Anisha Lalvani & Poornima Rajamani: Politics & Identity In Fiction

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The show opens with Anisha and Poornima talking about what writing and creativity means to them. They share their earliest memories of writing and how each of them decided to pursue it seriously. We chat about the similarity of themes in their manuscripts and delve into literature in politics and identity, sprinkled with some great book recommendations! We talk about censorship and what each of them is exploring with their respective manuscripts. Later, we chat about the Emerging Writers Residency, their writing routines and more book recommendations! The episode ends with excerpts from Anisha and Poornima’s manuscripts narrated by each of them respectively.

Mentions: Toni Morrison, Jazz, Don McLean, Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov, The Godfather, Kunal Purohit, H-Pop: The Secretive World of Hindutva Pop Stars, Saeed Naqvi, Being The Other: The Muslim In India, Prophet Song, Paul Lynch, Girls Who Stray, Hurda, Atharva Pandit, Mother India, Prayag Akbar, Quarter Life, Devika Rege, Prelude To A Riot, Annie Zaidi, Leila, Rakshanda Jalil, But You Don’t Look Like A Muslim, English August, Upamanyu Chatterjee, Like Being Alive Twice, Dharini Bhaskar, Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak, The Master And Margarita, Mikhail Bulgakov, Rumors Of Spring: A Girlhood in Kashmir, Farah Bashir, Munnu: A Boy From Kashmir, Malik Sajad, Enid Blyton, Wuthering Heights, Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead, A Room With A View, E.M. Foster, The God Of Small Things, Arundathi Roy, Satanic Verses. Salman Rushdie, Ground Beneath Her Feet, The Illicit Happiness Of Other People, Manu Joseph, The Sly Company Of People Who Cae, Rahul Bhattacharya, The Bluest Eye, Murakami, Wide Sargasso Sea, jean Rhys, A Bad Character, Deepti Kapoor, Age Of Vice, True Detective, Silence Of The Lambs, The Killing, Wes Anderson, Darjeeling Limited, Glastonbury, The Sinner, Adolescence, Mindhunter, Broadchurch

Anisha Lalvani has a Master’s of Arts degree in English Literature from Mumbai University. She has worked in publishing and on various literary projects. She currently works in communications at a leading think tank that engages with the nexus of environment, economic opportunity and human well-being. You can find her on Instagram @anisha.lalvani.54 and X (Twitter) @AnishaL_Writer

An educator by profession, Poornima Rajamani was born and raised in Mumbai and now calls Bengaluru home. She began work on her first novel in 2022. Using the landscape of her home cities, she seeks to portray the chequered realities of India viewed from a political, urban lens. The impact of traditionalism on the freedoms of expression, choice and liberty is a major theme in her work. You can find her on Instagram @cocoalunaofblore and X (Twitter) @ladywriter79

The Himalayan Writing Retreat (THWR) is a physical retreat tucked away in the Uttarakhand Himalayas. THWR was co-founded in 2016 by Chetan Mahajan & Dr Vandita Dubey. The retreat offers a variety of events, both online and in person. The HWR Emerging Writers Residency offers emerging writers an opportunity to live, learn and write among the stunning Himalayas. The aim is to help writers finish their writing projects and make their debut. To know more, you can check their website: https://www.himalayanwritingretreat.com/

Sangeetha Menon a.k.a. The Moody Marshmallow is a writer, editor and podcaster. She currently handles the rights portfolio at Tulika Publishers, where she finds new avenues for stories to travel. She has worked with organisations like Bound, Karadi Tales, and Carve Magazine to name a few. You can find her on Instagram: @marshmallow.musings and LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/menonsangeetha/