It's tax season. In a month's time the IRS will be expecting your paperwork. Have you filed yet? It's painful, I know, but it has to be done. For the last couple of years, I have had Vijaya Muzumdar at Taxolution help me out. Her clients are mostly artists and freelancers and so she knows how we operate and where and how to legally get money back.

The great thing about her is her prompt responses when we call. And unlike other tax consultants who bill by the hour, Vijaya is always available to connect with throughout the year. As circumstances are bound to change, it's great to have such a wonderful and pleasant resource to clear your doubts and sleep better at night.

Vijaya doesn't have a web site – something that I hope changes soon – but her contact information is: 908-276-0150. Please tell her TIFFINBOX sent ya.

If you haven't got your act together, with invoices and receipts from 2004, you may want to check in with her about getting an extension. If you owe the IRS, you will end up paying a small percentage as a fine, but that's better than not getting it done at all.

I suspect this sounds like an infomercial, but trust me Vijaya hasn't asked me to plug her business. I wouldn't recommend anybody if I wasn't genuinely thrilled or impressed with what they had to offer.

Caption: At a mandal office of Obuladevara Chervu, Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh, farmers queue for groundnut seeds. Each farmer can get a maximum 120kg of seed, this is not enough. Each hectare of land requires 144kg.  In many such offices, agricultural officers have been beaten up for lack of subsidised seeds. © Surya Sen

Down To Earth: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6.

Each year, The Asian American Writers' Workshop honors outstanding achievement in Asian American literature through the Annual Asian American Literary Awards.  Now in their eighth year, the literary awards are again taking submissions for eligible works in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction.  

The postmark deadline for submitting work is Friday, April 22, 2004.  Please read through the guidelines below to see if your work is eligible.

Books may be nominated by literary agents, publicists, or authors.  All entries must be accompanied by an application form.  To download an application, please check this page.

To find out more about the literary awards, visit the AAWW website.

2005 Application Guidelines for The Asian American Literary Awards

The Award

The purpose of the Asian American Literary Award is to recognize an individual work written by an Asian American, on the basis of artistic and literary merit, published during the calendar year of 2004.

The Award will be presented to a maximum of three works considered by the Judging Committee to be the best among all entries eligible for the Award.

The Award consists of a crystal artpiece etched with the name of the work, author and year; an opportunity to read at the Eighth Annual Literary Awards Ceremony; additional media notification through press releases; and the possibility of going on a national award tour (up to five U.S. cities) sponsored in part by The Asian American Writers' Workshop.

Eligible Works

Works eligible must have had premiere publication during the calendar year 2004 (January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004) and must have been published for general commercial release in the United States.

The types of genres eligible are as follows: fiction, a short story collection by a single author, novellas, a poetry collection by a single author, creative nonfiction, memoir and plays.

Works must have been written by a person of Asian descent currently residing or who has resided in the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. “Asia” is defined as the regions of East, South and Southeast Asia as well as the Pacific Islands. The Asian American Writers' Workshop and the Judging Committee reserve the right to take the term “Asian descent” on a case-by-case basis if need be.

Works must have been published by large, trade or small presses/publishers. Self-published works, ‘zines or vanity publications are not eligible. Anthologies or books containing more than one author are not eligible.

Works must be originally written in English.

The Award may be awarded to works that have previously won other prizes or recognition.

Entry of Works

Entries may only be submitted by the author, agent, publicist or publisher of the work.

A completed application form must be submitted with each entry. Four copies of the work (clear photocopies and galleys are acceptable) must also be submitted for review by the Judging Committee. No books will be returned. Additional copies may be requested for shortlisted works. All entries become the property of The Asian American Writers' Workshop or members of the Judging Committee.

Authors, publicists, publishers or agents may submit more than one entry, but a separate application form must be completed for each entry.

A $100.00 entry fee must accompany each separate entry. Checks should be made payable to “The Asian American Writers' Workshop.” In the event that a participant cannot pay this fee, a waiver may be granted upon approval. Participants requesting a waiver must contact the Workshop prior to submitting an entry.

Entries must be received by Friday, April 22, 2005. No exceptions will be made. The Asian American Writers' Workshop will accept entries via First Class Mail, FedEx, UPS or hand delivery. The Workshop is not responsible for lost entries.

Participants are urged to submit eligible works as soon as possible. As soon as entries are received, the Workshop will mail participants acknowledgment cards. Please contact the Workshop via telephone or email if participants do not receive a card four (4) weeks after an entry was submitted.

Please do not contact The Asian American Writers' Workshop or the Judging Committee to inquire about the status of your entry once you have received the acknowledgment card.

Judging

The Judging Committee is selected by the Workshop.

The Judging Committee will be divided into three (3) subcommittees. These subcommittees are responsible for compiling a shortlist of entries submitted for the Award. Once shortlists have been compiled, all nine (9) judges will individually rank shortlisted works on a 1–10 point system (10 being highest) on literary and artistic merit. The works with the highest overall ranking will be awarded Annual Asian American Literary Awards.

The decision of the Judging Committee is final.

Contact Information

The Asian American Literary Award
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop
16 West 32nd Street, Suite 10A
New York, NY 10001
tel:  212.494.0061
fax:  212.494.0062
email  desk@aaww.org
web site

Sakhi, Breakthrough & The New School present a screening of the film MAYA on March 18, 2005, 6:00-9:30 p.m.

“Maya is a powerful film by filmmaker Digvijay Singh that depicts community silence around violence against young girls – and the power of a young boy’s questioning. We look forward to your participation in a stimulating discussion on the involvement of men in the movement to end violence against women.”

The movie will be shown at 66 West 12th St (between 5th and 6th Avenues) Room 407. This is a FREE! event, though seating will be on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Men in the Movement to end Violence Against Women, a discussion moderated by Sunita Mehta, Founder of Women for Afghan Women will include the following speakers: Jon Gilgoff, Educational Alliance and Joe Samalin, Break the Cycle

This event is co-sponsored by Sakhi for South Asian Women, The New School, Lifetime TV’s “Stop Violence Against Women Week”, and Asia Society.

Amitava Kumar reads from Husband of a Fanatic on Thursday, March 17, 7PM @ The Asian American Writers' Workshop, 16 West 32nd Street, Suite 10A, (between 5th Ave & Broadway), New York City.

“In Husband of a Fanatic: A Personal Journey Through India, Pakistan, Love, and Hate (The New Press, 2005), Amitava Kumar examines the Hindu-Muslim conflict in South Asia: hatreds and intimacies joining Indians and Pakistanis, Hindus and Muslims, fundamentalists and secularists, writers and rioters. With a poet’s eye for detail, Kumar draws a map of violence, moving from the wars and nuclear rivalry dividing two nation-states to the more blurred relationship between two religions and their adherents.”

Amitava Kumar is the author of Passport Photos (U of California Press, 2000) and Bombay-London-New York (Routledge, 2002) and the editor of the anthology, Away: The Indian Writer as Expatriate (2003). His writing has appeared in The Nation, Harper’s, and the Times of India, among others. Kumar is the scriptwriter and narrator of the prize-winning documentary film, Pure Chutney.

The event is cosponsored by The New Press, South Asian Journalists Association, and NYU’s Asian / Pacific / American Studies Program & Institute.

For more information, contact the Workshop at 212-494-0061 or visit the AAWW site.

Getting to the Workshop…
Subway: N, R, Q, W, B, D, F, V trains to 34th St/Herald Sq
6 train to 33rd St | 1, 2, 3 trains to 34th St
Bus: M4 to 5th Ave/Madison | M5 to Riverside Dr/5th Ave | M6 to Broadway/6th Ave | M7 to Columbus/Amsterdam | M16 to 34th St Crosstown | M34 to 34th St Crosstown | Q32 Jackson Heights

Photographer and multimedia producer, Shana Dressler, is looking for committed interns to work on various projects associated with her multimedia installation on the Ganesh Festival in Bombay which is in development. Interns are invited to help Shana prepare for a WNYC radio show on Ganesh music on March 31st, a slideshow at the United Nations in May and the preparation for a full scale installation which is in discussion with a New York museum.

Please contact Shana about this opportunity.

Interested interns would be involved in the following:

WNYC Radio Show

– researching Ganesh music
– looking through video footage to pick out interesting audio sound clips
– helping to locate a singer in the tri-sate area to record Ganesh’s 108 names

Slideshow at the UN

– help to locate a student animator currently in art school to work on opening sequence of the slideshow
– help to produce the slideshow which may include an opening dance to Ganesh, a invocation sung to Ganesh and coordinating a light meal
– putting together a press list and marketing materials to advertise slideshow to UN employees
– outreach to invite possible sponsors to fund final trip to Bombay in September 2005 to complete multimedia installation for museum
– work on updating website so that potential donors will have access to a range of information

Multimedia Installation at NY Museum

Once the proposal has been accepted help will also be needed to work on the multimedia installation currently being considered by a New York museum. Interns wishing to work on this should contact Shana for further information.

Internship start date: ASAP for WNYC/UN event; ongoing for Multimedia Installation

Application instructions: Please send a cover letter explaining why you're interested in interning on this project and include your resume as a PDF (preferred method) or MS Word document to shana@shanadressler.com.

Background info: photos

Biography:

Shana Dressler’s career as a multi-media producer has spanned several continents and disciplines. Her recent work includes putting together an exhibition of photographs of the Ganesh Festival as celebrated in Bombay at the National Arts Club in New York; consulting for the Music and Cultural Programming Department at Link TV; working with the Global Peace Initiative of Women on their upcoming Global Youth Leadership Summit; and helping to produce The Spirit of Fes, a 17 city US tour of world sacred music.

As a photographer, Shana has worked for magazines both in the United States and abroad. “If Only It Were Love,” a photography book based on her unrequited love story with an Italian underwater photographer in Italy, is pending publication. The photographs were exhibited at New York University’s Casa Italiana in January of 2003.

As a video journalist Shana covered the “Drumming In The New Millenium” festival shot in Cairo, Egypt for World Entertainment Network and has filmed station spots of world music stars such as Baaba Maal, Habib Koité and Afro Celt Sound System for Link TV.  In 2000, Shana completed “Can't Wait ‘Til Sunday,” a documentary short which she directed and produced with National Geographic photographer/cameraman Bob Sacha, about a Harlem preacher’s last night of work as a mechanic for the United States Postal Service. This film was part of a long-term photography project about spiritual experience in a Pentecostal church in Harlem. A portfolio of photographs from this project is part of the permanent collection of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York.

She has also produced “Around the Globe in 10 Weeks,” a ten part world music lecture and performance series. Speakers included, among others: Robert Browning, World Music Institute; Sean Barlow, Afropop Worldwide; Prof. Gage Averill, Director of the Ethnomusicology Program, NYU; Valerie Naranjo, percussionist of the Saturday Night Live Band, and Bobby Sanabria, Grammy nominated Latin drummer. In 1999, she was hired by Ellipsis Arts, a world music label, to produce the audio CD “African Lullaby” which won the Parent’s Choice Golden Seal Award that same year.  She is currently working on a compilation of African Water Spirit songs for an upcoming exhibition at UCLA’s Fowler Museum slated for 2007.

Shana is a 1989 graduate of Vassar College with a B.A. in Medieval and Renaissance Studies. She received her photography training at the International Center of Photography in New York where she took courses in photojournalism while studying Comparative Religion and Anthropology at Columbia University. She is fluent in Italian, French and Spanish.

This is quite a feat folks. Rajan Sedalia, the illustrator behind the comic strip, “A Cookie Jar,” is having his work now distributed through uComics.com.

There is one in the series that has a group of sperm going down the wrong path while a disgruntled ovary looks on. The tag line is delivered by the sperm who collectively say “Has anyone asked for directions?” Just brilliant.

Via Sree Sreenivasan

The Bloomberg College Editors' Leadership Workshop at the Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, is now accepting applications for the 2005 workshop. Details here. Application deadline is April 15, 2005. Write to workshop director Dr. Nancy Beth Jackson for more information.

Caption: For the debt-ridden farmers of Andhra Pradesh, buying seeds is expensive yet inevitable. © Surya Sen

So begins Swami Vivekananda‘s speeches on September 11, 1893 at The World Parliament of Religions, Chicago.

These speeches are just as inspiring as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s speech in Washington, DC. The similarities are staggering – both were men of the cloth, both appealed to our commonsense and both wanted us to be liberated in some shape or form.

Now you can hear Swami Vivekananda's speeches; Part 1 [7.16mb] & Part 2 [4.78 mb]. The file sizes are large and depending on how fast your connection is, you may stall more than once as you listen through it all.

Thanks JD.