'The River, The Town': A conversation with Farah Ali and Saad Quasem

This event has been cancelled due to unforeseen reasons.

Join us for an enlightening evening as we delve into the rich and complex narratives of South Asia’s riparian landscapes through literature and research. 

This event features a conversation with acclaimed author Farah Ali and SOAS lecturer Saad Quasem, moderated by Anandi Rao, a lecturer in South Asian Studies at SOAS.

About the speakers

Farah Ali is a writer and publisher based in London. Her debut novel, The River, The Land, published by Dzanc Books, has garnered critical acclaim. She is also the author of the short-story collection People Want to Live, published by McSweeney’s. 

Farah’s work has been featured in prestigious anthologies such as the Pushcart Prize, the Best Small Fictions, and in literary journals including Shenandoah, Kenyon Review, Ecotone, and Virginia Quarterly Review. She is the co-founder and fiction editor at Lakeer.

Saad Quasem is a lecturer in Anthropology at SOAS, University of London. His research focuses on the contemporary impacts of colonial extraction, particularly the creation of private property in Bangladesh. 

His PhD thesis examined the chars (river islands) on the Brahmaputra River and the subjectivity of Chardwellers in the context of colonial and post-colonial land appropriation practices. Saad’s interests lie in exploring the nuanced distinctions between land and water as constructed by state regimes since colonial times, especially in light of the growing challenges posed by climate change.

Anandi Rao (Chair) is a lecturer in South Asian Studies at SOAS, University of London. She teaches South Asian literature and film, and her research has been widely published in journals such as South Asian Review and Studies in South Asian Film and Media.