"Unless fiction becomes disobedient, it will become irrelevant."Arundhati Roy: a fiercely-articulate award-winning novelist, essayist, feared political activist, former actress and screenwriter, and both the topic of, and honored guest for, this unit of #BecauseWeveRead.
And we're quite thrilled.
We love a principled, badass woman.
Her book The End of Imagination is a collection of Roy's essays that intertwine the beauty and flow of her fiction writing with her articulate and scathing political non-fiction writing. The result is a composition that is both a deeply emotional and wildly powerful deconstruction and analysis of empire, capitalism, and power.
As Haymarket Books, our official partner for this unit, comprehensively describes The End of Imagination:
"This new collection begins with her pathbreaking book The Cost of Living,— published soon after she won the Booker Prize for her novel The God of Small Things—, in which she forcefully condemned India’s nuclear tests and its construction of enormous dam projects that continue to displace countless people from their homes and communities. The End of Imagination also includes her nonfiction works Power Politics, War Talk, Public Power in the Age of Empire, and An Ordinary Person’s Guide to Empire, which include her widely circulated and inspiring writings on the U.S. invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, the need to confront corporate power, and the hollowing out of democratic institutions globally."
FEBRUARY / MARCH
BOOK OF THE MONTH:
The End of Imagination, Arundhati Roy
BOOK
+ The End of Imagination (2016), Arundhati Roy - Free Ebook here, graciously provided by one of our all-time favorite radical publishers, Haymarket Books (based right here in Chicago)! Thank you for all that you do to publish and support radical literature that challenges the status quo!
(As always, please email us at bwr@joojooazad.com if you are not financially (or politically) able to purchase a book and cannot access the ebook linked above, and we can mail you a free copy while supplies last, courtesy of Haymarket Books!)
ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED RESOURCES
+ "Arundhati Roy on The End of Imagination", (video) interview on Democracy Now+ "Arundhati Roy: ‘The point of the writer is to be unpopular’" Q&A with famous fans & readers, The Guardian
+ Capitalism, A Ghost Story (2014), one of my favorite books by Arundhati Roy
+ "Capitalism: A Ghost Story - An Evening with Arundhati Roy and Siddhartha Deb" (video), lecture at The New School
+ Field Notes on Democracy (2015), Arundhati Roy
+ My Seditious Heart (2019), Arundhati Roy
+ "What is the Morally Appropriate Language in Which to Think and Write?" essay by Arundhati Roy, Literary Hub
+ "Arundhati Roy on 'Walking with the Comrades'", interview, The Paris Review
+ "#MeTooUrbanNaxal: An Open Statement by Arundhati Roy", Caravan Magazine
+ "Arundhati Roy on the Rise of Fascism & Trump’s Embrace of India’s Robber Barons" (video), Democracy Now interview
+ Full extended interview with Arundhati Roy on Democracy Now (video)
+ "Arundhati Roy in conversation with Anthony Arnove" (video)
SOCIAL MEDIA
+ Instagram, @BecauseWeveRead
+ Twitter, @BecauseWeveRead+ Subscribe to our email updates!
(We're giving away copies of The End of Imagination on Instagram, so be sure to follow us for a chance to win! Also, we love our reader posts! Use the hashtag #BecauseWeveRead and tag us to join the conversation on social media, and we might just repost you!)
LIVE, GLOBAL DISCUSSION
DATE: Sunday, April 7thTIME: 10:00 am CST / 8:30pm India Standard Time
PLATFORM: Youtube Live (linked here, and embedded below)
GUEST: Arundhati Roy
CHAPTERS / DISCUSSION GROUPS
Our beautiful, fabulous #BecauseWeveRead official chapter leads are listed below, along with their email addresses and social media to get in touch! They will be releasing the date for their meetup and additional information as the month progresses, so be sure to follow them on social media, email them letting them know you're interested in joining, and/or keep this page bookmarked as we continue to update as information arises!
NORTH AMERICA
Ann Arbor/Detroit, Michigan: Samantha Rahmani / email
Boston, Massachusetts: Reza Mirsajadi & Joubin Khazaie / email
Edmonton, Canada: Shahroze / email
Montreal, Canada: Mona Ghassemi & Sarah Ben Amar / email, twitter
Vancouver, Canada: Julia Al-Kuwatli, Dyalla Popatia, Catherine Campos / email
Vancouver Facebook Group
AFRICA
Cairo, Egypt: Hana Ehab Hassanein & Shahd Sherief / email
Cape Town, South Africa: Surekha Bhugeloo / email
Cape Town, South Africa: Surekha Bhugeloo / email
Mauritius, Mauritius: Soufia Bham / email
ASIA
Bombay/Mumbai, India: Smriti Sant & Anadita Bhalerao / email
Jakarta, Indonesia: Annissa Rosyidah & Nana Rosyidah & Intan Khasanah / email
Karachi, Pakistan: Sheema Khawar and Amal Hamid / email
Lahore, Pakistan: Madiha Tallat / email, instagram
Karachi, Pakistan: Sheema Khawar and Amal Hamid / email
Lahore, Pakistan: Madiha Tallat / email, instagram
EUROPE
Barcelona, Spain: Diana Al-Rahmoun / email
Birmingham, England: Milga Abraham / email
Leeds, England: Aanika / email
London, England: Alliyah Riaz & Maryam Abdullah / email
Vienna, Italy: Victoria Kober / email
Birmingham, England: Milga Abraham / email
Leeds, England: Aanika / email
London, England: Alliyah Riaz & Maryam Abdullah / email
Vienna, Italy: Victoria Kober / email
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Happy reading!
Can't wait to read all of your thoughts as you're reading -- be sure to tag us & hashtag #BecauseWeveRead to join the club & conversation!
Want to sponsor this project? Help get books into more hands of communities in-need internationally? Donate to us via venmo (@hoda-katebi) or paypal -- be sure to write #BecauseWeveRead in the memo so we can be sure to allocate toward this project!
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