The Department of English and Communication, Martin Luther Christian University today organised an interactive seminar with novelist, poet, short story writer and critic Anjum Hasan on the theme “Imagining Ourselves”.
Anjum Hasan was born in 1972 in Shillong where she graduated in Philosophy from North Eastern Hill University. She currently lives in Bangalore. Her debut novel Lunatic in my Head (2007) was shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award 2007.
Set in Shillong in the early 1990s, it weaves together the stories of its three main characters.Her short-story collection, Difficult Pleasures (2012), was shortlisted for The Hindu Literary Prize and the Crossword Book Award.
Hasan’s books – Lunatic in my Head; Neti, Neti (as Big Girl Now); and Difficult Pleasures have all appeared in Australia from Brass Monkey Books.
Eminent journalist, Patricia Mukhim, also graced the occasion with her presence and interaction during the event which was attended by Prof. T K Kharbamon, Vice Chancellor, MLCU; and the faculty and students of the department.
The seminar focused on the role and definition of imagination in writing, whether imagination simply means making things up or being able to see things as they are.
Hasan spoke on the importance of reading to cultivate and nurture imagination. She stressed on how each book does not stand independent on its own but is in conversation with other books.
She spoke on a variety of different types of books and authors and how each have their own methods and processes in telling their stories.
During the question and answer session questions were asked on creativity and imagination and the discussion also continued to the writer’s own processes in writing and the choices she makes on themes, settings, names etc.
