Upcoming and newly published books
7th October, 2006
Ayesha's Rainbow
by Rabina Khan
The book is about a young seven year old Bangladeshi girl, growing up in an inner-city London borough, who meets her elderly neighbour. Mrs. Peters, a white woman has lived in the East End all of her life. She is lonely and averse to change, especially towards accepting people of a different culture from her own.
A most unlikely friendship develops between them, bringing their two contrasting families together, crossing religious, cultural and racial barriers. Only Graham Peters, the youngest sibling, wants to take a different path, with a view to joining a racist political party.
When Mrs. Peters is attacked in her home, a chain of emotions unfolds, affecting both families and the rest of the community. A time for questioning loyalties, divisions, prejudices and friendship begins, in order to discover what really happened to Mrs. Peters and more importantly, why?
The book covers many issues that affect both Bangladeshi and white working class families living in inner London, such as the closure of the docks, ‘the end of an era' for generations of many East End families as well as early Bangladeshi migrant workers.
Rabina Khan self-published her first novel, Rainbow Hands, which was based on her experiences as a community worker in East London's Isle of Dogs at a time when a racist right wing candidate was elected as a councillor in September 2003. The novel was published through Authorsonline and was available to order through the internet and local bookstores in London.
This is her second novel, through Fore-Word Press
The book is also available online.
British Asians and Football: Culture, Identity, Exclusion
by Daniel Burdsey, University of Brighton
In spite of a great passion in the game and significant involvement at amateur level, British Asians are underrepresented in professional football. This book asks how and why this situation has developed, using extensive interviews with British Asian football players to offer an insider’s assessment of the difficulties and conflicting demands faced every day.
In addition, the book also critically examines the work of the anti-racist football movement, questioning the strategies and policies designed to eradicate racism and asking whether other approaches might be more effective or reflective of the views of the players themselves. Ideal for academics and students of the sociology of ethnicity, sport, youth studies or cultural studies, this innovative book will also be of interest to professionals in the field of equal opportunities.
Published by Routledge
Media contact: Samantha Grant / samantha.grant@tandf.co.uk
The A to Z of all things Asian
by Mahtab Khan; Illustrated by Donna Skidmore
How many Asian stand-up comedians have you seen? No it's not a joke, it's a valid question amongst current discussions about community cohesion. With the exception of 'The Kumars at 42' and 'Goodness Gracious Me', I guess your answer will be 'not many'. How many jokes about Asian people have you heard that wouldn't offend you if you were Asian? Probably again, not many?
The book contains two illustrated gags for each letter of the alphabet. Mahtab explains "Although the format was easy, the challenge was to create jokes which would not offend. We withdrew a few jokes after feedback suggested that they may inadvertently cause offence - that's now material I use for stand-up rather than putting it into print".
He adds, "the way we put the book together was probably quite unique in that as I'm blind and rubbish at drawing, my Reader illustrated the cartoon for each joke."
Mahtab Khan by day holds a number of responsible roles from being a current serving member of the judiciary to Director of his own company and Birmingham's Asian Resource Centre. By night he lets his hair down and tours as a stand-up comedian.
Since the launch of The A to Z of all things Asian Mahtab has been touring the UK and talking about the experience of writing the book. He's appeared at Edinburgh Fringe 2006 and will be at Birmingham's Diwali celebrations later this year.
Media contact: donna@the-change-agency.co.uk
Also available onlline on WH Smith's website.
The Curry Mile
by Zahid Hussain
Manchester's Curry Mile has become an internationally famous destination point. Established in the 1970's and now containing the largest concentration of Asian restaurants in the UK, The Mile brings everybody together, from the local student population, to families, to Manchester's Asian and Arab communities.
Daddy's girl, Sorayah Butt has everything: the gorgeous live-in boy, the dream apartment, the enticing job offer. Her world is thrown upside down when her father turns up on her doorstep and discovers her with her dream boy in a state of undress.
