The World in Other Words

Bengalis in CanLit

K. Gandhar Chakravarty, Arif Anwar, Laboni Islam and Subrata Kumar Das

1:00pm

Sunday, September 24, 2023

Brigantine Patio

60 mins

Canadian Literature encompasses the contributions of writers and poets of many different language origins. Bengali origin writers are no less significant in the expansive canon of CanLit. Many of whom, such as Bharati Mukherjee, are represented on the short and long lists of Canada’s major literary awards, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Griffin Poetry Prize and others. Meet a few of these English-language writers of Bengali origin at this exciting talk session, including K. Gandhar Chakravarty, Arif Anwar and Laboni Islam. Noted writer and curator Subrata Kumar Das will moderate the conversation.

Conversation

Free

Outdoor Event

How to attend

This FREE event is open to the public.

Canadian Literature encompasses the contributions of writers and poets of many different language origins. Bengali origin writers are no less significant in the expansive canon of CanLit. Many of whom, such as Bharati Mukherjee, are represented on the short and long lists of Canada’s major literary awards, including the Scotiabank Giller Prize, Griffin Poetry Prize and others. Meet a few of these English-language writers of Bengali origin at this exciting talk session, including K. Gandhar Chakravarty, Arif Anwar and Laboni Islam. Noted writer and curator Subrata Kumar Das will moderate the conversation.

Conversation

Free

Outdoor Event

Featured Authors

K. Gandhar Chakravarty

Author of Kolkata Dreams (2009) and Maple Vedas (2010), poet K. Gandhar Chakravarty is also a published academic and musician.

Read more about K. Gandhar Chakravarty

Arif Anwar (He/Him) is the author of The Storm. He is based in Canada and occasionally in Bangladesh.

Read more about Arif Anwar

Laboni Islam was born in Canada to Bangladeshi parents. Her poem “Lunar Landing, 1966” was shortlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize (2017). She is the author of the chapbooks Light Years (Baseline Press, 2022) and Trimming the Wick (ignitionpress, 2023). Laboni serves as an arts educator in gallery and community spaces and creates curriculum resources for organizations that advance the Global Goals.

Read more about Laboni Islam

Subrata Kumar Das

Subrata Kumar Das, an immigrant in Canada since 2013, is an author and curator. A member of the Writers’ Union of Canada and Literary Translators Association of Canada, Subrata has 29 books to his credit. Subrata’s Bengali book on CanLit has been hugely acclaimed by the Bengali literature-lovers living in Canada and Bangladesh. The initiator of Bangladeshi Novels (bdnovels.org), the first website on Bengali literature in 2003, Subrata is the recipient of Nalanda Best Canadian Bengali Author Award at Canadian South Asian Literary Festival 2023 and Gayatri GaMarsh Memorial Award in 2018. He was shortlisted as Best Canadian Immigrant Award in 2021.

Read more about Subrata Kumar Das

1:00pm

Sunday, September 24

Brigantine Patio

60 mins

How to attend

This FREE event is open to the public

TIFA 2023

More events on September 24

Conversation

2023 PEN Canada Graeme Gibson Talk

Masha Gessen, Andrey Kurkov, Margaret Atwood, and Nahlah Ayed

Sunday, September 24 at 4:00pm

Conversation

Animals of the Body

Corinna Chong, Paola Ferrante, and Anuja Varghese

Sunday, September 24 at 4:30pm

Conversation

At Last and Too Soon

Charlie Foran

Sunday, September 24 at 11:30am

Conversation

Bengalis in CanLit

K. Gandhar Chakravarty, Arif Anwar, Laboni Islam, and Subrata Kumar Das

Sunday, September 24 at 1:00pm

Free

Carnival Queens & Dearest Dreams

Nadia L. Hohn and Irene Luxbacher

Sunday, September 24 at 2:00pm

Conversation

Chronicles of Conflict

Bachtyar Ali and Jamaluddin Aram

Sunday, September 24 at 1:00pm

Free

Creating a Giant of a Picture

Bei Lynn

Sunday, September 24 at 1:30pm

Free

Creating a Giant of a Picture

Bei Lynn

Sunday, September 24 at 12:00pm

Free

Decoration Station

Vikki VanSickle and Miki Sato

Sunday, September 24 at 3:30pm

Conversation

Diaspora Dialogues: Sheltering In Place

Rebecca Rosenblum and Elizabeth Ruth

Sunday, September 24 at 11:00am

Conversation

Diaspora Dialogues: The Haunting of Us

Sophie Jai and Camille Hernández-Ramdwar

Sunday, September 24 at 12:00pm

Conversation

Diaspora Dialogues: The Sweep of History

Janika Oza and William Ping

Sunday, September 24 at 5:30pm

Conversation

How to Break a System

Babak Lakghomi and Moez Surani

Sunday, September 24 at 3:00pm

Exhibition

OCAD Animated Literary Projections

Sunday, September 24 at 10:30am

Workshop

On Seeing in Poetry

Kate Cayley

Sunday, September 24 at 4:00pm