readings@desiwriterslounge.net and it will be featured on a first come, first serve basis.

That's it.

- TPTB

Look, Ma! I'm here...and here...AND here! Ain't life grand?

2008-12-04T09:45:00.003+05:00

Planning is moving forward for the first international meet of Desi Writers Lounge, pushing back boundaries of distance and geographic location and spanning continents, this is by far one of the most elaborate meetings ever. Getting everyone to the location is a Herculean task in of itself, everything else will (hopefully) fall into place.

Meanwhile, polls have started going up for the next e-zine issue, planned for July, 2009 with polls ending on April 15, 2009. January and July seem to be our publication points. It goes without saying that the editing process has been streamlined to incorporate the varying times and availabilities of our editors and their accompanying wards.

Publication is slated for mid January of the new year.

As for the much touted transcontinental meet, it comes to be December 25 on man's greatest invention: cyberspace.

We'll let you know how that goes!

- TPTB

New E-Zine, New Rules

2008-11-24T16:28:00.003+05:00

Here's the thing: editing began close to 9 days ago for three of our editors, while two are pushing back their dates until they become fully available to their wards. So whereas some of our shortlisted candidates may have heard from their editors, there are some among that list and new candidates that have yet to be contacted because their editors are a little busy.

Obi should get in touch with his wards by Tuesday, and Shehla aka "Clarice" will be available from Dec 1 onwards. Editing concludes January 16, 2009 so you guys won't be lagging behind too far.

Meanwhile, work is continuing on streamlining all pieces that are being edited. It's going to be sad to see any of the material go down the drain, which might also happen if the editors don't hear back from their respective wards soon and so aren't satisfied with the final outcome. Be warned of their wrath!

They hold the future in their hands...

- TPTB

Pieces Shortlisted, Editing To Begin Shortly

2008-11-15T01:34:00.002+05:00

Heads up, peeps! The pieces for inclusion in the e-zine have been shortlisted and the members will be contacted shortly both in terms of what they can expect from the process, and to the fact that this musn't in any way raise their hopes. Much along the lines of the last issue, no piece is finalized until after the edit. If, for any reason, the piece is found lacking either by its editor or the Chief Ed or both, it will be struck from the issue no explanations. We ask our members and all involved to respect this decision.

As we've discussed; each piece needs a massive edit to make it into the 'zine, and nothing's safe. Work hard with your editors, and they'll work hard with you; it's a give and take relationship so make it work. Writers who cross poetry/prose boundaries will be working with different editors, so chances are if you're a poet who doubles as a prose writer or vice versa, you'll be working with two or possibly three different editors at one time. We expect you to make it work.

Editing will begin either Saturday evening or Sunday morning spanning for two months and ending in mid-January; publication is still slated for January '09.

G'luck, g'luck!

- TPTB

E-Zine Structural Changes

2008-11-08T11:00:00.004+05:00

Editing has yet to begin, but that's mainly because we've put a new policy in place for e-zine selection. It took us 3.5 hours last Sunday to go through only two sections (The Abstract Thinker and The Poet), even though we left no room for idle chit chat. Because of the large quantity of material we had to deal with in this 6 month term, we've realized that maybe a meeting is not the best of ideas to get the job done. Enter Google Docs. Our resident "editor in chief" has put up an excel document that trajectorizes who voted for what, who's responsible for what and in general, where they're at in the editing business. It's a transition from the way we worked to the way we will be working from this issue onward. It'll be helpful to know where the individual editors stand on their individual pieces so when the executive call comes around, the chief ed knows what to do.

Meanwhile, please know that because your pieces have made it past Round 1: Selection and into Round 2: Editing, this does not necessarily equate that they'll make it into the e-zine itself. If the pieces are found to be lacking in any way, or the editor feels the end result was not satisfactory, they will be stricken from the issue. There are some that have already been sidelined, and are subject to a substantial edit to be given e-zine accreditation. Please know that this is all subject to quality only, and it's not personal.

Having said that, once everything is finalized and we're ready to launch Phase 2: E-Mentoring, the respective authors will be introduced to their editors and the editing will begin.

Publication of Volume 4 is slated for January, 2009.

DWL Karachi Reading

2008-10-16T12:09:00.004+06:00

Our Karachi chapter has arranged for a proper reading this time around, where you'll need to bring something to read although it isn't necessary. Expect many participants to bring something, however. But hey, no pressure! Details are below:

What: Desi Writers Lounge Karachi Reading (officially, it's the first reading)
Where: Cafe Avenue on Zamzama
When: October 20, 2008 @ 6 pm (Updated)
RSVP: If you're a 'Lounge member, head over to the Coordinations, Coordinations board and leave your mark. if you're not a member, email in to readings@desiwriterslounge.net and we'll address your queries.

That's all for today, folks! Hope the Karachiites will see it fit to mosey over to the rendezvous point and engage in some fruitful intellectual banter. We've been told our readings are anything but boring!

Update: The meeting date has been bumped forward due to unforeseen circumstances for non attendance by some regular members.

