This event will highlight Contemporary Tibetan Women’s Writing written originally in English by creating a dialogue around writers and researchers who are working on a burgeoning field of literature. Contemporary Tibetan writing has been moving beyond the traditional perception and production of classical Tibetan literature which was solely monastic and spiritual and/or scriptural in its themes. With the writing that is being produced in English, specifically by the exiled Tibetan community, there are new forms, genres and thematic choices that are being experimented with.
The three literary figures that I wish to host all delve into the various literary innovations that have shaped Contemporary Tibetan literature. Tsering Wangmo Dhompa is a poet, memoirist, and scholar. Her upcoming monograph titled The Politics of Sorrow will be published by Columbia University Press. Tsering Yangzom Lama's We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies (2022), is a novel that challenges masculinist portrayals of anticolonial dissent, Chinese neo-imperialism and global capitalism. Tenzin Dickie is a writer and translator who has edited anthologies of Tibetan fiction and non-fiction (The Penguin Book of Modern Tibetan Essays; Old Demons, New Deities), taking on roles within the publishing industry which have historically been monopolised by male figures.
