IV. Progress in the preparation of the book

After the plan for the book was finalized (see blog entry for Oct 6) to go beyond the address of the Seminar, it was decided that we reach the international community of scholars in the area with a call for papers (CFP). Early October the CFP was posted in the major scholarly (listserv) portals and area-specific journals. The resulting response was encouraging: during the last ten days nearly 14 proposals and abstracts from countries as numerous as USA, Canada, Europe, Africa, South Pacific have been received. During this period we have also been trying to reach select writers of Indian diaspora across the world with request that they offer their reflections on key issues [list given at the end of the Blog entry for Oct 4) in diasporic discourse. If the response from the writers is also as encouraging, we may have to plan for a two volume book. For the record, the CFP is given below.


The Expatriate Indian Writing in English: A Call for Papers


We have just concluded a National Seminar on Expatriate Indian Writing in English (Sep 22-23) at Dept. of English, Kakatiya University, Andhra Pradesh, India. Some of the key participants were Prof. Jasbir Jain (Jaipur), Prof. Manju Jaidka (Chandigarh), Dr. Somdatta Mandal (Shantiniketan), Prof. Veena Noble Dass (Tirupati), Prof. Vijayashree (Hyderabad), Prof. Gopal Rao (Hyderabad), Dr. R.K. Dhawan (Delhi), and Prof. Vinoda (Warangal).

We are now firming up plans for a book on the subject, putting together the papers we have already received at the Seminar, along with the invited ones that fit in. The scope of the book is enlarged to include contributions on writers of Indian origin from the Far East, Africa, Caribbean, and Australia. We are also devoting some space for diasporic theory in the book.

The focus of the book, as in the Seminar, will be on defining (a) the way each of the new writers [of the last quarter century] has come to terms with the diasporic experience, and (b) how he/she relates to India. As with all labels, the “Expatriate Indian Writers” as a broad category subsumes the emigrant first generation as well as the subsequent generations, wherever they are. We welcome submissions on writers of Indian origin not only from USA, Canada and UK, but also from countries like Australia, Far East, Caribbean, and Africa.

Please send abstracts of 500 words by email to Prof. (Mrs) Vinoda at mailto:vinodat@yahoo.co.in by October 31, 2005. On hearing from her the completed articles (not more 3000 words) will be due by November 30, 2005. Queries are welcome by email.
Vinoda
Professor of English
Kakatiya University
Warangal, AP, India