# A Literal Journey: Encountering Writers Workshop

- Link: https://writersworkshopindia.com/2015/08/13/a-literal-journey-encountering-writers-workshop/
- Published: 2015-08-13T20:28:40+00:00
- Author: admin

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**Author:** Jed Bickman
 **Pages:** 212 **Year of Publication:** 2009 **Price:**
HB Rs 300, FB Rs 200 **ISBN:** HB 978-81-8157-891-4 (9788181578914) FB 978-81-8157-
892-1 (9788181578921)

_**About the Author**_
 Jed Bickman is, in his own words, “a young American wanderer.”
After graduating from Brown University with a degree in American Literature, he 
was awarded the Arnold Fellowship by the same university to undertake a research
project abroad. His project aimed at focusing on independent publishers in India
and he chose to intern with **Writers Workshop**. We were delighted to have him 
work with us from August 2008 to June 2009; _**A Literal Journey**_ describes his
experiences during this period.

_**Teaser**_
 “When I came to Kolkata, I wasn’t sure why. I had been planning to
go to school in New York, to leave India far behind, and I had been gearing my mind
up to fight for my pace within what I saw as the ailing capitalist structure. But
when I got this fellowship, I just couldn’t come up with a reason not to go — except
that I knew it would be hard. It was an opportunity I would’ve felt silly turning
down. I was surprised I had gotten the fellowship at all; I had thought that my 
proposal was vague, and the fellowship committee had implied in my interview that
they thought that it was politically questionable — a position that I should not
have been so quick to dismiss. My impression was that they were afraid that I would
reproduce the old power relations between the West and India by imposing my own 
ideas of language and literature on Indian writers. I responded that I would only
do what they asked me to do. The reality when I got there was an inevitable third
path; I was welcomed, but not directly asked to do anything specifically — that 
was for me to figure out for myself.

None of it made sense till I met P. Lal. Instantly, I was thanking my karma for 
bringing me into the presence of such a man, because I knew that I could learn from
him. Prof. Lal is the embodiment of a teacher, and I can’t help but believe that
he was kept (that he kept himself) on this earth because he had more to teach those
willing to be his students. And to have the opportunity to be a listener — that 
was a great gift my life had given me. It made sense to have left behind my friends
and family to be near this man.”

_**Contents**_
 _Foreword_ by Rakesh Dogra / 9 Beginnings / 11 P. Lal and WRITERS
WORKSHOP / 22 Transcreation, _Mahabharata_ and _Lessons_ / 41 Forming the Project/
61-190 1. Writing in English / 66 2. Writing Women in India / 84 3. Development,
NGOs, and Despair / 99 4. Spirituality / 117 5. Subversive Sexuality / 127 6. Form,
Content, and the Writing Life / 159 7. Orality, Fable and Conflict in the Northeast/
174 8. The Color of Poetry / 186 Appendix: Ganga-Ji / 191