From Bollywood to Badass

May 20 – May 21, 2016
6 – 7PM

South Asian Women’s Creative Collective (SAWCC) presents its 8th annual Literary Festival We have Arrived: From Bollywood to Badass, a two-day interdisciplinary public event in New York City. The Festival will kickoff on Friday, May 20, at 7 PM with a reading by participants of the Two Truths Writing Workshop at Sunita Bar. This will follow with panel discussions and interactive workshops on Saturday, May 21, beginning at 12 PM and conclude with a keynote at 6:30 PM by Mira Jacob. All Saturday sessions will take place at the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, the go-to destination for Asian American literary events in New York.

The festival features writers and changemakers who use the written word as tools to tell powerful stories, challenge stereotypes, build movements, survive trauma, find community, and heal. At a time when anti-immigrant sentiment and Islamophobia are at a peak, the 2016 Lit Fest serves as a powerful convening where the pen is celebrated as a tool of radical activism and democracy-making.

Friday, May 20 | Two Truths Salon | 7-10pm

Join us at Sunita Bar for our kickoff reading and mixer!106 Norfolk St, New York, NY 10002Tickets: $7 at the doorTwo Truths and a Lie: South Asian Women and Trans Writers Bend the Truth

Writing from life can be a tricky business. There are people to protect, faulty memories of events, and the pitfalls of self-censorship and self-aggrandizement. Please join us for an evening salon with alumni from Bushra Rehman’s Two Truths workshop series: South Asian women and trans writers reading original works. Featuring Adeeba Rana, Bushra Rehman, Dulani, Fatimah Shalash, Nadia Ahmad, Nadia Misir, Rathini Kandavel, Rekha Malhotra, Tara Sarath, Vani Natarajan & Veda Kumarjiguda

Saturday, May 21 | Festival Talks | 12 PM – 8 PM

Suggested Donation: $5 per panel or $20 for day (3 workshops and keynote)@ the Asian American Writers’ Workshop110-112 West 27th Street, 6th Floor (btwn 6th and 7th Aves)

12:00 PM – 1:30 PM A Craft of Poetry: Storytelling and Movement BuildingAurora Masum-Javed, Adeeba Rana, Purvi Shah. Moderated by Anisa Rahim

2:00 PM – 3:30 PM Writing Politics Across GenresDeepa Iyer, Chaitali Sen. Moderated by Swati Khurana

4:00 PM – 5:30 PM Writing Where it Hurts, Writing to HealAshwak Fardoush, Muna Gurung

6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Keynote Reading & SigningMira Jacob

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