Consensus & Review Pushed Forward

2008-10-08T16:38:00.002+06:00

Due to the wealth of material the editors need to read through, I've pushed the date of our meeting forward by close to a month, which of course means the editing process will begin a month later and end a month later.

Though we'll try for a December 31 publication date, Volume 4 might see the light of day some time in the first week of 09. We're committed to quality, and there's a lot of material to wade through.

As you can see, we don't take this task lightly.

Polls closing and Eid festivities...

2008-09-30T23:35:00.002+06:00

Now that Eid has formally been announced, a very happy Eid to all our members and to the readers of this blog, if you celebrate it that is! Otherwise, it's just another celebration.

In other news, polls have officially closed and votes will be tallied up along with holding an independent ballot by our moderating and editing board. Results of that will be discussed at length, a finalized list of pieces compiled and the associated authors contacted. Of course, just because you've made it into one phase of the polling stages, doesn't necessarily mean you'll be in the e-zine. It simply means you've made it into that phase. :) We're very picky, and with each e-zine issue, our focus on quality becomes more acute and more necessary. Striving for publication for our members is a very real dream, and we know all what's needed to get there. To that extent, we ask our writers to work with their assigned editors. For the next two months, these people are going to be your confidantes, your friends and the dragons breathing down your necks all rolled into one!

We know: it's not a pretty process. It never is. But we guarantee it's going to be one helluva ride, and the end result...well now, that's just going to be dandy!

- TPTB

Closing Poll Dates

2008-09-21T15:24:00.002+06:00

Polls will be closing on September 30, so now's the time to vote. So far, we've received a very healthy response. A lot of people have been voting in terms of what they'd like to see in the e-zine. Nice to know democracy still works.

The recent attack on Marriott in Islamabad, has a lot of us worried for the safety of our friends and loved ones in the capital city. However, from the reports we've been receiving, all of them are (thankfully) safe. We just wanted to give a head's up to any concerned party.

Meanwhile, if you haven't called the people closest to the accident (F-6, F-7 and F-8 sectors in particular), now's the time to call and ensure their safety.

We hope everyone is safe and sound, enjoying the comforts within their homes.

- TPTB

Of Submission Dates and the Future

2008-09-14T22:04:00.003+06:00

We, at the Desi Writers Lounge, otherwise known as "The DWL Mod Squad" are patting ourselves on the back for an intelligent foresight. What is this amazing realization, you ask? Submissions for this half's e-zine and fourth issue, are closing today (September 15, PST). With over 9 pages of poetry and three odd pages of prose to go through, our work is cut out for us.

In other news, we're going to scour all present and past material for possibilities of publication. Yes, that's right...we're thinking of compiling all the really brilliant content together, into a book or collection of short stories, and approaching local publishers; thus realizing the dream we dreamed a little over four years ago, of having our names as a collective, in print. In addition, we'll be living up to our mission statement on our frontpage!

Who knows? Maybe somewhere down the line, we'll actually own our own writers cafe? Baby steps, though, baby steps.

That's it for this week's update...apologies for it coming after two weeks, but things have been hectic. That's a good thing, in case you were wondering!

- TPTB

Reading Series & E-Zine Dates

2008-08-30T18:57:00.002+06:00

Apologies for the lack of updates but we've been busy at the Lounge, what with the polls going up and all. This half promises to be chock full of a lot of poetry; writers seem to be a dying breed, and what few there are, are either suffering through massive writers' blocks or are in between pieces or finally, just plain lazy to put up their most recent work. We hate you all! :)

Our present reading series, being held in Islamabad, will be concluding in March 2009 (coming full circle), and we'll probably have two more readings before then. As to whether or not we'll continue the series remains to be seen. One of the moderators and key organizers of the reading, will be moving to Karachi on a permanent basis, so it's a case of the 'ifs and maybes' for now. We'll keep this space updated, however, as things progress.

Meanwhile, polls are going up with an expiration date of September 30. The date by which new pieces will be considered for inclusion into the fourth issue, is September 15. The interim two weeks will then be plenty of time for the bulk of our membership who chooses to mass-vote at the end.

Questions, comments etc? You know where to put 'em!

- TPTB

E-Zine Season Swings Around at the Lounge

2008-08-18T18:11:00.002+06:00

September 15. That's when you can no longer submit your work for the 'zine. Why? Keep reading.

September 30. That's the date when all polls on pieces (from December 6, 2007 onwards) close.

The interim two weeks give our members enough time to comb through pieces and vote for whether they think the selected should be among those who represent the site for the next issue. We've chopped down our issues from three to two (from quarterly, to biannually) and increased the editing period.

Whereas previously, our e-mentors and associated writers only had a month to shape up the material, now they have two. More time, more chances of spotting mistakes and less reason for me to cut whole pieces out of the running, before going to publication.

See? This way it works out for everyone!

If you're interested in having your work considered for inclusion, and you're not a member, register and start putting stuff up. You only have till September 15, after all! And then September 30, all polls close.

Confusions, questions, comments? Post em!

