Book week: Upcoming experimental writers
17th September, 2007
While there is no dearth of writers of Asian origin in the UK, covering everything from their personal life experiences to writing fiction, sci-fi, current affairs, sports or even Bollywood, AIM magazine wanted to find creative people who were truly out there.
Below is a profile of writers or creative artists who have ventured into more experimental territory with their work.
Jagdeep Lall
Jagdeep Lall has created an anti-racism comic book called: Death's Door: Ignorance Likes Company. He says it is a "hard-hitting story of how ignorance and perceptions of eachother can destroy lives."
The story revolves around a young Sikh man suspected of carrying a bomb by the police. Self-published a year ago, is aimed at young kids and has made some inroads into being used at schools and youth groups in Newham, East London and Canada.
Jagdeep is an artist who produces peace and culture orientated art, having his artwork exhibited with 'Peace One Day' last year and the recent Global Peace Festival.
He says: "I mainly focus my efforts as a comic book artist because I feel that the medium is a great tool in relaying my thoughts and feelings to give a positive message out into the world."
"The book came about as an expression of the heightened fear and ignorance of ethnic minorites and the stereotype of a terrorist after 9/11 and 7/7. I felt I had to get a positive message across to make society just think and take time to know who that stranger in front of them is, rather then pre-judging them by their shell. The book is a plea for understanding and embracing eachother for who we are rather then using who we are as an excuse for bloodshed."
He hopes this will be the first of many comic books tackling similar issues. It can also be read online.
Najma Hussain
Najma Hussain is trying to use the internet in innovative ways to promote her creative writing. The Birmingham based writer recently launched her novella, Realities of Living - A life of Recluse, online with a mixture of digital images, sound and music.
Set in Lowestoft, Britain’s forgotten seaside town, A Life of Recluse is a tale of five characters: Flora, Basit, Magda, James and Erin, who are each from different national and cultural backgrounds. It explores how each is allowed to be free, yet not free to be allowed, due to national, cultural, and governmental barriers.
Najma says when she embarked on her novella, she though "the chances of getting published were very slim due to the competition in this field" and requirements from publishers. It was also her first story. Soe she decided to use the web in a different way.
"I believe the web is an excellent tool for an individual entrepreneur to use who wishes to make a global impact without having to go through established channels, and various authorising bodies," she says.
Rather than simply publishing it online conventionally, and knowing that people would just print it, Najma decided to do something different. She constructed it as 'hypertext fiction'.
"A hypertext fiction is a story composed through the medium of nodes (paragraphs) as apposed to construction of chapters. Hypertext is written with hyperlinks within the text, that which lead to more nodes constructed in no chronological order, but rigged non the less through a constructed, and complex map."
"Writing on the web in this fashion makes reading online more digestible for the viewers, but also disorientates them as they need to do a lot of work to piece the puzzle; I would describe reading as hypertext fiction by comparing it to piecing a jigsaw puzzle of a Picasso painting that you have never seen before, but sooner or later you will get the picture, even though you will have to work hard."
www.alifeofrecluse.com
Yusuf Misdaq
It is Britain in 2025. King Charles is reigning. Richard & Judy are still presenting. Britain is booming, creatively and economically. Most people are very happy. Ronan Keating is a social-activist and Brad Pitt's left leg is going to explode any moment now.
The pocket of xenophobic groups in Britain call any non-white person a 'Paki' and try their hardest to stir up trouble. America is eating itself in the midst of civil war, George Bush the 2nd, President of the Republic of Texas, is trying to invade California. The hawk-ish government in Britain is at odds with King Charles over immigration, and also intent-for some reason-to invade Brazil.
Then there's a little boy who grows into a little man in the midst of this strange, real world. His parents are rich, filthy rich, his father is strange, his mother calls him a 'paki', and his aunt teaches him the benefits of organic food. He grows and grows into a man with isolation, school, crack-addiction, a trip to Morocco, a friendship with a Brazilian footballer, and a moon-landing.
These are the circumstances among which the musician Yusuf Misdaq, aka Yoshi, sets his debut novel - Pieces of a Paki.
Describing it as a "coming-of-age and Utopian / Dystopian novel rolled into one", Yoshi says it is filled with humour, moments of tender humanity, optimistic insights into successful multi-culturalism in Britain and some commentary on mankind's fruitless artificial innovations.
"A beautiful story for people with open-hearts," is how he describes it. The multimedia performance artist released two music albums of self-produced hip-hop/electronic music in 2004 and 2005. He is also a film-maker, having had one short-film, Soup for Thought (2005), shown at the Brighton Film Festival. His most recent work is a travel documentary on inspiration and the artists' struggle, 'Let the Clouds of America Burn Calligraphy onto my Frozen Heart' (2007).
ymisdaq.net
Below is a profile of writers or creative artists who have ventured into more experimental territory with their work.
Jagdeep LallJagdeep Lall has created an anti-racism comic book called: Death's Door: Ignorance Likes Company. He says it is a "hard-hitting story of how ignorance and perceptions of eachother can destroy lives."
The story revolves around a young Sikh man suspected of carrying a bomb by the police. Self-published a year ago, is aimed at young kids and has made some inroads into being used at schools and youth groups in Newham, East London and Canada.
Jagdeep is an artist who produces peace and culture orientated art, having his artwork exhibited with 'Peace One Day' last year and the recent Global Peace Festival.
He says: "I mainly focus my efforts as a comic book artist because I feel that the medium is a great tool in relaying my thoughts and feelings to give a positive message out into the world."
"The book came about as an expression of the heightened fear and ignorance of ethnic minorites and the stereotype of a terrorist after 9/11 and 7/7. I felt I had to get a positive message across to make society just think and take time to know who that stranger in front of them is, rather then pre-judging them by their shell. The book is a plea for understanding and embracing eachother for who we are rather then using who we are as an excuse for bloodshed."
He hopes this will be the first of many comic books tackling similar issues. It can also be read online.
Najma HussainNajma Hussain is trying to use the internet in innovative ways to promote her creative writing. The Birmingham based writer recently launched her novella, Realities of Living - A life of Recluse, online with a mixture of digital images, sound and music.
Set in Lowestoft, Britain’s forgotten seaside town, A Life of Recluse is a tale of five characters: Flora, Basit, Magda, James and Erin, who are each from different national and cultural backgrounds. It explores how each is allowed to be free, yet not free to be allowed, due to national, cultural, and governmental barriers.
Najma says when she embarked on her novella, she though "the chances of getting published were very slim due to the competition in this field" and requirements from publishers. It was also her first story. Soe she decided to use the web in a different way.
"I believe the web is an excellent tool for an individual entrepreneur to use who wishes to make a global impact without having to go through established channels, and various authorising bodies," she says.
Rather than simply publishing it online conventionally, and knowing that people would just print it, Najma decided to do something different. She constructed it as 'hypertext fiction'.
"A hypertext fiction is a story composed through the medium of nodes (paragraphs) as apposed to construction of chapters. Hypertext is written with hyperlinks within the text, that which lead to more nodes constructed in no chronological order, but rigged non the less through a constructed, and complex map."
"Writing on the web in this fashion makes reading online more digestible for the viewers, but also disorientates them as they need to do a lot of work to piece the puzzle; I would describe reading as hypertext fiction by comparing it to piecing a jigsaw puzzle of a Picasso painting that you have never seen before, but sooner or later you will get the picture, even though you will have to work hard."
www.alifeofrecluse.com
Yusuf MisdaqIt is Britain in 2025. King Charles is reigning. Richard & Judy are still presenting. Britain is booming, creatively and economically. Most people are very happy. Ronan Keating is a social-activist and Brad Pitt's left leg is going to explode any moment now.
The pocket of xenophobic groups in Britain call any non-white person a 'Paki' and try their hardest to stir up trouble. America is eating itself in the midst of civil war, George Bush the 2nd, President of the Republic of Texas, is trying to invade California. The hawk-ish government in Britain is at odds with King Charles over immigration, and also intent-for some reason-to invade Brazil.
Then there's a little boy who grows into a little man in the midst of this strange, real world. His parents are rich, filthy rich, his father is strange, his mother calls him a 'paki', and his aunt teaches him the benefits of organic food. He grows and grows into a man with isolation, school, crack-addiction, a trip to Morocco, a friendship with a Brazilian footballer, and a moon-landing.
These are the circumstances among which the musician Yusuf Misdaq, aka Yoshi, sets his debut novel - Pieces of a Paki.
Describing it as a "coming-of-age and Utopian / Dystopian novel rolled into one", Yoshi says it is filled with humour, moments of tender humanity, optimistic insights into successful multi-culturalism in Britain and some commentary on mankind's fruitless artificial innovations.
"A beautiful story for people with open-hearts," is how he describes it. The multimedia performance artist released two music albums of self-produced hip-hop/electronic music in 2004 and 2005. He is also a film-maker, having had one short-film, Soup for Thought (2005), shown at the Brighton Film Festival. His most recent work is a travel documentary on inspiration and the artists' struggle, 'Let the Clouds of America Burn Calligraphy onto my Frozen Heart' (2007).
ymisdaq.net
