The annual Muslim Writers Awards will take place this Saturday, 29th March, at the ICC in Birmingham, to celebrate the breadth and quality of British Muslim literary talent. Now in its second year, the event is being supported by the Prime Minister’s office and will be broadcast on Islam Channel.

MWA 2008 will recognize the work of 26 writers across eight categories, with the ‘Writer of the Year’ award presented by Jermaine Jackson at the event.
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Pakistani channel Prime TV started broadcasting its long-awaited Dawn News English channel on Sky Channel 792 in the UK this week.

Dawn News was recently launched as Pakistan’s first English language channel, a subsidary of the Dawn Group of Publications.

Prime TV was the first Pakistani Channel launched in the UK also the first to broadcast news in Urdu News. Its Pakistan-based news show, fronted by British presenter Saima Mohsin, airs every week night at 9pm.
www.primetv.tv

London based Asian pop band Trickbaby is releasing its next single, Fighter, on 28th April. Their second album, Chor Bazaar, releases on 12th May through Wrasse Records, part of Universal.

Based around the song-writing partnership of Saira Hussain and Steve Ager, the band came to prominence a few years ago with their debut album Hanging Around.

They have made two videos to coincide with the release. Fighter is made in the form of an animated video, while Nine Parts Of Desire is produced by Ramesh Sippy (director of the Bollywood blockbuster Sholay), directed by his son, Rohan, and stars Abishek Bachchan as Saira’s love interest with Priyanka Chopra as her love rival.

The band recently performed live at the UK Asian Music Awards. at the Royal Festival Hall in London and they will opening for Rachid Taha and friends (a mini Africa Express) at London’s Jazz cafe on April 14th and 15th.
www.trickbabymusic.co.uk / www.youtube.com/trickbabymusic

Acclaimed Channel 4 drama Britz won the award for Best Drama Serial at the Royal Television Society awards last week. The two-part programme starred Manjinder Virk and Riz Ahmed in lead roles.

Britz is also nominated at the BAFTAs and the Broadcast Press Awards.

Also winning that night was the children’s comedy series My Life as a Popat, which features the antics of a young Asian boy and his madcap family. Among others, that features Shaheen Khan and Kulvinder Ghir as the parents.

The Art Space, a city wide exhibition based in York, is looking for Asian visual artists. There are dozens of spaces available. Interested artists should contact The ArtSpace through their website.

Muslim? Single? Looking?
ITV is looking for Muslims to take part in a series about soulmate searching online
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A new free-to-air television channel aimed at British Asians launches next month. Brit Asia TV says it aim to “broadcast and promote Asian culture amongst British Asians” in the UK and across Europe, and will air on Sky digital.

With a mix of feature shows, music, entertainment news, chat shows, drama serials, reality TV shows and more, the station hopes to capture the lucrative young British Asian market, joining similar rivals such as Raj TV.

Director of Brit Asia TV Jaz Bal said: “This is a unique and highly entertaining television channel that will plug the gap for quality programming by British Asians for British Asians.”

The television station was originally to be called Punjabi World TV, before a change in its name and focus was made. Sources at the station say it is not affiliated with other Asian media companies and did not disclose who was funding the channel. Former Ikonz magazine editor Reena Combo has taken over as station manager.

The channel will officially go live on 7th April 2008 on channel 836 on Sky. Its studios are based in Birmingham.

Media contact: sheila@britasia.tv / reenac@britasia.tv

The writer and commentator Yasmin Alibhai-Brown’s poignant and impassioned one-woman show about a Ugandan in Britain is once again on tour around the country.

In Nowhere to Belong: Tales of an Extravagant Stranger, she explores her life-long love of Shakespeare. The experience of playing Juliet as a teenager in ‘60’s Uganda sent shockwaves through her family and helped shape the emotional and political landscape of her life. The play captures how theatre and Shakespeare helped change her life.
Details of the tour on her website.

Singer Karen David will be appearing alongside Sir David Jason, Sean Astin and Tim Curry in The Colour of Magic, a film adapted from the Terry Pratchett novel of the same name.

The red carpet premiere was held last week March 3rd. The film will air on Sky 1 (UK) on Easter weekend, March 23rd and 24th. Karen David plays Liessa Dragonlady.

Her EP, The Live Sessions, will be released on April 14th on all digital download websites and limited editions at selected music stores.
www.karendavid.com

Blast Films is looking for talented, up and coming directors who are ready to make the step up to directing their first 30 min documentary for the Channel 4 First Cut strand.
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British Asian theatre arts will be celebrated and explored at a major international conference at the University of Exeter in April.

