This reading is to be presented at the Kala Academy this evening (April 23, 2010, Friday, at 6 pm). If you'd like a Powerpoint copy of this presentation (with photos), contact Dan Driscoll <[email protected]>, --FN
Presents a Public Reading from Modern Goan Literature Violet Dias Lannoy: 1925-74, was born of Goan parents in Mozambique and educated in Belgaum and Bombay. Her Novel Pears from the Willow Tree was considered a masterpiece by Black American novelist Richard Wright. She was planning a collection of African folk tales at the time of her death. In 1974 the Chief Minister of Goa opened a memorial exhibit dedicated to her in the public gardens of Panjim. Violet as teenager Her father was a ‘District Superintendant’ in Tanganyika, and mother Marina Velho was from a Heritage-House Family in Caranzalem, Goa---where the ‘Exxion’ (‘Behold the Man’) household shrine is still venerated by local people. The children (girls and brother Antonio) received early education mostly in Belgaum. After Graduating with Honors from St. Xavier’s Bombay, Violet first worked with M.K.Gandhi (‘The Mahatma’) in the Kurukshetra Refugee Camp, and later became associated with United Nations Projects in France and in Uganda. Violet's parents: Josinho Dias & Marina (Velho) Dias. Taken at Alto Porvorim, Goa, (1974). Violet’s maternal Grandparents, Camille Velho of Tonca/Caranzalem & Esmeralda Martin (Bicholim). Camille Xavier Velho (1900-1983) ... was of land-owning family; the property upon which Kamat Mansion building complex now stands , near Miramar Circle, was his property---and his daughter-in-law Susanne Velho and family are in residence there. Susanne’s husband Gregory Velho, a Marine Engineer trained in Glasgow Scotland and employed at Mazagon Docks in Bombay, was early in life victim of heart failure. Wedding Photo of... Violet Dias’s Uncle & Aunt, Gambetta Diniz (Curtorim, Salcete) & Lilia (Velho) of Caranzalem. Photo by Richard Lannoy The British writer and art photographer Richard Lannoy (who in due course became Violet Dais's spouse, several years after the untimely death of her first husband Behram Warden) is widely known in academic circles for his anthropological and folkloric works about India---especially for his ‘Study of Indian Culture and Society’ published by Oxford U. Press in 1971 under title THE SPEAKING TREE. His photographic talent is well illustrated by this camera portrait of his wife Violet. Violet’s Novel, Published 1989... in the United States, by Three Continents Press, Washington, D.C.; with Biographical Introduction by Richard Lannoy, and ‘Afterword’ by Dr. Peter Nazareth. Professor Peter Nazareth … Director of Department for African & Asian Literary Studies at University of Iowa. Born of Goan father and Malaysian mother (in Uganda) he was unwilling to entertain requests to edit a book on Goan writing on grounds that he ‘was not a Goan’; but his ‘Anthology’ was first published in the United States in 1983; this 2010 Indian Edition (pictured), which includes Violet’s Short Story Roses with the Grass, is result of a project coordination between Frederick Noronha’s Goa,1556 and Broadway Book Centre. “Pivoting on the Point of Return. . . Modern Goan Literature”... is the Title selected for Peter Nazareth’s Indian Edition of Goan Literature: A Modern Reader, (which originally appeared in The Journal of South Asian Literature (Winter, Spring 1983) from the Asian Studies Centre of Michigan State University). The book is currently in stock at Broadway Books. In Modern Goan Literature Dr. Nazareth included Excerpts from works of some fifty Indian Writers---including very many Goans---such as Dom Martin, Lambert Mascarenhas, Armando Menezes, Mario Miranda, Manoharrai Sardessai, Eunice De Souza and Violet Dias Lannoy. Biographical notes on the contributors appear in a final section. Writings by Peter Nazareth, which include the full length novel IN A BROWN MANTLE. . .. . . have been translated into ten languages. He was a great admirer of Violet Dais's writing; on his recommendation her writings have been included on required reading lists, at several American Universities offering Asian Studies. To quote Professor Nazareth, from his Introduction: “Working on ‘the Anthology’, I began to discover Goan writers who had something to say. And I discovered a major Goan writer, Violet Dias Lannoy, thanks to Joseph Henry---assigned to me by the African-American World Studies Program as Research Assistant. Henry read her story “Roses With the Grass”, which I could not understand at the time . . . . .and considered it. . .to be in his opinion ‘very good’. He insisted on us publishing the whole story instead of an extract, as I had been suggesting because the story seemed too long. By the time the anthology came out, I had grown enough as a reader to realize that Henry was right; the story was indeed very good; if one read it slowly and carefully and not in a hurry.. . Reading the text could challenge the reader. . .” Professor Nazareth continues: “…I have said that Violet Dias Lannoy had to return to Africa . . .. . . where she was born, in order to explore the question of whether one could be born again, in the era of post-colonization. Her story “Roses with the Grass” (sent to me by her sister Bemvinda in Goa) is set in a school in Kenya, where the students were all African and the teachers (with the exception of a new African teacher) were all white.” Maasai Man ...As a U.N project observer, Violet had the singular privilege of being invited to witness tribal initiation rites for African youths. Violet’s sister Bemvinda Dias da Cruz. . . . . who brought Roses with the Grass to Professor Nazareth’s attention, is a person of substance in her own right. She is known to many Goans as their ‘former Teacher--- of Western Languages, at the Goa Liceu. A brother (Antonio) is an IAF officer retired, resident in Bangalore. Compliments to Daniel De Souza, on his Graduation in Theatre Arts from Xavier’s College, Mumbai. As it happens, a grand nephew of Violet is now producing and directing stage events in Mumbai. Thus, the framed copy of our souvenir poster goes to him---with text inscription on the back: Violet Dias Lannoy is your Great Aunt, sister of your maternal grandfather Tony Dias. In more recent times her work is becoming increasingly popular in University Asian Studies Departments. Professor Peter Nazareth (Iowa University, USA) speaks of her as having been ‘a major writing talent’. Her book Pears from the Willow Tree is the story of an Indian educational institute in the confused and critical era following the Gandhi Quit India Movement and Indian Independence. When you have the opportunity, you might give some thought to an adaptation of this Novel for stage or screen. It is just possible that a uniquely Indian dramatic episode might be fashioned from that book. Dan Driscoll & Bomfilio Da Cruz, in Goa. Regrets, from our Ladies. . . Bemvinda Dias Da Cruz Germana Dinis Driscoll. Respectfully presented, In Association with Kala Academy, Thanks to : Good Offices of Member Secretary, Dr. P.R. Phaldesai. Daniel L. (Dan) Driscoll---Tel 9822123470. Bomfilio (Bonny) da Cruz---Tel 9850767850. Reading is scheduled for Kala Academy Black Box, Friday 23rd April, 2010, @ 6:00 P.M.
