Join us for a double reading by authors Mala Kumar and Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene as they each present their individual works and then discuss the intersection of a queerness and immigration. Each author will be reading for roughly fifteen minutes, followed by a short Q&A and discussion.
Mala Kumar is an international development practitioner based out of New York City. She is grateful her hard work and degrees paid off in landing her innovative jobs for some of the most prestigious instituti...
Join us for a double reading by authors Mala Kumar and Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene as they each present their individual works and then discuss the intersection of a queerness and immigration. Each author will be reading for roughly fifteen minutes, followed by a short Q&A and discussion.
Mala Kumar is an international development practitioner based out of New York City. She is grateful her hard work and degrees paid off in landing her innovative jobs for some of the most prestigious institutions in the world, including the United Nations. When not immersed in work or writing, you can find Mala exploring NYC's latest culinary adventure, in an intense workout at the gym (often to mitigate the effects of said culinary adventure), planning her latest international excursion, or blocking out the subtitles on the latest French film.
Her novel, The Paths of Marriage, features Lakshmi, a bright student who grew up in poverty, marries and immigrates to the United States from India to provide a better life for herself and her family. Clinging to her cultural realities, she forces her American daughter, Pooja, into an arranged marriage, creating a rift of resentment. Pooja's daughter, Deepa, is an out lesbian to everyone but her family. The woman Deepa loves presents an ultimatum--come out to Pooja or break up--and Deepa is forced to confront her greatest fear.Three generations of Indian and Indian-American women navigate the harsh slums of Chennai to the bustle of New York City, struggling through a cathartic generational collision to try to come together as a family.
Yvonne Fly Onakeme Etaghene is an Ijaw and Urhobo Nigerian dyke performance activist, poet, dancer, educator, actress and visual artist. She engages a radical vulnerability and candor in her artwork and uses storytelling to build authentic human connection through passionate artistic expression. Etaghene is a mixed-media visual artist who has produced 4 solo art exhibitions and performed internationally. She is the founder of Sugarcane, an LGBTQ Of Color writing workshop based in the principles of June Jordan's Poetry for the People. She wrote and performed in two multi-media one-woman shows, Volcano's Birthright{s} and GUAVA. Etaghene has published 4 chapbooks of poetry: afrocrown: fierce poetry (2000), write or die (2004), tongue twisted transcontinental sista (2006) and skin into verse (2014.) She released an album of poetry and music entitled liberty avenue, nigeria, usa (2004.) Etaghene is the author of For Sizakele, a novel that addresses transcontinental identity, intimate partner violence and how we love as illuminators of who we are.www.myloveisaverb.com, twitter: @myloveisaverb
Her novel, For Sizakele, features Taylor, a queer Nigerian college student, is in a passionate relationship with Lee, a Black American basketball-playing pianist. When Taylor develops romantic feelings for Sy, a Cameroonian photographer whose similarities make them instant family, Taylor battles Lee's jealousy. As Taylor encounters challenges to her femme and African identities, she finds ways, through the kinship of her friends, to define herself on her own terms. For Sizakele addresses transcontinental identity, intimate partner violence, queer gender and how we love as illuminators of who we are.
Maker's Lab, Tagg Magazine, and Center Global are community sponsors for this event.
