WE are extremely pleased to let you know that the Canadian Consulate General (Chandigarh, India) is hosting a three city literary tour from March 6 to 8 for the Dhahan Prize accompanied by two Canadian Punjabi authors. The literary events will be interactive sessions with faculty, members of the arts and cultural community and students at Punjabi University Patiala, Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and Panjab University, Chandigarh followed by an evening reception at the Consul General’s residence.
A similar literary program will be held in Lahore, Pakistan hosted by the well-known Mr. Zubair Ahmad and Mr. Iqbal Kaiser, leaders of the Pakistan Punjabi arts and literary community on February 28th and March 1st.
The Canadian Punjabi writers participating in these events are Sadhu Binning and Harpreet Sekha. Sadhu Binning is a retired UBC language instructor, has authored and co-authored more than seventeen books of poetry, fiction, plays, translations and research. His works have been included in close to fifty anthologies, both in Punjabi and English. He edited a literary monthly Watno Dur and co-edits a quarterly, Watan. He is a founding member of Vancouver Sath, a theatre collective, and Ankur. He sat on the BC Arts Board from 1993 to 1995. He has been an active member of a number of literary and cultural organizations, including the Writers Union of Canada. He was named one of the top 100 South Asians making a difference in BC. Sadhu has received several awards for his contributions to Punjabi language and culture in Canada. As an active member of the Punjabi Language Education Association, he has been promoting Punjabi language in educational institutions in BC for the last two and a half decades. He is currently on the Advisory Committee of the Dhahan Prize.
Harpreet Singh Sara (Harpreet Sekha – pen name) is a Punjabi author of fiction and non-fiction based in Surrey, BC, Canada. He migrated to Canada with his parents in 1988. Harpreet holds a diploma in Mechanical Engineering and is currently employed as a Computer Numerical Control Machinist. Harpreet’s written work explores themes and experiences that resonate with South Asian Canadians, such as gender inequality, social justice, and migrant experience. His literary work includes the non-fiction Taxinaama (2011) and short story anthologies Bi Ji Muskra Paye (2006), Baaran Boohey (2013) and Prism (2017). Of these, Bi Ji Muskra Paye and Taxinaama were reprinted for a second edition in 2010 and 2017, respectively. Baaran Boohey was recently translated into Hindi by Subhash Neerav and published under the title Barfkhor Hwaein (2017). Also in 2017, Harpreet conducted an authorized translation of Hugh Johnston’s Jewels of the Qila, which has been published in Punjabi as Qiley dey Moti. Included in Harpreet’s regular contributions to Punjabi, Hindi, and English literary magazines are a recurring weekly essay in Nawan Zamana newspaper and a monthly essay in Seerat magazine. Harpreet’s work has received academic recognition as well. His short story Panj Dollar Da Note from Bi Ji Muskra Paye is published in Rajasthan School Board’s 12th Grade Punjabi textbook Kahani-Sansar (2017) From 2014-2017 at Kurukshetra University, Taxinaama was included in the Punjabi M.A. program, and his work was the focus of many students’ M. Phil research. Harpreet’s work has also been adapted to the stage by many celebrated theatre artists including Kewal Dhaliwal, Pali Bhupinder, Rana Ranbir, Samuel John, Hansa Singh, and Parmjit Gill.
