A&L Nov_2018

Screening of
‘Manto’
For biopic lovers there’s
a treat at this year’s DLF.
An exclusive screening
of Manto, based on the
famous Urdu author
Saadat Hasan Manto,
will be held at DLF 2018.
The film is directed by
award-winning actor
and director Nandita
Das, who served on
the jury of Cannes Film
Festival. She decided to
make a film on the late
author after reading a
translation of Manto’s
stories in 2012. She always
had Nawazuddin
Siddiqui, famous for Talaash
and Bombay Talkies, in mind for the role and approached him
for the same.
The film has received praises from viewers all over the world since
it was premiered at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival and released in Indian
theatres on 21 September 2018.
Editing workshop
with Richard Beard
An editing workshop isn’t the first thing one thinks of when trying
to imagine a fun activity for a crisp November weekend. Unless the
workshop happens to be conducted by Richard Beard. The English
novelist and non-fiction writer first graced the Dhaka Lit Fest in 2016,
and is returning to the grounds of the Bangla Academy for the second
time this year.
Beard is author of seven novels, including Acts of the Assassins,
which was shortlisted for the Goldsmiths Prize, and the memoir The
Day that Went Missing, which was published last year and won the
PEN Ackerley Prize in 2018.
In an identical workshop conducted in 2016, he took two stories
from participants and edited them to show that even the most hopeless
of texts can be turned into something magical with the right
amount of tweaking. This year, too, the principle behind the session
is that writers face similar challenges, so an edit for one is an edit for
all.
The workshops are usually pitched to suit writers at different levels
of proficiency, so if you’re looking for a chance to see his literary
alchemy applied to your work, check your DLF schedule for the session
and be sure not to miss it!
Creative Writing
Workshop
CHANDRAHAS CHOUDHURY is the author of the novels Clouds,
published in January 2018 by Simon & Schuster, and Arzee the Dwarf,
published in 2009 by HarperCollins, shortlisted for the Commonwealth
First Book Prize, translated into German and Spanish, and chosen by
World Literature Today in 2010 as one of “60 Essential Works of Modern
Indian Literature in English.” He is also the editor of a short introduction
to the pleasures of Indian literature called India: A Traveler’s Literary
Companion.
Bengal Light Book (BLB) and ULAB will organise a creative writing
workshop with Indian novelist and essayist Chandrahas Choudhury
on November 11-15 at the BLB Office in Dhanmondi, Dhaka.
This five-day creative writing workshop is geared towards serious
writers looking to get published. It will include morning lectures
on various aspects of the craft, including “Finding Yourself as a
Writer”, “Building a Character”, and “The Economics of Being
a Writer.” Afternoon sessions will be dedicated to independent
writing exercises and one-on-one conversations with the facilitator
regarding individual works and a road map for the future.
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DHAKA TRIBUNE | TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018
ARTS & LETTERS