When the family business threatens to go belly up without her intervention, Sorayah is caught on the horns of a dilemma: should she come to the rescue or leave her Dad to be ruined by the business melt-down?
Penned by debut writer Zahid Hussain, The Curry Mile focused on the area's vibrancy and tells an urban fairy tale of a young woman's coming of age.
It is a vibrant, spectaularly lit and wonderfully bustling area, each restaurant constantly innovating to attract custom. Attractions include magicians, underfoot aquariums, on street kulfi ice cream stalls, parties, amazing art works and poets.
Zahid Hussain, 35, is a British Asian, born and raised in Lancashire. He is a Business and Management specialist, speaks six languages and works as a social entrepreneur in Manchester.
Media contact: Pete Kalu / 0161 832 3777 / admin@suitcasebooks.info
www.suitcasebooks.info
Talented teenage twins sign first book deal
Seventeen year-old British twin brothers of Indian origin, Suresh and Jyoti Guptara, who live in Weinfelden, TG, Switzerland, have just signed their first book deal - simultaneously with Tara Press, India, and with Aultbea Publishers, U.K. The Guptara Twins are represented by Red Ink Literary Agency and will be at the Frankfurt Book Fair, 4-8 October.
The boys have been writing an epic fantasy, the Insanity series, from the age of eleven. The first novel in the series, Conspiracy of Calaspia, at 180,000 words, will be published on 21 November 2006.
The Guptara twins were born to an Indian father and English mother and learned to read and write at the age of three. After seven years in England they moved to to Switzerland.
After studying at Swiss schools for eight years, Suresh is now at the British boarding school, Bradfield College, while Jyoti abandoned regular school in order to study for his school leaving exams on his own in Switzerland. He is now a full-time writer. He became the youngest known person ever to be published by The Wall Street Journal when he was fifteen.
Conspiracy of Calaspia is to be released simultaneously in India, Switzerland and the UK on 21 November 2006, the day before the twins' eighteenth birthday.
www.twins.guptara.net
Media contact: Ms. Eileen Gunn (Aultbea Publishers) / info@aultbeapublishing.com / 01463 223 568
by Rabina Khan
The book is about a young seven year old Bangladeshi girl, growing up in an inner-city London borough, who meets her elderly neighbour. Mrs. Peters, a white woman has lived in the East End all of her life. She is lonely and averse to change, especially towards accepting people of a different culture from her own. A most unlikely friendship develops between them, bringing their two contrasting families together, crossing religious, cultural and racial barriers. Only Graham Peters, the youngest sibling, wants to take a different path, with a view to joining a racist political party.
When Mrs. Peters is attacked in her home, a chain of emotions unfolds, affecting both families and the rest of the community. A time for questioning loyalties, divisions, prejudices and friendship begins, in order to discover what really happened to Mrs. Peters and more importantly, why?
The book covers many issues that affect both Bangladeshi and white working class families living in inner London, such as the closure of the docks, ‘the end of an era' for generations of many East End families as well as early Bangladeshi migrant workers.
Rabina Khan self-published her first novel, Rainbow Hands, which was based on her experiences as a community worker in East London's Isle of Dogs at a time when a racist right wing candidate was elected as a councillor in September 2003. The novel was published through Authorsonline and was available to order through the internet and local bookstores in London.
This is her second novel, through Fore-Word Press
The book is also available online.
British Asians and Football: Culture, Identity, Exclusion
by Daniel Burdsey, University of Brighton
In spite of a great passion in the game and significant involvement at amateur level, British Asians are underrepresented in professional football. This book asks how and why this situation has developed, using extensive interviews with British Asian football players to offer an insider’s assessment of the difficulties and conflicting demands faced every day. In addition, the book also critically examines the work of the anti-racist football movement, questioning the strategies and policies designed to eradicate racism and asking whether other approaches might be more effective or reflective of the views of the players themselves. Ideal for academics and students of the sociology of ethnicity, sport, youth studies or cultural studies, this innovative book will also be of interest to professionals in the field of equal opportunities.
