Events in memory of Shakti Bhatt

Shakti Bhatt passed away earlier this year.

Several events coming up in the next few days, in her memory.

Thursday, 27th September (Shakti's birthday), a reading at

The British Council, 17, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Delhi, at 7pm.

Her friends will read from her work and remember her with poetry, short fiction, and music. The Shakti Bhatt Foundation will announce the inaugural 2008 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize.

Friday, 28th September "Open Baithak" Performance in Poetry & Art Series

British Council Delhi,

6.30 pm.

Sign up starts at 6.30pm. Open reading/performance start at 7pm. Each poet/performer gets 5 mins on the stage and is expected to bring in new work every time -- and also to delight the audience by doing risky and innovative things with it. You can read/perform in any language. Wheelchair accessible.

Baithak Theme: Love, Lies, Forgetting

Sunday, 30th September Caferati's First Annual Celebrating Shakti Bhatt Workshop.

The Attic, 36, Regal Building, 1st Floor, Next to Kwality Restaurant, Parliament Street, Connaught Place, New Delhi 110 001.

4pm.

One workshop focuses on Creative Editing for Creative Writers, and will be led by Urvashi Butalia and Anita Roy of Zubaan. The second workshop is on Indian Poetic Forms and H S Shivaprakash of JNU will lead a part of this workshop.

And finally, the details of the Shakti Bhatt First Book Award 2008, below. If anyone has any queries about any of these events, ask in the comments and it shall be forwarded to those concerned.

The Shakti Bhatt Foundation is a non-profit trust set up by her family to keep her memory alive.

It wishes to reward first-time authors of all ages.

THE SHAKTI BHATT FOUNDATION

announces the inaugural

2008 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize

The Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize is a cash award of one lakh rupees.

A 3-member panel of judges will shortlist entries. The 2008 panel of judges includes William Dalrymple and Kamila Shamsie.

We invite entries in the following genres: poetry, fiction, creative non-fiction (travel writing, autobiography, biography, and narrative journalism) and drama. Open to first-time authors of all ages.

The book must be published between June 1, 2007 and June 30, 2008.

Only books published in India are eligible.

Publications must be in English or translated into English from an Indian language. Vanity press publications are ineligible.

Deadline for entries is July 15, 2008.