The event is a culmination of a 4 year research project led by the Drama Department to address the lack of resources that offer a historical and critical analysis of South and British Asian drama in the UK.
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Now in its third successful year, an Arts Council programme is launching a drive for high flyers from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to join the boards of arts organisations.
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The review is coming soon! Click on each thumbnail for the full image.

East London based Club Asia radio is losing one of its founding directors – John Ogden – for a senior post at another London station. He will take up the post of station manager at Spectrum Radio, which broadcasts in several languages for a multicultural audience.

Mr Ogden’s loss will come as a serious blow to the station because he has been widely credited within the industry to ensuring Club Asia remained a tightly run ship. He had been with the station’s founders – sisters Humerah Khan and Sumerah Ahmad – from the start. He previously worked under Mohammed Al Fayed running London’s Liberty Radio and has held senior positions in the BBC and commercial radio.
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Saqi and Arts Council England (ACE) are hosting a celebration of the their Positive Action Trainee (PAT) scheme at the London Book Fair this year. Speaking at the event will be Simon Juden from the Publishers Association.
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The Production Trainee Scheme is an 18-month scheme to develop the programme makers and commissioners of the future. It will give 19 exceptional people the opportunity to be trained ‘on the job’ at the BBC – those with real talent and creativity.

More on this BBC page.

A Skillset and UK Film Council funded initiative to help graduates from Black, Asian and other minority ethnic backgrounds to fast track their film careers is inviting applications for placements with leading film businesses.

Starting in June 2008, the Skillset Graduate Fellowship Programme pays fellows a full time training allowance of up to £17,000 per annum. In addition to fantastic work experience fellows also enjoy the benefit of a series of master classes and workshops led by senior industry personnel designed to increase their awareness of the film business.
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Channel 4 drama Britz has been nominated for a Royal Television society (RTS) award within the Best Drama Serial category.

Starring Rizwan Ahmed and Manjinder Virk, it was a two-part thriller about a brother and sister, British-born and Muslim, who are pulled in different directions by their conflicting personal experiences in post 9/11 Britain.

Children’s drama My Life as a Popat is also nominated for that category. The awards will be presented on 19th March at the Grosvenor House Hotel, Park Lane, London.

Welford Primary school is in Handsworth Birmingham, one of the most troubled and racially tense areas in Britain. Today this thriving school has pupils from 17 different ethnic backgrounds. It has never had many white British pupils.

“There’s never been more than 10 within the school community of 480″ explains headmaster Chris Smith. Filmed over the autumn term at the school, The Primary follows headmaster Chris and the pupils at Welford revealing what life is like for 9 year old Nathaniel, 11 year old Alyx and their diverse peer group, Mariam, Saubia, Conrad and Xhosa.

But how is it for 11 year old Alyx whose family have been part of the school for generations and who is now one of only two white British children at the school. “My mums been to Welford my uncles been to Welford, I’ve got my nan who’s the caretaker and then now my granddad who started working here as the assistant caretaker.” As Alyx’s nan explains. ” My children came here and I wouldn’t have asked Alyx to come here if I thought there was a problem, children are children doesn’t matter what sort they are.”

The Primary – to be screened on BBC 2 on Wednesday 12th March – forms part of the channel’s White season: a season of programming focusing on life in twenty-first century Britain for the white working class. Other programmes in the season are: Last Orders, White Girl, Rivers of Blood, The Poles Are Coming and All White in Barking.

The annuals Birds Eye View film festival returns this year to shocase the best work from women filmmakers all over the world. It will feature over 70 events including screenings, workshops and parties at 7 London venues including the ICA and BFI. Two screenings are from India this year.
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The UK Asian Music Awards takes place later this week at the Royal Festival Hall on 6th March. The event will be hosted by actress Preeya Kalidas and Mumbai based B4U presenter ‘VJ Sahil’.

Awards will be given on the night for: Best Album, Best Act, Best Female Act, Best Underground Act, Best Video, Best International Act, Best Newcomer, Best Producer, Best Club DJ, Best Urban Act, Best Radio Show and Best Website. Special awards on the night include Commitment to the Scene and Outstanding Achievement.

Organisers say the winners will be determined by public voting that took place through their website. Continue reading…

Freelance journalist Rahul Verma has a four page feature on acid house and the rise of dance music in India, in the March issue of Mixmag the UK’s longest running dance music magazine. More of Rahul’s ramblings on music, the arts and culture can be found at rebel without a pause.