ELISA BRUNE (Belgium), MURIEL DE SAINT SAUVEUR (France), JASNA STRICK (Germany), ANNA T SZABO (Hungary), ANNIE ZAIDI (India), MRINAL PANDE (India) etc
Pop Culture & Feminism in New Media * Travelling Women: The New Global Citizens * Writing in the 21st Century: ‘The Renaissance Woman’
EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) and Zubaan are pleased to announce a new collaborative India-Europe event: Cross Border Conversations: European and Indian Women Writers, which will be held on 5 December 2015 at the India International Centre Annexe from 10 AM to 4.30 PM.
The day-long event will feature eight European writers in conversation with five writers from India, grouped into three panels.
This collaborative forum asks: is there some way that women – and more specifically, women writers – can talk across cultural and national borders, and share their experiences to learn from each other, in difference and in solidarity? With concerns of citizenship and nationhood at the centre of political discourse in Europe and in India right now, this day-long meeting comes at a time when women writers have been playing pivotal roles in their contexts regarding these, and feminist concerns.
Additionally, while violence and discrimination are daily facts of life for many Indian women, that is not their only reality. Women across the country are engaged in fierce battles for improving the conditions of their lives; women from all classes have fought against heavy odds to make something of their lives. Today, they are visible in the workforce, in politics, in corporate businesses, in banks, and so much more.
And what of Europe? In many ways the stereotype here works in the opposite way: it is by and large assumed that European women are now ‘liberated’, that equal rights have been won and that discrimination has disappeared. While much of this is true, there are other realities to the lives of European women too, such as sexism, discriminatory practices and deep- rooted attitudinal biases.
These concerns form the basis of much writing by women in the countries of Europe and in India. This one-day set of conversations between writers from Europe and India marks a first attempt to open up such a dialogue. A longer-term part of the discussions will be the production of a book of essays by the participating women writers.
Participating authors include:
Travelling Women: The New Global Citizens
10.30 AM to 12.15 PM
Francesca Marciano (Italy)
Mrinal Pande (India)
Muriel De Saint Sauveur (France)
Sonia Serrano (Portugal)
Vaiju Naravane (India)
Pop Culture and Feminism in New Media
12.15 to 1.30 PM
Bee Rowlatt (England)
Jasna Strick (Germany)
Paromita Vohra (India)
Writing in the 21st Century: The “Renaissance Woman”
2.30 to 4.15 PM
Anna T Szabo (Hungary)
Annie Zaidi (India)
Elisa Brune (Belgium)
Espido Freire (Spain)
Rizio Yohannan Raj (India)