Article In The Jakarta Post (updated)

About one of the festival's events, held yesterday at the Indian Embassy of Jakarta. The session of readings and panel discussions, entitled "Journeys Through Epic India", was jointly organised by Komunitas Utan Kayu and the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, and featured six writers, including me. The article is here, and I'm in the purple sari.

Am in Indonesia

Am in Indonesia at the moment, attending the Utan Kayu International Literary Biennale. Busy, busy, busy, lots to blog, but the only bad thing about the otherwise lovely Harris Hotel in Jakarta is the terribly slow Internet connection! Got here yesterday morning, and will be in Indonesia, though outside of Jakarta for part of the time, till September 1st. Keep you posted!

In Surf! Magazine, August 2007

Click to enlarge. Some factual errors. My novel is Constellation of Scars, not Stars!

Back To India

Fitting that today I knew for sure: I'm moving back to India for some time, on or by October 1st.

A Poetry Note

I looked for the poetry section in Borders, Orchard Road, over the weekend. I couldn't find it. I asked one of their staff. He said to look under "Shakespeare". I did. There was no poetry. But sitting pretty on the shelf were Marian Keyes and Jill Mansell.

*rolls eyes*

Sad state of things for poetry -- considering how cheered I was minutes before that, during my meeting with WordForward's Chris Mooney-Singh and Savinder. Chris passed me a small booklet he recently published, in conjunction with their work in schools, entitled "Voices From The Bamboo River: Sungei Buloh Wetland Poems". A concise 39 pages, this little book is geared at a school-going crowd, and I was surprised and happy at how much I enjoyed both the poems and the use of poetry as an educational tool, something which it does successfully on several levels: in terms of language and writing (cinquains, haiku, free verse, rhyme), nature, biology and environmental and species conservation.

Readings This Weekend

Errm... Apparently I'm reading at this tomorrow. Didn't know till I got the flyer. Oh well. How can one turn down an opp to perform at a place called "Bau Bau Cafe"? I'm free. Are you?



Will also be reading on the 5th at No Black Tie, along with Nicholas Wong, Ann Lee, Jit Murad and Jordan McVay. (Yes, yes, all two of you who've been following my career since I was 17, I heard the coughing. This should be interesting. ;) )