1700-1800 hours Talk by Bapsi Sidhwa, followed by Questions and Answers session
1800-1830 hours Book Signing by Bapsi Sidhwa
Bapsi Sidhwa : A Short Biography
Renowned writer Bapsi Sidhwa, who was born in Karachi, brought up in Lahore, currently lives in Houston, Texas, along with her family. Her novels: An American Brat, Cracking India, The Pakistani Bride, The Crow Eaters and Water have been published in several European and Asian languages. She has also compiled and edited: Beloved City : Writings on Lahore.
Among her many honors, Sidhwa received the Bunting Fellowship at Radcliffe/Harvard, the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writer's Award, the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Pakistan's highest national honor in the arts, and most recently the Italian Premio Mondello 2007 and the 2008 South Asian Excellence Award for Literature.
Sidhwa, who was on the advisory committee of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Women Development, has taught at Columbia, University of Houston, Mount Holyoke College, and Brandeis.
Cracking India (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year and a Quality Paperback Book Club selection), was made into the film Earth by Canadian director Deepa Mehta. Her latest novel Water is based on Mehta's film of the same name. Her hugely successful play, An American Brat had a long run at Stages Repertory Theater in Houston last year.
