In February 2017, the independent literary journal Chicago Quarterly Review published its first “South Asian American Issue” featuring essays, short stories, and poems written by 38 emerging and established South Asian writers. The Chicago Quarterly Review’s guest editor Moazzam Shiekh has stated that he sees this special issue as the “‘new wave of South Asian American writing’ that reflects the complexity of one’s identity that boldy questions the status quo.” Read NBC’s article on the CQR’s South Asian American issue here.

On April 4, 2017, join us at International House as contributors to the Chicago Quarterly Review’s South Asian American Issue read excerpts from their work published in the issue. This reading will feature award winning authors, including S. Afzal Haidar, Faisal Mohyuddin, Dipika Mukherjee, Toni Nealie, Ravibala Shenoy, and Sachin Waikar. The event will be moderated by senior editor Elizabeth McKenzie, author of the best-selling The Portable Veblen.

This event is sponsored by the Global Voices Performing Arts and Lecture Series and the Committee on South Asian Studies at the University of Chicago.

Praise for the South Asian American issue of the Chicago Quarterly Review:

Manil Suri: “In a time of mounting distrust of foreign cultures and unprecedented attacks against immigrants, this sweeping collection of writing by a new wave of South Asian writers is an antidote that both transports and illuminates. The irrepressible voices within rage against widely diverse assumptions and stereotypes and yet unite to remind us of the universality of the human condition.”
Charles Johnson: “This rich issue is the perfect antidote for the cultural ignorance of those who demonize immigrants and fear the inevitable browning of America. In these memorable stories, essays, poems and photos we see past differences of culture, country and religion straight into the heart of South Asian Americans, realizing that it is our own heart, one that powerfully reminds us of our shared humanity.”

Amritjit Singh: “This rich collection of short stories, poems and creative non-fiction not only achieves guest editor Moazzam Sheikh’s goals but also displays the complex issues of identity and language, diaspora and migration, culture and history, gender and sexuality, experienced today by South Asian American writers. Immigrant identities are almost always in flux, but in their century-old presence in North America, South Asians have not settled on one particular approach to their diverse lives. This ‘unruly bunch’ loves ‘to talk, argue, holler,’ not always choosing to learn from other ethnic and racial histories. Readers, South Asians and others, will have a chance to discover themselves in the voices they hear in these pages.”

Purchase a copy of the South Asian American issue of the Chicago Quarterly Review here.