I was not an untouchable then

LSE Arts public poetry reading and discussion

A Dalit poetry reading and discussion on the arts as resistance to caste oppression.

A reading of Dalit poetry will be followed by a panel discussion about the potential of the arts as a vehicle of resistance to caste oppression in India. Meena Kandasamy will read from her own collection, Touch, published in 2006 to widespread critical acclaim, and from her forthcoming Ms Militancy. S. Anand will read the work of Namdeo Dhasal and N.D. Rajkumar. The discussion will be chaired by Dr Priyamvada Gopal, Faculty of English, Cambridge University.

Meena Kandasamy is a poet, writer, activist and translator. She sees each of these as a way of engaging with her identity as a woman, a Dalit and a Tamil, three categories of belonging with a history of resistance to oppression. She was the youngest person ever to represent India as a writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa's International Writing Program 2009. Her debut poetry collection, Touch, was published in 2006 to widespread critical acclaim. A second collection, Ms. Militancy, will be published later this year. She holds a PhD in socio-linguistics and teaches English at Anna University, Chennai.

S. Anand is an award-winning publisher and journalist, who runs the imprint Navayana, the only publishing house in India that focuses exclusively on caste from an anti-caste perspective. In 2007, he won the International Young Publisher of the Year award, instituted by the London Book Fair and British Council. He is the co-author of the first ever graphic biography of the Dalit civil rights champion and architect of India's constitution, B.R. Ambedkar, entitled Bhimayana: Experiences of Untouchability (forthcoming).

This event is held in association with Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

Just economics and politics? Think again. While LSE does not teach arts or music, there is a vibrant cultural side to the School - from weekly free music concerts in the Shaw Library, and an LSE orchestra and choir with their own professional conductors, various film, art and photographic student societies, the annual LSE photo prize competition, the LSE Literary Festival and artist-in-residence projects. For more information please view the LSE Arts website

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