The Asia House Festival of Asian Literature

What? The only festival in Britain dedicated to writing about Asia, The Asia House Festival of Asian Literature celebrates the newest and best writing across a broad spectrum of Asian countries in a series of talks, debates and discussions. Now in its 4th year, the Festival will host talks and events by some of the most acclaimed writers working in and writing on the region. 

Who? Author of Songs of Blood and Sword, Fatima Bhutto; writer and historian William Dalrymple; author and commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown; journalist and author Janine di Giovanni; writer Victoria Schofield; author and broadcaster John Kampfner; writer and filmmaker Atiq Rahimi and  columnist and author Sathnam Sanghera, are among over 40 writers appearing in 18 events across this year’s Festival.

When? 5 – 27 May 2010

Where? Asia House, 63 New Cavendish Street, London, W1G 7LP

How Much? Tickets £10, Concessions £6, Asia House friends £5

Festival Website www.festivalofasianliterature.com (now up and running)

For Booking. Telephone: 020 7307 5454 Email: enquiries@asiahouse.co.uk

2010 Program.

Pre-festival

13 April, 6.45pm - THE EVOLUTION OF PAKISTANI FICTION Aamer Hussein of Another Gulmohar Tree and Ali Sethi of The Wishmaker with Moni Mohsin  

20 April, 6.46pm - THE GULF: GROWTH AND RECESSION  Christopher Davidson of Abu Dhabi- Oil and Beyond and Jim Krane of Dubai: The Story of the World’s Fastest City with David Butter
                                                                 

Festival Programme 2010

5 May, 6.45pm - OPENING NIGHT: FATIMA BHUTTO Fatima Bhutto of Songs of Blood and Sword with Janine di Giovanni

6 May, 6.45 pm YASMIN ALIBHAI-BROWN- THE SETTLER’S COOKBOOK: A MEMOIR OF LOVE, MIGRATION AND FOOD

8 May, 2-2.30pm FAMILY EVENT: STORIES FROM THE SILK ROAD- CHINA AND CENTRAL ASIA with story-teller Seema Anand
                                                                                                 
11 May, 6.45pm HILARY SPURLING- BURYING THE BONES: PEARL BUCK’S LIFE IN CHINA

12 May, 6.45pm FRANCIS PIKE- EMPIRES AT WAR- A SHORT HISTORY OF MODERN ASIA SINCE WW11

14 May, 6:45p, VOICES BETWEEN – DIASPORA POETRY Daljit Nagra of Look We Have Coming to Dover! Moniza Alvi of Split World and Europe, Imtiaz Dharker of Leaving Fingerprints, Kavita Jindal of Raincheck Renewed with Tom Gatti of The Times

15 May, 1.30- 3.30pm, FAMILY EVENT: ELIZABETH LAIRD- PEA BOY- IRAN

17 May, 6.45pm INTO THE DARKNESS: ASIAN CRIME FICTION Diane Wei Liang of Paper Butterfly, Hirsh Sawhney of Delhi Noir, Glen Peters of Mrs D’Silva’s Detective Instincts and the Shaitan of Calcutta with Boyd Tonkin of The Independent

18 May, 6:45pm, MICHAEL BOOTH- SUSHI & BEYOND- WHAT THE JAPANESE KNOW ABOUT COOKING with Erica Wagner of The Times

20 May, 6.45pm, DEMOCRACY & FREEDOM IN ASIA John Kampfner of Freedom for Sale, Humphrey Hawksley of Democracy Kills with Michael Binyon

22 May, 2.00-3.30pm, FAMILY EVENT: P IS FOR PAKISTAN with photographer Prodeepta Das

24 May, 6:45pm, CHANG-RAE LEE- THE SURRENDERED with Erica Wagner of The Times          

25 May, 6:45pm, CONFLICT IN KASHMIR Justine Hardy of In the Valley of Mist, Victoria Schofield of Kashmir in Conflict, Basharat Peer of Curfewed Night with Kamila Shamsie

26 May, 6:45pm, MIGRATION AND DISPLACEMENT: NEW WRITING FROM INDIA Neel Mukherjee of A Life Apart, Tishani Doshi of The Pleasure Seekers and Nitasha Kaul of Residue with Sathnam Sanghera

27 May, 6:45pm, CLOSING NIGHT William Darymple of Nine Lives- In Search of Sacred India

Post festival

2 June, 6:45pm, MIGUEL SYJUCO OF ILLUSTRADO

7 June, 6:45pm, AZADEH MOAVENI OF HONEYMOON IN TEHRAN: TWO YEARS OF LOVE AND DANGER IN TEHRAN with Dominic Brookshaw

Previous festivals: Monday 11 May, 2009 - Friday 22 May, 2009 - Aravind Adiga, Azar Nafisi, Ziauddin Sardar (Balti Britain) and Kenan Malik (Fatwa to Jihad – The Rushdie Affair and its Legacy) , John Man (The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan) and Martin Jacques (When China Rules the World), Kamila Shamsie (Burnt Shadows), Nadeem Aslam ( The Wasted Vigil), and Daniyal Mueenuddin (In Other Rooms, Other Wonders), Tahmima Anam, Frank Gardner, David Loyn, Patrick Cockburn, Christina Lamb, Nirmalya Kumar, Hardeep Singh Kohli -See Programme below

 

2009 Program

• 2009 Program

  • 7 April - Aravind Adiga - White Tiger
    
    
  • 21 April - Azar Nafisi - Things I’ve Been Silent About: Memories
    
    
  • 7 May - Tash Aw – Map of the Invisible World – Book Launch
    
    
  • 9 May - Children’s Event: A Barefoot Book of Indian Tales
    
    
  • 11 May - Opening Night: An Evening of Music and Literature with Amit Chaudhuri (The Immortals), Pankaj Mishra, Sir Mark Tully and music by Amit himself
    
    
  • 12 May -‘Malik vs. Sardar – The UK/Asia Debate’- Ziauddin Sardar (Balti Britain) and Kenan Malik (Fatwa to Jihad – The Rushdie Affair and its Legacy)
    
    
  • 13 May - Alice Albinia – Empires of the Indus
    
    
  • 14 May - China in the 21st Century - John Man (The Leadership Secrets of Genghis Khan) and Martin Jacques (When China Rules the World)
    
    
  • 16 May - Children’s Event- Guo Yue - Little Leap Forward: A Boy in Beijing
    
    
  • 18 May - Politics and Place in Fiction - Kamila Shamsie Burnt Shadows), Nadeem Aslam ( The Wasted Vigil), and Daniyal Mueenuddin (In Other Rooms, Other Wonders) - moderated by Tahmima Anam
    
    
  • 19 May - Frank Gardner -Far Horizons –the BBC security correspondent in conversation with Lyse Doucet about his adventures in Indonesia
    
    
  • 20 May - Terrorism & War in Central Asia - Panel Discussion David Loyn Patrick Cockburn Christina Lamb -with BBC Foreign Affairs Editor John Simpson
    
    
  • 21 May - Nirmalya Kumar – India’s Global Powerhouses – How They are Taking on the World
    
    
  • 22 May - Hardeep Singh Kohli - Indian Takeaway – One Man’s Attempt to Cook His Way Home

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