Published by Routledge
Media contact: Samantha Grant / samantha.grant@tandf.co.uk
The A to Z of all things Asian
by Mahtab Khan; Illustrated by Donna Skidmore
How many Asian stand-up comedians have you seen? No it's not a joke, it's a valid question amongst current discussions about community cohesion. With the exception of 'The Kumars at 42' and 'Goodness Gracious Me', I guess your answer will be 'not many'. How many jokes about Asian people have you heard that wouldn't offend you if you were Asian? Probably again, not many?The book contains two illustrated gags for each letter of the alphabet. Mahtab explains "Although the format was easy, the challenge was to create jokes which would not offend. We withdrew a few jokes after feedback suggested that they may inadvertently cause offence - that's now material I use for stand-up rather than putting it into print".
He adds, "the way we put the book together was probably quite unique in that as I'm blind and rubbish at drawing, my Reader illustrated the cartoon for each joke."
Mahtab Khan by day holds a number of responsible roles from being a current serving member of the judiciary to Director of his own company and Birmingham's Asian Resource Centre. By night he lets his hair down and tours as a stand-up comedian.
Since the launch of The A to Z of all things Asian Mahtab has been touring the UK and talking about the experience of writing the book. He's appeared at Edinburgh Fringe 2006 and will be at Birmingham's Diwali celebrations later this year.
Media contact: donna@the-change-agency.co.uk
Also available onlline on WH Smith's website.
The Curry Mile
by Zahid Hussain
Manchester's Curry Mile has become an internationally famous destination point. Established in the 1970's and now containing the largest concentration of Asian restaurants in the UK, The Mile brings everybody together, from the local student population, to families, to Manchester's Asian and Arab communities. Daddy's girl, Sorayah Butt has everything: the gorgeous live-in boy, the dream apartment, the enticing job offer. Her world is thrown upside down when her father turns up on her doorstep and discovers her with her dream boy in a state of undress.
When the family business threatens to go belly up without her intervention, Sorayah is caught on the horns of a dilemma: should she come to the rescue or leave her Dad to be ruined by the business melt-down?
Penned by debut writer Zahid Hussain, The Curry Mile focused on the area's vibrancy and tells an urban fairy tale of a young woman's coming of age.
It is a vibrant, spectaularly lit and wonderfully bustling area, each restaurant constantly innovating to attract custom. Attractions include magicians, underfoot aquariums, on street kulfi ice cream stalls, parties, amazing art works and poets.
Zahid Hussain, 35, is a British Asian, born and raised in Lancashire. He is a Business and Management specialist, speaks six languages and works as a social entrepreneur in Manchester.
Media contact: Pete Kalu / 0161 832 3777 / admin@suitcasebooks.info
www.suitcasebooks.info
Talented teenage twins sign first book deal
Seventeen year-old British twin brothers of Indian origin, Suresh and Jyoti Guptara, who live in Weinfelden, TG, Switzerland, have just signed their first book deal - simultaneously with Tara Press, India, and with Aultbea Publishers, U.K. The Guptara Twins are represented by Red Ink Literary Agency and will be at the Frankfurt Book Fair, 4-8 October.The boys have been writing an epic fantasy, the Insanity series, from the age of eleven. The first novel in the series, Conspiracy of Calaspia, at 180,000 words, will be published on 21 November 2006.
The Guptara twins were born to an Indian father and English mother and learned to read and write at the age of three. After seven years in England they moved to to Switzerland.
After studying at Swiss schools for eight years, Suresh is now at the British boarding school, Bradfield College, while Jyoti abandoned regular school in order to study for his school leaving exams on his own in Switzerland. He is now a full-time writer. He became the youngest known person ever to be published by The Wall Street Journal when he was fifteen.
Conspiracy of Calaspia is to be released simultaneously in India, Switzerland and the UK on 21 November 2006, the day before the twins' eighteenth birthday.
www.twins.guptara.net
Media contact: Ms. Eileen Gunn (Aultbea Publishers) / info@aultbeapublishing.com / 01463 223 568
