18
Austin South Asian | May 2018
A Conversation With Exit West Author Mohsin Hamid
By Sumaiya Malik Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid, best selling author of Exit West sat chatting with Bret Anthony Johnson, the director of the UT Michener Center for Writers and a best selling author himself in Austin Central Library on the evening of April 11.
hoping that they would not have to move for special guests. “Exit West is a book of fiction and
in love… ‘Saeed is devout while hijab-clad Nadia independent and open to experience towards liberation.’
Hamid was a guest of the Library Foundation and Mayors Book Club and was on a tight schedule. Yet he was relaxed because his novel had just won the prestigious Aspen Book award, another of the series of awards that the book has collected and he knew that he knew that the audience and he were on the same page.
afraid. Their city has a civil war going on. Then they hear that mysterious doors have started appearing.
this story it also acts as a device of compression.
Hamid explains the doors. He says that people are transported into another country just by pushing themselves through the dark rectangles, “ so you would find yourself not in Austin but instead in Islamabad or in Harare or Sao Paulo.” Saeed and Nadia go through.
With all the conversations about immigration, border control and sanctuary cities, the Mayors Book Club wanted its residents to read novels that highlight stories about people who are forced to move from their city of choice because of uncontrollable circumstances and think about them as people we can relate to.
They adapt as their environment changes and land up eventually in San Francisco. Along the way they contribute to societies, and experience resistance and apprehension.
Hamid wants readers to think of the act of human migration as something everyone experiences. “We are all migrants through time,” says Hamid.
According to Hamid, the magical black rectangles are actually a take from cell phones.
“We think that we haven’t gone through the barbed wire of the USMexico border or crossed Mediterranean in a boat. So we think that is a different kind of person than us,” explains Hamid. (Continued On Page 24)
It was a big hall in the new library and most of the 350 seats were full. Late arrivers were looking for last minute spots that had reserve signs,
magical realism,” said Johnson. He explained the story.The plot follows Saeed and Nadia who are
In many ways they are characters we have met in real life; engrossed in their phones… are bold and
“The iPhone [in this case rectangle doors] weaves us to the rest of the world,” Hamid clarifies. In
By Sumaiya Malik
Amazon and Kindle.
If celebrated British novelist, Jane Austen was alive, she would probably think there is a spelling mistake in the word Austin. Better still, she might have started looking for the American entrepreneur and father of Texas, Stephen F. Austin, to thank him for taking her name as his last name. If she had met him (they lived in the same time period in the 19th century), they would probably reason about the ‘i’ instead of an ‘e’ in the spelling… maybe they would have liked each other… and then maybe she would record this conversation in a novel.
AADI (Austin Arts and Drama Initiative), a platform that promotes arts, drama and now literature from
Pakistani authors published in the book and an Austin resident, for a reading, discussion and book signing. They also reached out to Professor Janine Barchas, a renowned Jane Austen scholar at UT, and Professor Carol Mackay, who co-organized the 26th Annual Conference of British Women Writers of 18th and 19th Century to initiate the discussion about how modern day women all over the world, and not just Pakistan, are still inspired by Jane Austen.
(a take from Jane Austen novels) and leather (a take from Austin), twenty-two intellectual women gathered together for discussion. Once the clatter of service and exchange of pleasantries was over, the women had matters to discuss.
Austin, Austen and Austenistan
It was all the maybes about the style of Jane Austen and her novels that inspired Laleen Sukhera, a British Pakistani writer and media professional and the founder of the Jane Austen Society of Pakistan, to put together and edit Austenistan. Austenistan is a collection of short stories set in modern day Pakistan written by 7 writers from South Asia who were inspired by Jane Austen. It was published in late 2017 and is now available on
South Asia hosted an event called “Leather and Lace” to celebrate the book at Brentwood Social House on 1601 W Koenig Lane in Austin. They invited Nida Elley, one of the
Sitting on a long table with three tiered platters of scones and tea sandwiches, all dressed up in lace
Nida Elley read excerpts of her story, Begum Saira Returns. The story, inspired by a lesser-known novella, revolves around a young widow who returns to social life after mourning the loss of her beloved husband. She is well aware of her attractive personality and desires to once again be in the communion of marriage. Amid girlish laughter and some acted out coquettishness, the ladies of Austin talked about how Jane Austen characters are not just for women but also for men. “This gathering was Jane Austen’s idea of good company, namely “the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call good company,” Professor Barchas summed it up well.
Nida Elley talked about her writing experience. She is a passionate writer and a teacher at St. Edwards University. She agreed that signing up on email lists of Book People, Barnes and Noble, Writers League of Texas or any other group that one likes is a good idea because it removes the isolation aspect of what you do and ties you up with people who have similar interests. It also gives you fresh ideas about what you are working on. Others suggested being a member of the Blanton Museum or even email lists at UT. Professor Carol McKay shared the CWGS newsletter from UT Austin and suggested that the group join their email list by sending an email to CWGS@ austin.utexas.edu. The professors emphasized that most talks at UT are public events and are open to the Austin community at large. AADI is especially thankful to the South Asia Institute for supporting the Austenistan event and to the Austin Chronicle for listing the event online and in print.