Welcome to our eighth annual Festival. We are delighted to welcome the Bagri Foundation as title partners, offering us the opportunity to expand our outreach programmes to schools and libraries across the UK. This partnership enables Asia House to further promote reading, writing and to introduce excellent Asian literature to a wider audience. With the theme, Changing Values across Asia, we explore China 25 years after Tiananmen, Burma two years after their milestone election, changing sexual mores in South Asia and the Middle East and democracy in India in the run-up to the largest democratic election in the world. Headlining the programme is Hanif Kureishi, who has been making waves with his newly released novel The Last Word. A new series, Extra Words will introduce debut authors from Pakistan, Nepal and Thailand. We have some fun with British Asian humour, Vietnamese food, Ninja Meerkats, and singing, dancing and storytelling for families. With writing spanning over 17 countries, we hope you will find much to enjoy at the Festival. Asia House is a centre of expertise on Asia and the leading pan-Asian organisation in the UK. Through our programme of events on culture, policy, business and education, we promote understanding and the mutual exchange of ideas, building stronger relationships between the diverse communities of Europe and Asia. Asia House is a non-profit, non-political organisation. The Bagri Foundation is a UK registered charity whose principal aims include the advancement of literacy, education and the arts, as well as the appreciation and understanding of Asian cultures. The foundation runs rich and diverse cultural programmes and collaborates with other organisations to further its own charitable objectives.
Youth Engagement Young Reporters Students aged 13-15 will be joining the Festival team for media training to enable them to report on our Saturday events and compile an e-magazine, Rising Sun. Libraries We will expand our annual libraries programme from London to the Midlands with a series of interactive storytelling events for young children. Schools The Festival will visit London and Midlands area schools with writing workshops that will bring authors into classrooms, helping to develop writing skills and confidence. Student Writing Competition Students across the country will be invited to submit stories to the competition. The winners will have their work published online and engage with writing and publishing professionals through mentoring opportunities. For more information www.asiahouse.org Follow us Twitter: @festofasianlit #FAL14
FREE to children accompanied by a responsible adult. All Saturday events for children 5+ BOOKING REQUIRED Storytelling theatre, poetry, origami, music and tai chi will take us on a journey to other cultures, inspiring young imaginations.
Saturday 10 May
Saturday 17 May
11.00 Tai Chi for Children and Parents
11.00 Tales From Old Japan with Kumiko Mendl of A Thousand Cranes
Derek Pearce from the Mei Quan Academy of Tai Chi will introduce children and parents to the traditional Chinese art of tai chi, which helps develop balanced health for body and mind. 12.00 SPIN Interactive Poetry Theatre The Apples and Snakes word wizards present an exciting and interactive show as they cook up new ways to play with words and show just what you can do with them. The show includes top-class rappers, poets and storytellers Francesca Beard, Debbie Guneratne and others, who will bring their own distinctive style to get your kids fired up by poetry. 13.00 Snack break Fruit, granola bars and refreshments will carry us through to our next event. Families are invited to bring a packed lunch, or eat at the Asia House Café. 13.30 Poetry Workshop for Kids
EXPLORE • IM AG IN E
Join Francesca Beard as she introduces words, games and activities to get children gearing up their imaginations and writing their own poems.
•C RE AT E• CONNECT
Come and hear enchanting, bewitching and hair-raising stories of magnificent Mount Iwate (that blew hot and cold), the humble woodcutter and his beautiful but strange bride and the snorting, burping Ogre of Rashomon Gate. These delightful traditional Japanese tales are brought to life through inventive storytelling, puppetry and music. 11.45 Snack break 12.15 Origami Workshop Explore the art of Japanese paper folding. Join us to discover the magic of turning a simple square of colourful paper (washi) into cranes, samurais, houses and more - all to take away with you. All supplies provided. 13.30 Ninja Meerkats Stories, music and performance by Gareth P. Jones Author of the Ninja Meerkats and Dragon Detective series Legend tells of an elite fighting force of meerkats – The Clan of the Scorpion. Under the guidance of their mentor, the wise (and cryptic) Grandmaster One-Eye, and armed with ninja-know-how, these four warriors are sworn to protect the world from the evil plans of their enemy, the Ringmaster. Join Gareth for a lively, interactive performance with irreverent humour, unbridled energy and original songs, inspired by his books and played on a variety of instruments.
PRE-FESTIVAL Wednesday 2 April 18.45
Yiyun Li and Tash Aw In conversation with Claire Armitstead We open our Festival examination of Changing Values across Asia with two novels set in the “new” China. Li launches her latest novel, Kinder Than Solitude, a tale of attempted murder, deception, honour and the power of digital technology to shape the present and future. Aw’s Man Booker Prize long-listed, Five Star Billionaire, charts the overlapping lives of migrant Malaysian workers in Shanghai, counterpointing their trials and tribulations with the old life they left behind. Sponsored by the British Malaysian Society
Tickets £10 Concessions £8 | Friends £6
Thursday 10 April 18.45
Separations
Kyung-sook Shin – Please Look After Mother Krys Lee – Drifting House Qaisra Shahraz – Revolt With Yasmeen Khan The 2011 Man Asian Prize winner Shin and debut novelist Lee join us from Korea for this timely discussion about what happens when countries suffer a political division. They are joined by British Pakistani author, Shahraz, whose work focuses on women and partition. Join us for this discussion of their work, their countries and how political separations have influenced social values. This event is in partnership with the British Council as part of the Korea Market Focus Cultural Programme at The London Book Fair 2014. In association with the Pan Asian Women’s Association
Tickets £8 Concessions £7 | Friends £5 Wednesday 30 April 18.45
Why Do Indians Vote? Democracy in India Mukulika Banerjee – Why India Votes Patrick French – India- A Portrait Lord Meghnad Desai With Salil Tripathi A wide-ranging exploration of the world’s largest democracy, what motivates its citizens to vote, what democracy means to them and the issues of the Indian election, scheduled to take place around this time. Tickets £10 Concessions £8 | Friends £6
FESTIVAL Tuesday 6 May 18.45
Opening Night with Hanif Kureishi – The Last Word In conversation with Razia Iqbal Already generating high levels of media attention, The Last Word promises to be Kureishi’s most entertaining novel yet. It tells the story of Harry, a young English writer commissioned to write the biography of Mamoon, an eminent Indian-born author. Harry and Mamoon find themselves in a battle of wills – which one of them will have the last word? Tickets £12 Concessions £10 | Friends £8
Thursday 8 May 18.30
Kamila Shamsie – A God in Every Stone In conversation with Arifa Akbar
Wednesday 7 May 18.45
North Korea – Threat or Bluster? John Sweeney – North Korea Undercover Paul French – North Korea – State of Paranoia With Charles Scanlon North Korea is a country that continues to make headlines - arousing curiosity and fear in equal measure. Award-winning BBC journalist Sweeney and East Asia expert French share their experiences in the country and address important questions about its uncertain future.
The award-winning Pakistani author discusses her latest novel, a story of friendship, injustice, love and betrayal, played out on a global canvas. Extra Words: Former policeman turned writer, Omar Shahid Hamid, will join us to preview his debut novel The Prisoner, a thriller set in the shadow world of Karachi. Tickets £10 Concessions £8 | Friends £6
Friday 9 May 12.30 Lunch / 13.00 Talk
Brigid Keenan – Packing Up - Further Adventures of A Trailing Spouse With Claire Armitstead The author of Diplomatic Baggage takes us on another wildly funny tour through her life in Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Palestine and back home to retirement, which could be her biggest challenge yet. Tickets £15 Concessions £12 | Friends £10 Ticket price includes a light buffet lunch
Tickets £10 Concessions £8 | Friends £6
Friday 9 May 18.45
Cracking Up – The Evolution of British Asian Humour Anil Gupta Saurabh Kakkar Shazia Mirza With Sathnam Sanghera Asia House continues its popular British Asian evenings with an entertaining look at Brit-Asian humour, its development as a mark of cultural identity and how it has evolved since Goodness Gracious Me. Tickets £10 Concessions £8 | Friends £6
Tuesday 13 May 18.45
Changing Sexual Mores
Saturday 10 & Sunday 11 May 19.30
The Shroud
With Siddhartha Bose and Avaes Mohammad (at Rich Mix – East London) The Shroud is a miniature epic exploring loss, time and the things that connect us. Drawing on Hindu myth, memories and personal letters, the play is composed as a series of interweaving dialogues between the poets Bose and Mohammad. The ancient and the modern combine to create an inventive, quietly beautiful meditation on death, ritual, fathers and sons.
Shereen el Feki – Sex and the Citadel Sally Howard – The Kama Sutra Diaries With Moni Mohsin Sex is entwined with religion, tradition, gender and politics across Asia. It makes the perfect lens for examining the region’s complex social landscape. This evening, we take a serious but entertaining look at dating, love, marriage, divorce and LGBT culture in the Middle East, India and Pakistan.
