Renowned writer Uday Prakash, considered one of contemporary Hindi’s most important voices, is visiting Carleton College for the month of May as the Lindesmith Distinguished Lecturer and Writer in Residence. During his residency, Prakash will present a number of public lectures and film screenings; these events are free and open to the public.
On Friday, May 11 at 7 p.m. in the Weitz Center for Creativity Room 236, Carleton will present a public screening of Mohandas, the 2009 film directed by Mazhar Kamran and written by Prakash, based on his award-winning story of the same name. The film tells the tale of a young man from a poor family whose newfound success is brutally disrupted when his identity is stolen and he finds himself in a Kafkaesque story of corruption and conspiracy. Following the screening, Prakash will discuss the film and answer questions from the audience.
At 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 15 in Boliou Hall Room 104, Prakash will deliver Carleton’s 2012 Lindesmith Lecture in South Asian Studies about the role of the writer and on globalization in the third world.
The public will also have an opportunity to engage more personally with the author in an informal discussion of some Prakash’s short stories in English translation. The discussion will take place at 4 p.m. on Friday, May 18 in the Weitz Center for Creativity’s LOME Lounge (located on the balcony immediately above the main entrance). Space is limited to 20 people, and those interested in participating should contact achaklad@carleton.edu in order to receive advance copies of the stories to be discussed.
Prakash’s final public event during his Carleton residency will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23 in the Gould Library Athenaeum. The Humanities Center Spring Term Dialogos Panel Presentation and Discussion, entitled “Translation and Global Knowledge,” will feature panelists Prakash together with professor of English Arnab Chakladar, Cinema and Media Studies professor Sigi Leonhard, and Jason Grunenbaum, who has translated a number of Prakash’s works into English.
Prakash is an eminent scholar and a prolific Hindi poet, journalist, translator and author. His writing spans fiction, non-fiction, and critically-acclaimed films and documentaries. Among his many honors is the Sahitya Akademi award, one of India’s highest literary honors, and comparable to the National Book Award here in the United States. His work has been translated into numerous Indian and other languages (including Spanish, German and Japanese). Prakash maintains a personal blog on blogspot.com.
These events are sponsored by the Lindesmith Distinguished Lecturer and Writer in Residence Fund and the Department of Asian Studies with assistance from the Humanities Center. Jason Grunebaum's appearance on May 23 is made possible through the participation of the Department of English. For more information or disability accommodations, call (507) 222-5547 or email achaklad@carleton.edu.
