Sasenarine Persaud

Sasenarine Persaud (born Guyana) is an essayist, novelist, short story writer, and poet. He is the author of nine books: six poetry collections, two novels, and a book of short stories. His next novel, "Wounding Silence" will be published by Macmillan (UK) in 2009 and his next book of poetry, "In a Boston Night" will be published by TSAR Publications (Toronto) in the fall.

Sasenarine Persaud's books publications to date: "The Wintering Kundalini" (Peepal Tree Press, Leeds, 2002); "A Writer Like You" (TSAR Publications, Toronto, 2002); "The Hungry Sailor" (TSAR, Toronto, 2000); "Canada Geese and Apple Chatney" (TSAR, Toronto, 1998); "A Surf of Sparrows' Songs" (TSAR, Toronto, 1996); "The Ghost of Bellow's Man" (Peepal Tree, Leeds, 1992); "Dear Death" (Peepal Tree, Leeds, 1989); "Between the Dash and the Comma" (author, Toronto, 1989); "Demerary Telepathy" (Peepal Tree, Leeds, 1989)

His awards include the K.M. Hunter Foundation Award (Toronto, 1996), the 1999 Arthur Schomburg Award (New York) for his writing and his pioneering of Yogic Realism, and Fellowships at the University of Miami and Boston University. Persaud has a Master's in Creative Writing from Boston University. His fiction was shortlisted for the 1997 Journey Prize (Toronto) while his poetry was nominated for the 1998 Canadian National Magazine Award, and twice (1989 and 1998) shortlisted for The Guyana Prize for Literature.

Persaud's work has appeared in journals and anthologies in Canada, England, India, Singapore, the Middle East, the United States, and the West Indies. Sasenarine Persaud was born in Guyana and has lived for several years in Canada. He has served as a Vice-President and chair of the membership committee of the League of Canadian Poets, as a director on the Board of Directors of the Scarborough Arts Council (Toronto), and on juries for the Toronto Arts Council and the Ontario Arts Council. He presently resides in Tampa, Florida.

Sasenarine Persaud has pioneered Yogic Realism, a term he has invented to describe his literary aesthetics; his essay, “Kevat: Waiting on Yogic Realism” was published twice in India. His other essay on Yogic Realism, “I hear a voice, is it mine? Yogic Realism and the Short Story” (originally a paper presented at the Sandhills Writers Conference, Augusta, GA) was published in "World Literature Today" (74:3, University of Oklahoma, Summer 2000). Yogic Realism and Sasenarine’s work has been the focus of a doctoral dissertation by an Indian Scholar.

Persaud's work has been widely anthologized and has appeared in such publications as: "Anthology of Colonial and Post Colonial Short Fiction" (Houghton Mifflin, Boston & New York, 2007); "The Oxford Book of Caribbean Verse" (Oxford University Press, 2005); "The Oxford Book of Caribbean Short Stories" (Oxford University Press, 2000); "The Journey Prize Anthology: short fiction from the best of Canada’s new writers" (McClelland & Stewart, Toronto, 1997); "The Heinemann Book of Caribbean Verse" (Heinemann, London, 1992); "Another Way to Dance: Contemporary Asian Poetry from Canada and the United States" (TSAR, Toronto, 1996); and "Caribbean New Voices" (Longman, London, 1995).

External links

* [http://authortree.com/sasenarinepersaud/Home Sasenarine Persaud Author site]
* [http://mysite.verizon.net/kshatek/index.html Sasenarine Persaud website]
* [http://www.tsarbooks.com/ TSAR Publications]
* [http://www.ryerson.ca/library/events/asian_heritage/persaud.html Ryerson University: Asian Heritage in Canada]