S.Mitra Kalita and Taslima Nasrin: Beantown Book Readings

If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Boston, check out these two fine author readings.

First up is S. Mitra Kalita on November 8. She will be reading from her book Suburban Sahibs: Three immigrant families and their passage from India to America.

The book reading and discussion, sponsored by the South Asian Journalists Association-Boston, will be at 12 noon on the MIT campus. Room 105 in building 2 (2-105). This is in the right wing of the main building when you face it on Memorial Drive. Easy access also from Mass. Ave. or Ames Street entrances.

Directions to the Venue

Directions to MIT

Next is Taslima Nasrin, the controversial Bangladeshi writer. She will read from her new book, My Exile: The Past is Not Another Country, on November 12.

Lajja, or Shame, published in 1993 is perhaps her most controversial book in which she describes the atrocities against minority Hindus in Bangladesh following the riots in India. It's a harrowing account of one family trying to survive in the land they love. The book got her banned from Bangladesh and a conservative group called the Soldiers of Islam issued a death warrant, or fatwa in 1993.

The lecture and discussion is sponsored by the Tufts Center for South Asian and Indian Ocean Studies and co-sponsored by the Tufts History Department and SAJA-Boston.

Where: Room 204, Cabot Intercultural Center, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy

When: 5 p.m.

A reception with light refreshments along with a discussion will follow the presentation.

Directions: Click here for directions to the Tufts campus.

Please contact: Neilesh Bose, 617.627.3558 for more information

About S. Mitra Kalita's book:

In so many ways, Middlesex County, New Jersey, represents the quintessential American suburb, under an hour from New York by train, subdivided neatly into houses with identical floor plans, dotted with mini-malls and gas stations and monster movie theaters. Named after the famous inventor of the light bulb, Edison township officials often boast it is the place “where tomorrow was born.” Suburban Sahibs tells us that still might ring true. As immigration has continuously redefined America, it also has radically transformed the American suburb. Through the migration of three families from India to Central New Jersey, this book delves into how immigration has altered the American suburb, and how the suburb, in turn, has altered the immigrant. It sheds light on the broader South Asian diaspora, imparting lessons about the struggles and victories of immigrants everywhere.

About S. Mitra Kalita:

S. Mitra Kalita is an education reporter at The Washington Post and president of the South Asian Journalists Association. She has won numerous awards for her work. She previously worked at Newsday and The Associated Press. She has lived in New York City, Long Island, Puerto Rico, New Jersey and Washington. This is her first book.

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