Invitation | Panel Discussion on "Dalit literature(s) as a breathing force to the Ambedkarite Movement" | Ambedkar Jayanthi |

[Savitribai intersectional Study Circle Nalsar]

Dear All,

On the Occasion of the 130th birth anniversary of Dr. Bahasaheb Ambedkar, Savitribai Intersectional Study Circle in collaboration with NALSAR Minorities' Forum and NALSAR Queer Collective is elated to send to you all, this invitation to a Panel Discussion on "Dalit literature(s) as a breathing force to the Ambedkarite Movement"

Why 

The life of Dalit Women and queer persons is the life of feminism and queerness. It is with their creative energies in all walks of life and in different ways of struggles and triumphants that they contributed to these ideas as liberatory concepts, which not only helped Dalit population but also everyone who is victimised by oppresive Caste and Gender structures. The writings of Dalit women and Dalit queer folks in different forms of Art are testament to those very ideas. The Dalit queer & feminist literature broke the shapes, styles and sizes that held self dignity & respect in them, to break caste and gender. It would be right to call it a literature of liberation. One of the greatest literary personalities who championed liberation of Dalits through sociological literature, with ideas of self-respect & dignity, is Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar. After him, the same ideas are kept as lively as queer in its espousal, critique and development through dalit literature(s). It is this literature(s), a continuum and rejuvenation of Ambedkar that is in need of discussion on his birth anniversary. On that note, to remember and celebrate his legacy in literatue,  this panel offers a discussion on the Dalit literature as a continium of Ambedkar-ite ideas of self dignity & respect. The aim of this discussion is to introduce Ambedkar as an idea that transcends  personality. 

Who   

                                                                             

                                                                        

To understand the legacy of the Dalit Literature in theorising the Ambedkarite ideals, we have invited the following speakers, who with their work of literature, have been contributing to community learning, building and organising marginalised lives. The list of the speakers is as follows :

1.

Dr. Gogu Shyamala is one of the foremost contemporary writers in India, an inventive author and poet in Telugu.  She is currently a literature fellow at Nantes Institute for Advanced Study, France. Her English collection of short stories is a landmark book in Indian literature, it has also been translated into German and one story into French. Her other writings have been translated into vernacular native languages like Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, and Urdu.  She produced a biography of the first Dalit woman legislator in the state of Andhra Pradesh. Her earlier volume Nallapoddu (Black Dawn) is a collection of Dalit women writings from across the state.  This anthology has been critically acclaimed in the Telugu literary world. She has worked on issues of domestic violence and Dalit women. She was also the co-editor of Oxford published Anthology of Telugu Dalit Writing in English. She has received several awards. Some of her writings are part of the higher education syllabus for Telangana Government and University of San Francisco, USA. Her PhD thesis titled ‘Reading Caste Histories through Biographies: A Case Study of the Dalit Women of Telangana’ was undertaken at the Department of Social Exclusion Studies School of Interdisciplinary Studies at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad in 2019.

2.

Manasa Yendluri  is currently the editor for Vihanga Global Magazine which was established by Putla Hemalatha. Recently in 2021, her book “Milinda”  an anthology of 22 short stories,  was awarded Kendra Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for Telugu. She was the only Telugu writer who received an invitation to the All India Young Writers Fest organized by Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in Tripura in 2016, and in Assam in 2018.  She received Smile Smaraka Puraskaram and Venkata Subbu Smaraka Puraskaram in 2017, and Madabhushi puraskaram in 2021. She writes around lives of Dalit women and queerness. She Translated 2015's Marathi Novel "oh" to Telugu as "Ooriki Dakshinana". She is currently working on translating the first Dalit Autobiography "Balutha" from English to Telugu. 

3.

Shripad Sinnakaar  is a poet from Mumbai currently pursuing their Masters in Philosophy from University of Mumbai. They have written poems around Migration, Caste and queerness. You can find their everyday resilience through writing on their instagram handle.

When

We will be hosting the event in webex on April 14, 2021. The timings of the same are from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm. 

Where

You can join the event with the link below :

https://nalsar.webex.com/nalsar/j.php?MTID=m696ab2ded024f4bc24bb2a5e3154d931   

Looking forward to seeing you all there! 

Regards

Sanjeev Gumpenapalli

On behalf of Savitribai Intersectional Study Circle, NALSAR.