Seminars

Distinguished Egyptian American author and critic Ihab Hassan on the importance of the humanities. Listen to Ihab Hassan's full seminar presentation.

Our Next Seminar

The Writing & Society Research Centre at the University of Western Sydney
warmly invites you to its next research seminar, (in conjunction with the Religion and Society research Centre)

Hanifa Deen On the Trail of Taslima

Thursday 6 June
11.00am -12.30pm
Building 3.G.55, Bankstown Campus

As she followed the trail of Taslima Nasreen, author, Hanifa Deen soon began questioning the reasoning behind the international ‘crusade’ to save the dissident Bangladeshi writer who shot to international fame in 1994 after religious fanatics in Bangladesh accused her of blasphemy.  The controversial writer went underground and, as the official story has it, fled to the West where she became a human rights celebrity, a female version of Salman Rushdie.  Nasreen's name almost became a household word in 1994, when she was awarded the Sakharov Prize by the European Parliament, and presidents, chancellors, mayors, and famous writers and intellectuals around Europe flocked to her side. Although she eventually slipped from her literary pedestal, she is still remembered and respected as a feminist icon who fought the bearded fundamentalists in her own country and whose life was in danger. This is the official story that most people are familiar with, and the one that is widely believed by Taslima supporters around the world.

Following years of research which took her to 15 cities around the world, Deen discovered the story of what really happened to Taslima was a fascinating labyrinth where memory and myth had merged, the tale having acquired a life of its own with a hundred different authors. Nothing was what it seemed.

In her talk Hanifa Deen will discuss mythmaking, freedom of speech and international literary politics and how she came to write her behind-the scenes-account of what really took place when the international freedom of speech giants or ‘Dragon Slayers’ as she calls them (Amnesty, PEN et al) stepped in to ‘save Taslima’ in a world-wide human rights campaign.

Hanifa sometimes describes herself as ‘an accidental author’ whose irreverent tongue was always better suited to writing than a career in the public service!

Our seminars are free and open to visitors from outside the university. If you want to come along to one of our seminars simply RSVP by sending an email to writing@uws.edu.au indicating which seminar you wish to attend.

2012 Seminar Program and Recordings

Our 2012 seminar program included papers from Centre members and esteemed visiting scholars. You can view our 2012 seminar program and listen to recordings of our seminars.

2011 Seminar Program

Alongside the work of Centre members and students the 2011 seminar program featured papers by visiting scholars including-

  • Valerie Henitiuk (University of East Anglia) Optical Illusions? Literary Translation as a Refractive Process,
  • Teresa Stoppani (University of Greenwich) Dust reversals. Dustings, vacuum cleaners, (war) machines and the disappearance of the interior,
  • Ira Raja (Dehli and La Trobe Universities) The Elevating Influence of Friendship: Interiority, Sisterhood and Marriage in late 19th century India
  • David Damrosch (Harvard University) The Globe Writes Back: Englishes Today
  • Hanifa Deen (author) Ali Abdul vs the King: Muslim Stories From the Dark Days of White Australia
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