Chapters

DesiLit currently has eight chapters, in the Bay Area, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New York, Philadelphia, and Toronto. If you are interested in creating a chapter in your own city, please feel free to contact us for more information on how we might productively work together to facilitate your project.

Bay Area

Desilit-bayarea was launched in August 2004 by Bay Area South Asian writers seeking a community to share work and conversations about writing. It came out of a potluck initiated by Minal Hajratwala from San Francisco who invited people to meet Mary Anne Mohanraj then in town teaching a writing workshop. Mary Anne had launched a DesiLit group in Chicago and we became the Bay Area affiliate.

Some of the people at that initial meeting knew each other, but many others did not. Since that gathering, more writers have joined and by May 2005, the e-group's mailing list included more than 40 people. To join the Bay Area chapter mailing list, please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/desilit-bayarea.

Who are we? We include people working in a range of genres: fiction, poetry, journalism, memoir and family stories. Some of us are beginners, some are published in journals and magazines, a few have books to their names. We have among us people from a wide range of ages and we include people from India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, as well as those born in the diaspora (Africa, Europe, North America).

Besides connecting through the Yahoo mailing list, we meet once a month for a Sunday afternoon potluck. Since we are scattered across the region, we have met in Half Moon Bay, San Francisco, Dublin, Cotati, Albany, Berkeley and Oakland. At these gatherings, besides food and chitchat, we have shared writing and also had discussions about reviewing books, filmmaking, publishing, submissions, and the craft of writing.

Calgary

DesiLit-Calgary currently primarily exists as a monthly book club that focuses primarily on South Asian and diaspora writing, but is open to expanding chapter activities in the future. To learn more about the Calgary chapter, join our chapter mailing list or contact Rupi Sood.

Chicago

DesiLit was founded in Chicago, which hosted the Kriti festival in 2005, and is hosting a variety of events in 2006, including a book club, reading series, writing workshops, contests, and more. Learn more about our Chicago chapter activities!

London

The London chapter is in the process of forming; for more information, join the London chapter mailing list or contact Munir Hassan.

Los Angeles

The Los Angeles chapter is in the process of forming; for more information, join the Los Angeles chapter mailing list or contact Soumya Sundaresh.

Milwaukee

The Milwaukee chapter is in the process of forming; for more information, join the Milwaukee chapter mailing list.

New York

The New York Chapter is in the process of forming; for more information join the New York chapter mailing list or contact Roohi Choudhury.

Philadelphia

The Philadelphia chapter is in the process of forming; for more information, join the Philadelphia chapter mailing list or contact Ashini J. Desai.

Greater Toronto

DesiLit-Greater Toronto

As one of the chapters of DesiLit, DesiLit-Greater Toronto currently exists as a loose network of individuals who are interested in South Asian inspired writing.

Learn more about our Greater Toronto chapter activities!