Australia Asia Endeavour Award takes writer to Ind • 1a

Enterprising and talented writer Roanna Gonsalves will research emerging English literature in India

And while the award means an upheaval of her life here in Australia to mm1e bac k to India with her family, R oanna is confidently upbea t about th i s l atest adventure.

" J feel very b lessed to receive this awa rd ," s he said. " It's exciti n g and chaLi e n ging to find how wr iters are created in lnd.ia. Since m y past two vis its I've realized that there's a growing breed of talented wri ters telling their stories in a variety of genres, a nd tappi n g into th is pool, meeting them and studying their work is going to be a revelation".

And the award couldn't have come at a more appropriate time.

"The sub ject of m y PbD is about globali zed literary field writin g using Indian writing in English as a case smdy," explain ed Roanna.

finishing t ouches co a no vel of sho r t stories based on the experiences of Indian-Austral ians here, and is currently writing a p lay for Bell Shakespeare, based o n the Bard 's Merchant of Ve11ice its urban land scape The award was presented in ea rl y December at Canberra, by Prin1e Minister Julia G illard. of urban India."

''As Indians living in Australia, it .i s important for us to tell our stories, whic h ad d m the fabric of t h is nmlticulmra.l .land. Writer s, ar tis ts, music ia n s - we a re tl1e storytelle rs of our n u ru.re, and our chronicles are a record of our experiences," said Roan n a, who won the Australian Writers Guild Award in 2011.

R oanna is undertaking a PhD in C reative \,'{/citing at the University o f New South Wales (UNS\'<7).

She will mainly concentrate on E ng lis h li teratme in t he fiction genre, ove r short stories, novels and some poetry, across mediums like forums, w r iti n g groups and even o nli n e.

Wr iter Roanna Gonsalves has been selected as one of 20 Ausa:alian postgraduate srudenrs co receive a 2013 Prime J',,[in.isrer's Austr al.ia Asia En deavour Awa rd. The onl y wrirer among an im pr ess ive list of sc ie ntists, lawyer s, finance and medical exp erts, the scholarship will enab le Roanna to s pend nine months in India, researching and studyi ng existing and emerging trends in w r iting in E nglish across

Her research examines the in stitutional arrangements, social networks and power relations that constitute the field of literary production, using E nglish language literary culmre in Lidi a as a case smd y

"In r ecent yea r s there bas been a never- before- see n flowering of grassroots English language literary culture in India," said Roa nna. ''As a writer and a researcher I am curious about this literary change in the social fabric

"Ir has been a long a nd d i fficult journey, wri ting thousands and th o u sands of words, man y words, many failures and a lo n g period of l earning before I could make my mark as a write r i n Australia," said Roanna emphatically "That's why this award is so meaningful m me, because after a long and thorough applicati on process that was reviewed i n-depth, I was se lected l was very excited on hearing the news, I could barely believe it!"

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"This trip will he lp m e garner essential information for my th esis, that will provide a greater understanding of tl1e eme rging literary scen e."

For t he com fo n of h e r young family, Roanna hopes co be based in Goa, b ut she will extensive ly travel arollnd India co attend li terary festivals, forums, book fair s and launches She will co nduct in- deptl1 interviews at various location s across India, and parti cipant observation at variou s li terary eveocs. She will spend the last rwo months of her trip i n an internship at San gam Hollse, a p restigious write r s' r esidency near Bangalore.

And then i t wi ll be back to Australia to desc ribe her experie nc es.

But tliat's not all tbis writer has on her pl ate. She is putting

But the writer is most proud of h er l atest wor k, telling h er story of tl1e experi ence of m ovi n g and l iving in Australia through a chapter in the recently released book ]'!Y/11I Strai11.r. Roanna describes the chapter as one of "fun, sadness, joy and ch allenges "

It's an h onour for an IndianAustralian co win such a prestigious award, and as Roanna e m barks on a n ew journey, we wish her al l tl1e best

The Prime Minister's Australia Asia Awards provide scho larships for tl1e best and brightest university students from Ausu alia and Asia Besides the 20 postgrad students of who m five a r e going to India, 20 rn1d ergrad s mcleocs are also travelling co variou s parts of Asia, and 20 students from Asian co untries w ill come into Australia, including two from ln dia. The award s aim m develop internationally- awa re, s killed fumre leaders and co estab li s h enduring education and professional linJ..:ages between Australia and Asia