Tag: literature
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The Graph of a Cry
My dissertation is available as a book for academics, libraries, and those who are interested to read more about the phenomenal journey of the American ghazal. This dissertation analyzes the journey of the ancient Arabic poetic form of the ghazal to America to provide insights into transnational poetry and cultural mobility. While the movement of […]
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On Reading “The House on Mango Street” by Sandra Cisneros
I am currently reading The House on Mango Street (2004) by Sandra Cisneros. It came recommended by a friend’s daughter; she read it as part of her English Literature syllabus in Grade 8. Well firstly, I am absolutely delighted that this young bright student recommended this book to me. Secondly, how fabulous that a book […]
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New Blog: Voicing Diversity
The two friends, each talented and both wise, Yasmin and Mojdeh have their own blog and it is a wonderful read: click here “We both took the same path throughout our university career, only our minors differed: Mojdeh chose to do her minor abroad (NYC), while Yasmina did a minor in Education. By the time […]
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Teaching the Ghazal in Class
Last week I was subbing at the Vrije Universteit for the Genre, Literature and Analysis class for the Bachelor First Year course. I was teaching the villanelle and ghazal, which involved aspects of the forms as well as close reading. I found myself in a room full of bright, intelligent, engaged, and wise students. They […]
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Those Literature Courses I Cook Up
In 2013, Apoorva put this up as his Facebook status update: Some electives for the upcoming Autumn term. What would you like to study? Sociology of the upper-middle class Misogyny and education Poetry of poverty Mental health in patriarchal societies Conflict and negotiation in family settings Mathematical methods for personal relationships Psychology of empathy History […]
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To tell you the truth
I have been writing poems a lot more than I usually do and reworking drafts of old poems. Perhaps due to my PhD work on the ghazal I tend to spend more time on structure and sound. Strict metrical scales and working with rhymes, refrains, provide me with an effective tool to have a dialogue with […]
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Graphic Novels in the Classroom
Experiencing Fun Home by Alison Bechdel in Prof. dr. D.M. Oostdijk’s class, October 15, 2015. By Amrita Das “What’s lost in translation is the complexity of loss itself. In the same box where I found the photo of Roy, there’s one of Dad at about the same age” (Bechdel FH 120). Alison’s Bechdel’s graphic novel […]
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Jaipur Literature Festival: poets – Nilanjana Roy
Jaipur Literature Festival: poets (1). Jeet Thayil’s ghazal on Malayalam and Nilanjana Roy (who I think I have an academic crush on) speaks about poetry. Also on her blog are some lovely articles on Agha Shahid Ali. A must read. An excerpt I loved: “I like choosing theoretical homes, but the idea of “settling down” […]
Diligent Candy 