Mahak Jain

Last year, I participated in an interview with Kim Davids Mandar on the topic of appropriation. She interviewed a variety of authors across Canada and the resulting conversations have been collected in an anthology titled In|Appropriate: Interviews with Canadian Authors on the Writing of Difference. The topic of appropriation has resulted in heated debates, often lacking nuance, not only in Canada but around the world. The book is an important and thoughtful addition to the conversation. It includes interviews with Ian Williams, Farzana Doctor, Jael Richardson, Waubgeshig Rice, Ayelet Tsabari, and many others. To celebrate the release of the book, I’ll be participating in a a couple of events: The first is a panel for the University of Waterloo on Tuesday, November 3, at 1:30 p.m., on the topic of literary appropriation. I’ll be in conversation with Wayne Grady and Farzana Doctor, with questions from Kim Davids Mandar. Dr. Daniel Bratton in the Department of English has included the book as a course text and has organized the panel in collaboration with Gordon Hill Press and the Elora Poetry Centre. The event will take place on Microsoft Teams and you can find the link and details through the Elora Poetry Centre. The second is the book launch for the anthology on Sunday, November 8, at 3:00 p.m. In additional to a Q&A with the audience, the event will include short readings from some of the anthology’s contributors: Sanchari Sur,  Wayne Grady, Farzana Doctor, Arif Anwar, Angie Abdou, and myself. You can […]

This fall, I am participating in a number of events, including two book launches and a literary festival, to support some incredible writers and an important conversation about appropriation. As details roll in about the other events, I am happy to share the one that’s coming up first: a virtual book launch for Sheung-King’s debut novel You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked. VIRTUAL BOOK LAUNCH You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked. by Sheung-King (Book*hug, 2020) Tuesday, October 27, 7:00 p.m. You Are Eating an Orange. You Are Naked. is an atmospheric, elliptical novel about a young translator living in Toronto who frequently travels abroad—to Hong Kong, Macau, Prague, Tokyo—often with an unnamed lover who has a tendency to disappear without explanation. In restaurants and hotel rooms, the enigmatic and sometimes comic couple tell folk tales to each other, engaging in verbal play and philosophical questions that challenges Western tropes about so-called Orientalism. I am delighted to be hosting the launch of Sheung-King’s novel and to be interviewing him during the event. The launch will also feature a reading by the author and a screening of the book trailer with an introduction by Maari Sugawara. You can livestream the event on YouTube or register to participate through a Zoom Webinar. To learn more about the author and the book, check out the Facebook event page.

This summer I had the pleasure of reading Blaze Island by Catherine Bush in advance of its release. Blaze Island is a modern-day retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Set against the backdrop of climate change, the novel raises many questions about the past, present, and future of our biosphere; about the language of weather; and about the risks of climate change denial. I was able to ask Catherine these questions directly, in an interview for The New Quarterly, where she offered beautiful and brilliant insights about the way our world is shifting around us: Icebergs are awesome in the truest sense: they’re huge, stunning mountains and sheets of ice. They’re also small, broken ice islands. They inspire awe. And grief. It’s an incredible thing to watch icebergs float past your back door. This is ancient ice, ice from the early days of the human story. To encounter this ice is to confront our own past from ten thousand years ago and then watch the past, which may hold the key to our future, dissolve. Read the interview in full on The New Quarterly’s website. You can order your copy of Blaze Island by Catherine Bush directly from the publisher.

Up until last year, I taught regularly with Inkwell Workshops, which offers free, drop-in writing workshops to people living with mental health or addiction issues. Recently, I returned to Inkwell to lead a literary salon on how to apply for literary grants in Canada. A recording of the salon isn’t available, but if you are interested in applying for a literary grant, download a copy of the How to: Literary Grants guide that I developed. Inkwell Workshops offers innovative writing workshops, one-on-one mentorships, and guided discussions for free. Right now, all their workshops are online, and you can find a full schedule on their website.

Recently, I moderated the FOLD: Words Without Borders Panel, where I interviewed four incredible authors of young adult fiction: Imam Baksh; Sandhya Menon; Sheena Kamal; and Lindsay Wong. The panel was such a joy, brimming with insights from the panelists about the art and aim of writing for teenagers. Since the festival was virtual, the organizers at FOLD recorded the panels for those who couldn’t attend! Watch a recording of the panel below. You can also follow this link: FOLD 2020: Words Without Borders.

I am excited to share that I will be moderating the Young Adult Fiction panel at the FOLD Festival this year! Due to the pandemic, the festival has moved all events online. This means that you can participate in the festival even if you aren’t in the Greater Toronto Area (the festival usually takes place in Brampton). All events are free, including the panel I will be a part of, Words Without Borders, with four incredible young adult authors: Sheena Kamal; Imam Baksh; Sandhya Menon; Lindsay Wong. Here’s a description of the event: Authors from Canada, the USA, and Guyana discuss how books explore the way we see ourselves and the world around us. With books that tackle topics like school, boxing and travel in genres that cover everything from fantasy to fairytales and romance, students will hear excerpts from new and established writers and enjoy a powerful discussion. The event is taking place on Thursday, April 30th, 2:00pm – 2:30pm EST. The event is free but has limited capacity, so make sure to register before space runs out!