Press/Events.
VERB Wellington 2019
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Wednesday, November 6, 2019
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6:30 PM 7:30 PM
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Public Trust Hall131 - 135 Lambton QuayWellingtonNew Zealand (map)
Celebrate the start of Verb Festival with a trip into the unanswerable question of “what is the essential struggle”? Verb authors offer ideas that will take us from the personal to the political, the beautiful and the ludicrous, so prepare for a multi-faceted journey to the heart of it all. Speakers include: Nadine Anne Hura, Sarah Moss (UK), Sinéad Gleeson (Ireland), D. Nandi Odhiambo (Africa/Canada), Nick Ascroft, Eamonn Marra, Rijula Das, Harry Giles (Orkney), Duncan Sarkies. Grab a drink and meet the authors afterwards.
Michael King Writers' Residency 2019
The 14th Michael King Writers' Centre residency for emerging writers 2019 was held by Rijula Das who lives and works in Wellington.
Read more about her project here.
Dastaan Award 2016
Rijula Das was awarded the Dastaan Award 2016 for her story Notes from a Passing.
Judges' Note: "A father-son relationship marked by distance and a lack of communication might be a commonplace theme in fiction, but in Notes from a Passing, Rijula Das makes it extraordinary through her treatment of the subject. Rijula’s diction is poetic and graceful, and her narrative is filled with wisdom and insights that are at once heartrending and satisfying. Notes is a wonderful example of meticulous writing. The descriptions seem to have been forged with care and precision. Notes will hold your hand and take you along on an exploration of grief as its narrator begins to anticipate and understand the immeasurable dimensions of the loss of a parent."
Read more about it here.
Bookbound 2020
Daniel M Ortberg & Rijula Das hosted by author Amber Massie-Blomfield
Wednesday 29 April 2020
Watch on youtube here
Acclaimed American author, Daniel M Ortberg, is Slate’s Dear Prudence columnist, and a leading writer on issues of gender, identity and what it means to transition. He’ll be speaking with New Zealand-based author, Rijula Das, whose academic work focuses on the connections between public space and sexual violence. A Death in Shonagachhi, her powerful debut novel, is born of this research. Chaired by international theatre producer and author, Amber Massie-Blomfield.
Pre-recorded. Subtitles available.
New Zealand Festival of Arts 2020
Writing Women’s Lives with Jokha Alharthi and Rijula Das
Jokha Alharthi is the first Omani to have a novel translated into English and her book Celestial Bodies is the first Arabic novel to have won the International Booker Prize. Alharthi’s story brings the lives of women in a rapidly changing Oman into sharp focus. For many of her Western readers these stories are a rare and insightful window into a little-known world. Rijula Das’ debut novel A Death in Shonagachhi was recently released by Picador India and tells the story of sex workers in Calcutta. They speak with Kiran Dass about their relationship to their fictional creations and why we need more stories about women, written by women.