Dr Durre Shahwar
@durreshahwar.bsky.social
Writer & researcher of autofiction, hybridity, nature, language. Editor: GATHERING @404ink.bsky.social. Rep'd by @nurnbergagency.bsky.social.
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
A man?? winning the Booker prize????? Is that even possible? It hasn't happened since the far-flung days of 2023. Our legends say that a man also won it in the ancient, prehistoric era of 2021, but surely that is just an old wives tale meant to frighten MFA students before bed.
The Guardian view on the Booker prize winner: putting masculinity back at the centre of literary fiction | Editorial
Editorial: David Szalay’s Flesh breaks from a decade of female-centred interiors and reopens a genre many thought closed to men
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:18 AM
A man?? winning the Booker prize????? Is that even possible? It hasn't happened since the far-flung days of 2023. Our legends say that a man also won it in the ancient, prehistoric era of 2021, but surely that is just an old wives tale meant to frighten MFA students before bed.
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
We’re happy to announce three workshops in partnership with @durreshahwar.bsky.social: Writing for Wellbeing – South Asian Stories.
Each one is a ‘standalone’ workshop, and you can register for free here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/writing-f...
Each one is a ‘standalone’ workshop, and you can register for free here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/writing-f...
November 3, 2025 at 12:41 PM
We’re happy to announce three workshops in partnership with @durreshahwar.bsky.social: Writing for Wellbeing – South Asian Stories.
Each one is a ‘standalone’ workshop, and you can register for free here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/writing-f...
Each one is a ‘standalone’ workshop, and you can register for free here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/writing-f...
It was an honour to be in conversation with Sara Ahmed last week about her new book, No Is Not A Lonely Answer. I've been reflecting on things I've said no to, the spaces that make it hard to advocate for better, and the changes that arise from complaint. I really recommend everyone read it.
October 1, 2025 at 12:07 PM
It was an honour to be in conversation with Sara Ahmed last week about her new book, No Is Not A Lonely Answer. I've been reflecting on things I've said no to, the spaces that make it hard to advocate for better, and the changes that arise from complaint. I really recommend everyone read it.
If there's one thing you read today, read Camilla Grudova's essay on the precariousness of making a living from writing when you're from an underprivileged background and the ways that writers shift and adapt snd often have to make do. I felt so incredibly seen by it.
NEW essay by CAMILLA GRUDOVA, part of our ongoing series of reflection on the writing life edited by @oneflawediris.bsky.social
”Money matters: whatever other job a writer does, whether shop assistant or professor, it is subsidising the publisher.”
Read more: stingingfly.org/2025/06/25/t...
”Money matters: whatever other job a writer does, whether shop assistant or professor, it is subsidising the publisher.”
Read more: stingingfly.org/2025/06/25/t...
June 26, 2025 at 11:18 AM
If there's one thing you read today, read Camilla Grudova's essay on the precariousness of making a living from writing when you're from an underprivileged background and the ways that writers shift and adapt snd often have to make do. I felt so incredibly seen by it.
Last week, for Refugee Week, I reflected on what nature taught me about migration and how you see your place in the world when you have been a former refugee. You can read it here on my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/durre/p/...
What Nature Taught Me About Migration
Thoughts on Refugee Week
open.substack.com
June 26, 2025 at 8:08 AM
Last week, for Refugee Week, I reflected on what nature taught me about migration and how you see your place in the world when you have been a former refugee. You can read it here on my Substack: open.substack.com/pub/durre/p/...
Cardiff primary school teachers and similar folks, you should go to this. Darren is brilliant.
Link here: literacytrust.org.uk/events/creat...
June 24, 2025 at 10:07 PM
Cardiff primary school teachers and similar folks, you should go to this. Darren is brilliant.
It was a delight to be a judge for this anthology that celebrates South Asian poetry, and to get to read such a range of excellent submissions on so many different themes.
Delighted to announce judges @betarish.bsky.social, @farhanashaikh.bsky.social & @durreshahwar.bsky.social have convened & curated the final 50 poets for the Remembrance anthology, celebrating South Asian poetry, founded by Suman Gujral 🙌🤩
Selection here: thirdspacestories.com/remembrance-...
Selection here: thirdspacestories.com/remembrance-...
June 24, 2025 at 2:35 PM
It was a delight to be a judge for this anthology that celebrates South Asian poetry, and to get to read such a range of excellent submissions on so many different themes.
Spotted at @queeremporium.bsky.social Cardiff @suchmayer.bsky.social
June 17, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Spotted at @queeremporium.bsky.social Cardiff @suchmayer.bsky.social
Saw this on another platform today and it resonated deeply.
June 8, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Saw this on another platform today and it resonated deeply.
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
PRE-ORDERS NOW OPEN, w 10% discount!
Please buy & spread the word—this is the book of my life, & pre-orders are v impt for its flight.
First blurbs have come in, from Bhanu Kapil & Jeremy Tiang, am so honoured &constantly verklempt 🤍 #CripLit
tiltedaxispress.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?...
Please buy & spread the word—this is the book of my life, & pre-orders are v impt for its flight.
First blurbs have come in, from Bhanu Kapil & Jeremy Tiang, am so honoured &constantly verklempt 🤍 #CripLit
tiltedaxispress.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?...
June 3, 2025 at 11:14 AM
PRE-ORDERS NOW OPEN, w 10% discount!
Please buy & spread the word—this is the book of my life, & pre-orders are v impt for its flight.
First blurbs have come in, from Bhanu Kapil & Jeremy Tiang, am so honoured &constantly verklempt 🤍 #CripLit
tiltedaxispress.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?...
Please buy & spread the word—this is the book of my life, & pre-orders are v impt for its flight.
First blurbs have come in, from Bhanu Kapil & Jeremy Tiang, am so honoured &constantly verklempt 🤍 #CripLit
tiltedaxispress.us11.list-manage.com/track/click?...
My creative non-fiction piece, Making/Unmaking, written for @nvpoco.bsky.social is now available to read online for free! Bringing together themes of sustainability, ancestral connection across continents, regional practices, making and unmaking of cultural identity.
www.yumpu.com/en/document/...
www.yumpu.com/en/document/...
June 3, 2025 at 10:12 AM
My creative non-fiction piece, Making/Unmaking, written for @nvpoco.bsky.social is now available to read online for free! Bringing together themes of sustainability, ancestral connection across continents, regional practices, making and unmaking of cultural identity.
www.yumpu.com/en/document/...
www.yumpu.com/en/document/...
Such a huge loss. I was writing and researching the hierarchies of language when I came across his work and felt a huge shift in my own due to it. Rest in power. What a legacy you leave behind.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, the Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet, and critic, has died at 87.
The revolutionary Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has died.
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o has died. The Kenyan novelist, playwright, poet, and critic was 87. The “towering giant of Kenyan letters” broke through in 1964, with the publication of his fir…
buff.ly
May 29, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Such a huge loss. I was writing and researching the hierarchies of language when I came across his work and felt a huge shift in my own due to it. Rest in power. What a legacy you leave behind.
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
Once again had poems rejected by a Serious Grown-up Magazine.
So if you want a poem (unserious? too serious? too many raging puns?) in ur inbox, lmk & I'll send you one.
So if you want a poem (unserious? too serious? too many raging puns?) in ur inbox, lmk & I'll send you one.
a woman in a red dress is holding a microphone and says you get a car and you get a car
Alt: Oprah Winfrey, a Black woman in a fitted red suit, is holding a microphone and saying to her studio audience: you get a car and you get a car and you get a car.
media.tenor.com
May 23, 2025 at 6:36 PM
Once again had poems rejected by a Serious Grown-up Magazine.
So if you want a poem (unserious? too serious? too many raging puns?) in ur inbox, lmk & I'll send you one.
So if you want a poem (unserious? too serious? too many raging puns?) in ur inbox, lmk & I'll send you one.
Had the most wonderful time at #awwe25. Have come away inspired, fulfilled, moved by good people and incredible papers, with new knowledge and lots of photos of beautiful Wales. Have been trying to go to #awwe conference for a few years now. Third time lucky. Diolch o galon.
One more #awwe25 session tonight: @durreshahwar.bsky.social ‘s autofiction centred on her dual Welsh-Pakistani heritage.
May 11, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
Eisiau ysgrifennu am natur a'r argyfwng hinsawdd? Dyma'r dosbarth meistr i chi.
Book Inclusive Journalism Cymru's free Zoom masterclass on environmental writing! 🌱
Gwesteion/Guests: @durreshahwar.bsky.social, Owen Sheers, Taylor Edmonds
21/5 19:00
amam.cymru/inclusivejou...
Book Inclusive Journalism Cymru's free Zoom masterclass on environmental writing! 🌱
Gwesteion/Guests: @durreshahwar.bsky.social, Owen Sheers, Taylor Edmonds
21/5 19:00
amam.cymru/inclusivejou...
May 7, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Eisiau ysgrifennu am natur a'r argyfwng hinsawdd? Dyma'r dosbarth meistr i chi.
Book Inclusive Journalism Cymru's free Zoom masterclass on environmental writing! 🌱
Gwesteion/Guests: @durreshahwar.bsky.social, Owen Sheers, Taylor Edmonds
21/5 19:00
amam.cymru/inclusivejou...
Book Inclusive Journalism Cymru's free Zoom masterclass on environmental writing! 🌱
Gwesteion/Guests: @durreshahwar.bsky.social, Owen Sheers, Taylor Edmonds
21/5 19:00
amam.cymru/inclusivejou...
Very happy to have written a piece drawing on the themes of sustainability, regional practices, and making/unmaking, building upon research from my Future Wales Fellowship for @nvpoco.bsky.social. The magazine is brilliantly curated and is launching tomorrow with an online event.
We're very happy to announce our fourth title and author in our series of posts on the contributions to New Voices in Postcolonial Studies Magazine No. 2: "Imagining Postcolonial Futures"! ☀️
▶︎ Introducing "Making/Unmaking" by Durre Shahwar @durreshahwar.bsky.social
▶︎ Introducing "Making/Unmaking" by Durre Shahwar @durreshahwar.bsky.social
May 6, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Very happy to have written a piece drawing on the themes of sustainability, regional practices, and making/unmaking, building upon research from my Future Wales Fellowship for @nvpoco.bsky.social. The magazine is brilliantly curated and is launching tomorrow with an online event.
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
📍The launch will take place 7th May 19:00-20:30 GMT Online
🎟️ Register here for a free ticket: www.eventbrite.com/e/nvpoco-mag...
🎟️ Register here for a free ticket: www.eventbrite.com/e/nvpoco-mag...
NVPoco Magazine No. 2 "Imagining Postcolonial Futures" Launch!
The New Voices in Postcolonial Studies Network is proud to launch our latest issue of NVPoco Magazine!
www.eventbrite.com
April 25, 2025 at 9:55 PM
📍The launch will take place 7th May 19:00-20:30 GMT Online
🎟️ Register here for a free ticket: www.eventbrite.com/e/nvpoco-mag...
🎟️ Register here for a free ticket: www.eventbrite.com/e/nvpoco-mag...
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
Join us in celebrating the work of our authors, learning more about NVPoco, and discussing the future of postcolonial studies. The launch will include readings of creative/critical works by Alan Palacios, Sonakshi Srivastava, @durreshahwar.bsky.social, James Lapping, George Harris, and Owen Buchan
April 25, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Join us in celebrating the work of our authors, learning more about NVPoco, and discussing the future of postcolonial studies. The launch will include readings of creative/critical works by Alan Palacios, Sonakshi Srivastava, @durreshahwar.bsky.social, James Lapping, George Harris, and Owen Buchan
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
We're delighted to announce the launch of the latest issue of of New Voices in Postcolonial Studies Magazine edited by Soph Harris-Nijmeijer and Juni Kvarving (@juni-kvarving.bsky.social) on the theme of "Imagining Postcolonial Futures"!
April 25, 2025 at 9:55 PM
We're delighted to announce the launch of the latest issue of of New Voices in Postcolonial Studies Magazine edited by Soph Harris-Nijmeijer and Juni Kvarving (@juni-kvarving.bsky.social) on the theme of "Imagining Postcolonial Futures"!
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
A belated thank you to @durreshahwar.bsky.social and @hananelizabethissa.bsky.social for an enjoyable and enlightening chat about Gathering: Women of Colour on Nature at Central Library Hub. Available to reserve now!
April 24, 2025 at 10:48 AM
A belated thank you to @durreshahwar.bsky.social and @hananelizabethissa.bsky.social for an enjoyable and enlightening chat about Gathering: Women of Colour on Nature at Central Library Hub. Available to reserve now!
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
In her poetry published in The Dial, Palestinian playwright Dalia Taha considers how simple pleasures and pains—like the warmth of the sun and wrist pain—take on new meaning during wartime: www.thedial.world/articles/lit...
Poems by Dalia Taha — The Dial
“Enter Sun”, “Enter Wrist Pain”, and “Enter Poem”
www.thedial.world
April 4, 2025 at 6:40 PM
In her poetry published in The Dial, Palestinian playwright Dalia Taha considers how simple pleasures and pains—like the warmth of the sun and wrist pain—take on new meaning during wartime: www.thedial.world/articles/lit...
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
Booking is now open for University of Bristol’s annual Writers Day. A full line-up of workshops, talks and Q&As, featuring headliners Vanessa Kisuule and CJ Skuse. £25 full rate and £15 concessions. bristol.ac.uk/english/stud...
Writer's Day
Join us on Saturday 7 June for a day filled with creativity and inspiration.
bristol.ac.uk
March 31, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Booking is now open for University of Bristol’s annual Writers Day. A full line-up of workshops, talks and Q&As, featuring headliners Vanessa Kisuule and CJ Skuse. £25 full rate and £15 concessions. bristol.ac.uk/english/stud...
I've said it before and I'll say it again: weaponising the language of activism to shame people, or believing there's a singular correct way to be an activist is often inherently privileged and never intersectional. It also just doesn't serve any community you claim to be doing the work for.
April 4, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I've said it before and I'll say it again: weaponising the language of activism to shame people, or believing there's a singular correct way to be an activist is often inherently privileged and never intersectional. It also just doesn't serve any community you claim to be doing the work for.
I'll be delivering a PGR seminar online tomorrow with Queen Mary University, about my research and writing of autofiction and how it may or may not lend itself to decolonising how we write. It's free to attend by anyone.
durreshahwarpgrs.eventbrite.co.uk
durreshahwarpgrs.eventbrite.co.uk
April 1, 2025 at 10:25 AM
I'll be delivering a PGR seminar online tomorrow with Queen Mary University, about my research and writing of autofiction and how it may or may not lend itself to decolonising how we write. It's free to attend by anyone.
durreshahwarpgrs.eventbrite.co.uk
durreshahwarpgrs.eventbrite.co.uk
Reposted by Dr Durre Shahwar
Are you an LAHP-funded student? Gain hands-on experience at a renowned literary magazine and learn how to run a literary prize through our new placement opportunity.
⏰ Deadline: 11.59pm BST, Sunday, 20 April
Apply:
⏰ Deadline: 11.59pm BST, Sunday, 20 April
Apply:
www.wasafiri.org
March 24, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Are you an LAHP-funded student? Gain hands-on experience at a renowned literary magazine and learn how to run a literary prize through our new placement opportunity.
⏰ Deadline: 11.59pm BST, Sunday, 20 April
Apply:
⏰ Deadline: 11.59pm BST, Sunday, 20 April
Apply: