Description
WOMEN WIDE AWAKE is a collection of stories, poetry, and photographs of sculptures that explore folklore from the region of Sindh, Pakistan. This multi-genre book features the stories of seven women, supernatural creatures, and mythical saints. It explores themes that have resonated with people for centuries, including courage, strength, defiance, and love. Two sisters building a labyrinthine palace to test their suitors . . . a bartendress makes a grave mistake . . . a witch takes revenge on those who have wronged her. These folktales have persisted across generations through oral storytelling and song. Contemporary sculptures--using found materials such as sari pieces, old wedding invitations, dried flowers, shells, pot shards and bones--accompany each story and provide a contemporary context, telling us why they matter to us today.
WOMEN WIDE AWAKE is a collaborative collection by Pakistani sisters, Manahil and Nimra Bandukwala. The poetry and prose is written by Manahil. The sculptures were created and photographed by both Nimra and Manahil.
Fiction. Poetry. Hybrid. Art. Middle Eastern Studies. Collaboration.
Author Bio
Manahil Bandukwala is a poet, writer, editor, and visual artist. She has published two chapbooks, Paper Doll (2019) and Pipe Rose (2018), won Room magazine's Emerging Writer Award in 2019, and was longlisted for the CBC Poetry Prize the same year. She is the Coordinating Editor for Arc Poetry Magazine, and sits on the editorial team of Canthius, a feminist literary and arts magazine. Her work has appeared in Briarpatch, Room, Malahat Review, and The Puritan, among others. She is also a member of VII, an Ottawa-based collaborative poetry-writing collective.
Author City: TORONTO, ON CAN
Nimra Bandukwala is an artist, educator, and community facilitator based in Mississauga. She has led workshops for youth, adults, and children with disabilities, and currently works with children on the autism spectrum. Her art has appeared in publications across Canada, including VICE, Living Hyphen, and KROS, among others.
Author City: MISSISSAUGA, ON CAN