g_b Sunday High--18 September: 'BOMgAY' reading by R. Raj Rao

[nitin.karani]

Please feel free to forward this event info widely. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- R. Raj Rao reads from his new anthology 'BOMgAY':   The original six poems in this anthology inspired the acclaimed short film of the same name--the first Indian gay film. Those six poems along with Rao's newer poems have been  compiled as an anthology. Rao will read from the anthology as well as from his first novel, 'The Boyfriend', which will be followed by a question-answer session and the screening of 'BOMgAY'.   R. Raj Rao was born in 1955 in Mumbai. After graduating from Mumbai University in 1976 and completing his Master’s and Doctorate in English Literature, he was awarded several travel grants, which enabled to make presentations on his works to a more global audience. In 1996, he attended the prestigious International Writing Programme at Iowa.   A professor of English at the University of Pune, Rao has to his credit a varied and fair body of work. He is the author of ‘Slide Show’ (poems), ‘One Day I Locked My Flat in Soul City’ (short stories), ‘The Wisest Fool on Earth and other plays’ and ‘Nissim Ezekiel: The Authorized Biography’. He has also edited ‘Ten Indian Writers in Interview’ and co-edited ‘Image of India in the Indian Novel in English (1960–1980)’. Rao’s name also finds pride of place in Bruce King’s seminal work on contemporary Indian poetry. In mid-2003, Rao made his debut as a novelist with ‘The Boyfriend’.   His interest has a wide horizon and includes South Asian, Indian and Caribbean Literature, Gay/ Lesbian literature, Queer Theory, Post Colonial and Indian Independence era prose and poems.   Rao heads ‘Queer Studies Circle’ on the campus of the University of Pune and writes regularly for newspapers and magazines.   "Raj's poems were so explosive, so in-your-face gay, and so incisive of the urban milieu I had been trying to capture... I was determined to make something of this work." -- The late Riyad Wadia in an essay on the making of 'BOMgAY' (Queer Asian Cinema: Shadows In The Shade. Ed. Andrew Grossman, The Haworth Press, New York, 2001). Earning its place in cinematic history by being India's first gay film, Wadia's BOMgAY has R. Raj Rao's wonderful poetry at its heart. Six vignettes address what it means to be gay in contemporary India and the struggle of the gay community to establish an identity (Popcornq/Planetout.com: http://www.planetout.com/popcornq/db/getfilm.html?63590) --------------------- References:   1) Essay: 'Long Life of a Short Film' by Riyad Vinci Wadia (http://www.planetout.com/pno/popcornq/movienews/2000/07/07/wadia.html)   2) Interview with R. Raj Rao: "Funny Boy-friend" (www.bombaydost.com. Click on 'Xtras' then 'Articles')  3) Essay by R. Raj Rao: "Confessions of a gay writer" (www.bombaydost.com. Click on 'Xtras' then 'Articles') *******************************************************   Please be at the reading around 5 p.m. on Sunday, 18 September 2005 at The Humsafar Drop-in Centre, 1st floor, Vakola Municipal Market Building, Near Vakola Masjid and Raheja Point, Santa Cruz (East), Mumbai. The event will commence by 5.30 p.m.   Directions: It's approximately minimum fare distance by auto-rickshaw from Santacruz East (Western Railway). You could also take bus routes 311 or 313. The same routes also operate from Kurla West (Central Railways). Alight at: Vakola Masjid.   All are welcome!   Our space sponsor, The Humsafar Trust (E-mail Helpline: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; phone: +91-22-26650547/26673800), would appreciate contributions from the LGBT community.   Bombay Dost   RSS feeds from select queer and non-queer blogs: http://bloglines.com/public/nitinkarani Group Site: http://www.gaybombay.info ========================== This message was posted to the gay_bombay Yahoo! Group. Responses to messages (by clicking "Reply") will also be posted on the eGroup and sent to all members. If you'd like to respond privately to the author of any message then please compose and send a new email message to the author's email address. Post:-  gay_bombay@yahoogroups.com Subscribe:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Digest Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] No Mail Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Individual Mail Mode:- [EMAIL PROTECTED] Contact Us:-  [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives are at http://www.mail-archive.com/gay_bombay%40yahoogroups.com/maillist.html Classifieds for personal advertisements are back on www.gaybombay.info site. Please exercise restraint in the language of your personal advertisement. SPONSORED LINKS Bombay india Cause and effect essay Causes of depression Lgbt YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS  Visit your group "gay_bombay" on the web.    To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:  [EMAIL PROTECTED]    Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.