- TPTB

Celebrating our 4th

2008-08-06T21:53:00.002+06:00

We turn four today (August 6) and as a community, we have come incredibly far. The present Orkut Desi Writers community is merely a ghost of what it used to be ye olde glory days. When we said goodbye, it turned more into a platform for advertisement as opposed to a place where serious writing could be done. Almost all of the present Desi Writers Lounge veterans are no longer affiliated with Orkut, and though our allegiance to the brand that is Desi Writers remains in tact, our loyalty to the community as it stands now, with nothing but our posts to prove we were once there, is questionable. And yet, without it we wouldn't have forged the relationships we built during those formative years. It was our home for a year, before we realized it was destined only to be temporary, and then another year before we finally moved. Desi Writers Lounge itself, is a little over three years old since it became a domain name, about two when it became an identity.

When we turn five, we're thinking of doing something extra special. After all, we'll have been together for half a decade. Surely that merits some kind of response, right? Ideas for the bash are welcome.

Meanwhile, the planning for the grand international meeting/reading continue, as a tribute to incorporate our members stationed out of Pakistan and who can't physically participate. In the end of course, it'll be up to "the administrator" to make it happen. But it will happen. Admin's committed to it, see. The last time that happened, the Desi Writers Lounge was born. Pretty decent track record, dontcha think?

DWL Karachi Meeting & Reading

2008-07-30T00:57:00.002+06:00

Looks like our Karachi chapter has begun its activity. Our members in the city met up for dinner and drinks at Ciao. A full account of how things went, is available here. Great stuff, and an impressive crowd. Seems the readings have build up something of a buzz about the site, which was admittedly, something we were looking for.

The city's first ever reading will be taking place on August 3. Details follow:

When: August 3, 2008 at 7.00 pm

Where: DHA Club, Phase 2

Who's Invited: Anyone who likes to read and write, and a) wouldn't mind critiquing the work of others, b) would like to read out their own material or c) just wants to participate.

Reading Deadline (by which pieces must be received): August 1-2, 2008. No later, because it'll naturally be a scramble.

Contact: readings@desiwriterslounge.net

Please note: This might well become a permanent thing in the city, and while we can't guarantee anything, if your piece doesn't make it for the deadline, it might be addressed in the next reading. We're still following the "no piece goes unread" policy.

So note the information above, and start sending in your stuff. We're hoping our Lahore chapter opens up soon, too. Then it'll really be a party!

:)

- TPTB

The Official Desi Writers Lounge Blog

We're Moving

Salman Rushdie comes to Atlanta

DWL pilots its YouTube channel

Karachi Literature Festival – Day 1 contd.

Karachi Literature Festival - A DWLer's observations

We're Back!

Website down for maintenance

Karachi LitFest - Day 1

This Business of Books - KLF 2011

Thank you, DWL.

Papercuts Volume 7 is out!

Delusions of grandeur

Plans for the Resource Board

Happy New Year

Papercuts Pre-Launch Meeting/Reading

DWL Update

Translations

How to Tackle Writer's Block (By Indirection!)

My friend: The Social Media

On The Dock

The Problem of Imagery

Piled Higher and Deeper - writer's block of an unusual kind

Watched a Movie Lately?

A Sombre Update

"All your dignity is belong to us."

There’s Death, Good Sir, And Then There’s Death

How we write when we write about IDENTITY (The Bluest Eye - Toni Morrison)

Austin’s Favourite Haunt

New Chapter, New Goals

Formal Goodbye

Future Events / Competition Results

Of White Tigers and Mockingbirds...

*Bump* Book Club Reminder

Book Clubs & Game Nights Galore...

March / April Events

Confirmed Feb Events

Icebreaker Pushed

Going to Lahore...

PAPERCUTS Print Publication?

DWL, Lahore Comes Alive!

Book Club (Isloo) Convenes For The Exorcist

LUMS Workshop Deemed Success!

LUMS Poster Unveiled

Creative Workshop at LUMS

Book Club New Date Announced!

Something Wicked Isn't Coming This Way Yet

Flaunt It, If You've Got It

Unveiling Our First Cover & Other Things

New Website Launched!

Announcing PAPERCUTS

Book Club Reconvenes Today

Game Night Announced!

Naming the 'Zine

Game Night Success!

We Get Our Game On, August 8th. Be there!

Book Club: A Case of Exploding Mangoes & Other Avenues

Mixers, Competitions, Publication...It's All Happening (Hopefully)

Game Night Registration Goes Public

Game Night Announced...at last!

Mark Your Calendars for July 12th

Book Club New Pick Announced; Expansion Plans

Possible TCF-DWL Collaboration

Readings Soon To Be In Session Again

Book Club Discussion Meeting Date Set

An Open Letter to Book Club Registrants

Book Club Ice Breaker Set for May 24th

Book Club Meeting Postponed

Impromptu Lahore Reading In The Works...

Online Registration

Book Club Pushing Forward

Short Story Event: Life's Too Short

Future Events

DWL & The Paper Microphone Cafe

Reading Postponed

Reading in light of Long March Security

Reading Attendance Surge

DWL Reading #5 Announced!

DWL Going Beyond Readings In Events...

Readings to Recommence

Bump Book Club Reminder