Monday 12 May 18.45
China – 25 Years After Tiananmen Jonathan Mirsky Michael Bristow Jonathan Fenby – Will China Dominate the 21st Century? With Rob Gifford Twenty-five years after the People’s Army crushed protestors in Tiananmen Square, this event remains a taboo subject in China. Our panel looks at the legacy of Tiananmen in today’s China – and the continuing efforts of the government to change perceptions of the 1989 protests. Tickets £10 Concessions £8 | Friends £6
Brave New Worlds: Digital Freedom in East Asia
Tickets £8 Concessions £7 | Friends £5
Giles Ji Ungpakorn – Thailand Gus Hosein – Privacy International Vanessa Tucker – Freedom House, USA (on China) Anja Kovacs – Internet Democracy Project, Delhi Plus a video testimony from Vietnam With Jo Glanville – Director, English PEN
Wednesday 14 May 18.30
Have developments in digital technology brought a greater freedom of communication for writers in Asia or do they now face restrictions in new forms? While on one hand, channels for dissent have widened, so have modes of surveillance and detection.
In partnership with Penned in the Margins Tickets from Rich Mix: www.richmix.org.uk or 020 7613 7498
Thursday 15 May 18.45
John Keay Midnight’s Descendants: South Asia from Partition to Present Day Midnight’s Descendants is the first history of South Asia as a whole. Correlating and contrasting the fortunes of all the constituent nations over the last six decades, it affords unique insights into one of the world’s most dynamic regions. Extra Words: Nepalese Indian author Prajwal Parajuly will join us to speak about his debut novel, Land Where I Flee. Tickets £10 Concessions £8 | Friends £6
In partnership with English PEN
Tickets £8 Concessions £7 | Friends £5
Monday 19 May 18.30
Wednesday 21 May 18.45
Peter Popham – The Lady and the Peacock
Lord Bhikhu Parekh
Burma – A Work in Progress After regular visits to Burma, Popham takes a look at what has happened politically, socially and economically since the election two years ago and analyses the contribution of Aung San Suu Kyi since she has been part of the new government. Extra Words: Thai author, Tew Bunnag, makes his UK debut with Curtain of Rain, a novel of politics, power and greed – and the clash between traditional values and consumerism in modern Thailand. Tickets £10 Concessions £8 | Friends £6 Friday 16 May Talk/Demo 12.00 / Lunch 13.15
The Vietnamese Market Cookbook Van Tran and Anh Vu
Talk, demo and lunchtime tasting of one of the world’s up and coming great cuisines with the creators of BanhMi11, whose award winning street food can be found at their shops, food stalls and pop-up diners across east and central London. Tickets £15 Concessions £12 | Friends £10 Ticket price includes a light, Vietnamese buffet lunch.
Tuesday 20 May 18.45
New Pan-Asian Fiction Romesh Gunesekera – Noontide Toll Xiaolu Guo – I Am China Roopa Farooki – The Good Children With Paul Blezard We preview these three novels before they are published. The stories of Noontide Toll reveal Sri Lanka as it moves forward after nearly 3 decades of conflict. Written by one of Granta’s 2013 Best Young Authors, I Am China is the story of young lovers separated during the Jasmine Revolution. Farooki’s The Good Children is a landmark epic of the South Asian immigrant experience. Tickets £8 Concessions £7 | Friends £5
India’s Contribution to the Great War An estimated 1.4 million Indians served overseas during World War I, with over 60,000 loosing their lives. The cost of the war drove the Indian economy close to bankruptcy. Yet their contribution to the war effort is largely overlooked. In this centenary of the War, join us for a fascinating talk by Lord Parekh, in recognition of India’s complete and unswerving support of Great Britain’s war. Canapé reception sponsored by Paul Bloomfield Catering Tickets £15 Concessions £12 | Friends £10
How to book
Venues
Asia House
Asia House
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7307 5454 Email: enquiries@asiahouse.co.uk Online: www.asiahouse.org
63 New Cavendish Street, London, W1G 7LP Nearest stations: Oxford Circus, Regent Street, Bond Street
Rich Mix
Tickets for The Shroud from Rich Mix
35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London, E1 6LA
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7613 7498 Online: richmix.org.uk/whats-on/event/the-shroud/
Nearest stations: Liverpool Street, Shoreditch High Street (overground)
The Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival is grateful to these companies and individuals who have supported us: Paul Business card 1.pdf
Title Partner
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Partners
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Festival Director
The Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival is produced by:
Adrienne Loftus Parkins
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