The Quarantine Tapes: A week-day program from Onassis LA and dublab. Hosted by Paul Holdengräber, the series chronicles shifting paradigms in the age of social distancing. Each day, Paul calls a guest for a brief discussion about how they are experiencing the global pandemic.

About episode 179:

On episode 179 of The Quarantine Tapes, guest host Naveen Kishore is joined by writer Annie Zaidi. Naveen reads from Annie’s new book, titled Prelude to a Riot and the pair discuss Annie’s love of all writing disciplines. Annie discusses her tendency toward quiet, the importance of listening and reflection, and her personal journey toward self expression, and self awareness.

Annie and Naveen share stories about life growing up, particularly in India, and what kind of effects archaic laws of censorship, and little support for the arts, have on communities. Annie and Naveen discuss the interesting role theater plays in a culture, and how important it is for artists to find solidarity and gather together for collective action, to build communities, and form new ways of growing, together.

Naveen Kishore is the founder and managing director of Seagull Books – a publishing house located in Calcutta, India, which began primarily as a response to the growing need for an Indian publishing house focused on theatre and other arts. Seagull Books has translated just about more foreign literature than any other major publishing house in the world. He was the recipient of the Goethe Medal and the Chevalier Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Kishore lives and works in Calcutta.

Annie Zaidi (born 1978) is an English-language writer from India. Her collection of essays, Known Turf: Bantering with Bandits and Other True Tales, was short-listed for the Vodafone Crossword Book Award in 2010. In addition to essays, she also writes poetry (Crush, 2007), short stories (The Good Indian Girl, 2011), plays and has published a novella. She won The Hindu Playwright Award in 2018 and the Nine Dots Prize in 2019 that included a cash prize of $100,000 for her work Bread, