Visitors to the Department
John Agard visited the English department in 1993, to give the students a seminar on Caribbean Poetry and an afternoon of performance poetry, titled “Mangoes and Bullets: A Taste of the British-Caribbean Experience.” He is a world-famous poet who has written several collections of poems, with poems like “Half-Caste”, “Checking out me history” and “Listen Mr. Oxford don” being extremely popular.
Prof. Annamarie Jagose
Prof. Jagose visited our college in November 2019, and conducted an interactive session on feminist and queer theory. She is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney. She is internationally known as a scholar in feminist studies, literary studies and sexuality studies. She is also an award-winning novelist and short story writer.
The author Markus Zusak visited the department in 2019. He is best known for his 2005 novel The Book Thief. His other works include I am the Messenger and Fighting Ruben Wolf. He visited the department just after the release of his latest book, Bridge of Clay, and also presented the department with an autographed copy of the same.
Ms. Janice Pariat
The renowned author, Ms. Janice Pariat, visited the department for the Two Day (RUSA - supported) National Conference called Celebrating Indigenous Literature(s) . Her debut collection of short stories, titled Boats on Land, won the Sahitya Akademi Young Writer Award for the English language, and a Crossword Book Award. Other works include The Nine-Chambered Heart and Seahorse: A Novel, and she has also written for a number of magazines.
Dr Desmond Kharmawphlang
Dr Desmond L. Kharmawphlang, a poet and a folklorist, visited the Department for the RUSA-supported conference on Indigenous Literature. He has published several collections of poetry, and has also compiled folk narratives and songs of different communities of the North East.
Mr. Kacho Asfandyar Khan
Mr Kacho Asfandyar Khan, the Ladakhi writer, visited the college for the RUSA- supported conference on Indigenous Literatures. Among his works are Dastan-e-Karbala, a compilation of the religious poetry of two famous rulers of Baltistan, Dam-e-Khayal, Kaliman, both compilations of original poetry, and Ancient Wisdom from Ladakh (Sayings and Proverbs).
Mr. Paul Goodwin
In 2017, Mr. Goodwin conducted a workshop for our students on staging Shakespeare in 2017. He is the Artistic Director of ‘The Shakespeare Edit’ - a classical theatre company. He teaches and directs Shakespeare for both professional actors and students in the UK and internationally. From 2008-2017 he was the Course Director of MA Acting at Drama Centre London, one of the foremost postgraduate training courses in the UK. He has spent 30 years as a professional actor, working at the Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre and Cheek by Jowl, among others.
Mr. Tomson Highway
Tomson Highway is an indigenous playwright, novelist, and children’s author from Canada. His most famous plays are The Rez Sisters and Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing. He has also written a novel, Kiss of the Fur Queen.
Dr. Gurnah delivered a talk on Postcolonialism to the literature students in November 2017. He is a Tanzanian novelist based in the United Kingdom. His novel, Paradise, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and other famous novels by him include By the Sea and Desertion.
Mr. Benegal was the chief guest for our International conference on The Mirror and the Dream: 100 years of Indian cinema held in January 2013. Mr. Benegal is one of the most influential Indian filmmakers of all time and is a recipient of many awards including the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and the Dadasaheb Phalke award, among others.
Ms. Kalpana Lajmi
(Image Source)Mrs. Lajmi was one of the guest speakers for the International Film Conference held in January 2013. She was an eminent film director, producer and screenwriter and a leading figure in the field of Indian parallel cinema. Many of her films have focused on women’s issues. She is best known for directing the 1993 film, Rudaali.
Other Prominent Visitors to the Department include:
A.K. Mehrotra - He visited the college in 1995 to talk about his translations of Vinod Kumar Shukla’s poems and to take part in a poetry reading.
Amol Palekar - Visited the department in the academic year 1997 - 98, and directed a reading-dramatization of a detective story by Kalpana Swaminathan.
Kiran Nagarkar - Visited the college in 1997, and read excerpts from his novels. He came back in 2016 as a Keynote speaker for the Lit-O-Fest, a Celebration of Literature and the Arts.
Gieve Patel - Visited the college in 1999 and gave a poetry reading.
Sagarika Ghose - Visited the English and Sociology Departments in 2000 - 2001 and read from her (then) recently published novel, The Gin Drinkers.
Rohinton Mistry - The college was lucky to host him in one of his rare public appearances in 2004.
Vijay Tendulkar - He visited the college in 2004 and discussed expressions of protest in drama and in society.
Devdutt Pattanaik - Visited the college in 2005 and gave a talk on Myth and Literature