It's that time of the month again when I shift gears and introduce you to a new book. This month, on this site, I'll be showcasing Kamil Shamsie's new book, Broken Verses.

“Combining the personal with the political, Broken Verses is a thrilling journey through the sights and sounds of modern-day Pakistan, a carefully coded mystery, and an emotionally charged mother-daughter story that asks how we forgive a mother who leaves.”

Coincidentally, the South Asian Journalists Association (SAJA) is presenting a book reading by Kamila Shamsie on Friday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m., at Barnes & Noble, Astor Place, New York City. If you are in the city, please attend the reading.

Time to swap the book out of Tiffinbooks. Thanks to Pooja Makhijani for allowing me to post her book on this site from March 15 to today.

For the next month, I'll feature Suketu Mehta's book, Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. It has received rave reviews and has been short-listed for several illustrious prizes, including the Pulitzer. Mehta recently won the Kiriyama Pacific Rim Book Prize for this book.

I do hope you will buy, read and enjoy the book. If Suketu's break-neck schedule has eased up, I am going to do my best to invite him for an online interview. I'll keep you posted on any developments on this.

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

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

Ok, this is going to sound like a plug for Amazon. Trust me, it is not. I just think Amazon Prime, the new program Amazon launched, may actually save you some money over the long run. If you buy books, dvd's or anything else that Amazon is attempting to push, the $79 a year charge isn't all that bad. Again, you have to rationalize the upfront fee and calculate how many items shipped in two days will get you to break even. I say eight purchases (of whatever) will be my break-even point. Over the course of the last year, though, I think I bought only four books through Amazon. And given that they were all over $25, the shipping was free anyway. I hope Amazon isn't thinking of ending that option in favor of this new program.