Comments on: Indo-African Writers (report from a conference)

By: Noor

Noor — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 06:20:01 +0000

Dear Amardeep, Thanks for the report. Seeking more information on Indian Writers in Africa. Am searching the met but would really appreciate all the help Noor

By: Jomo Kenyatta Pattni

Jomo Kenyatta Pattni — Sat, 10 May 2008 21:29:28 +0000

Just a point of correction. MG Vassanji was born in Kenya, raised in Tanzania, educated in the US and currently writes from Canada. No links qualify him as a Ugandan Asian. Lets not mix these facts. Google Peter Simatei, Dan Ojwang, Danson Kahyana and JKS Makokha for more on Asian African literatures or what you may under a misnomer call South Asian literature from East Africa.

Jomo Kenyatta Pattni Nairobi

By: fictionalsejal

fictionalsejal — Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:59:51 +0000

amardeep, thanks for this post! i was invited to read at SALA, but although it would have been great to be there...i was glad to be able to spend time with family and not be anywhere near MLA (too many memories of interviews in hotel rooms and the crazy big room. eek). Fab India, though. I would have liked that.

thanks for sharing re: gaurav desai and more work about indians in east africa. my mother's family is from there and i have long been interested in learning more about their experience there.

finally, gaurav desai is scheduled to be the keynote speaker at a conference at st. olaf in june...it's on "literatures in english" and on curriculum development and changes...why we teach what we teach; the relationship between global literatures and ethnic literatures. i'm excited about it--have you heard about it? i'll be presenting with a colleague...think about going if you are free...

other teacher/professor types should check it out--go to the st. olaf website or google st. olaf and literatures in english.

By: John

John — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 06:47:15 +0000

"I've never read much about, or known, any desis from Africa, but am VERY curious to know."

Considering the number the gujaratis in north america, that's quite strange, since the majority of the gujus I kow have roots in africa..a few goans and tamils too... maybe it's more of a canadian thing?

By: chick pea

chick pea — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 15:30:02 +0000

must agree with neale.. we use swahili a lot in our gujuswahili mix… and kenyandesi is right..east africa (tanzania, kenya and uganda) are awesome places to visit..

By: Kenyandesi

Kenyandesi — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 15:23:09 +0000

Neale, so much has changed, but so much hasn’t…yo should definitely take a trip with your parents to Kenya sometime…it’s the bestest country in the world…not that I’m biased or anything

By: Neale

Neale — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 06:27:57 +0000

I was born in Nairobi. My father chose to return to India with the family. While growing up, we constantly used Swahili words in our daily Indian life. As I grew older I have tried to extract from my parents some sort of narrative about the Indian, in our case Goan, experience in East Africa. So much of my father’s productive life was spent in a place I know so little about. And as we grow older it grows more urgent. I am waitng for the definitive novel about the place and people. So often, I have offered my father to spend holiday here in the U.S. , but he says he’d rather visit East Africa. I think the place has changed too much for it evoke any sort of fond memories for him, or maybe it hasn’t. Meanwhile, as my mother always said – Eat your boga.

By: Emma

Emma — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 03:49:05 +0000

Very thought-provoking post here! I’ve never read much about, or known, any desis from Africa, but am VERY curious to know.

By: kali billi

kali billi — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 03:03:12 +0000

Thank you for the post Amardeep! Finally, someone who chooses to share the relationship between Asians and Africans in East Africa truthfully.

I plan on checking out Transition magazine.

By: Ranjit

Ranjit — Sun, 31 Dec 2006 21:13:05 +0000

That's great, thanks for the info. Have to read the Indo-African writers sometime. I had blogged about the tendency of Indian Africans to stay apart from brown Africans here. I came to the conclusion that it is due to the caste system in India allowing for separate culture for groups of people. This view is just exported along with the people. In western and African societies, there is an expectation to integrate rather than form your own community.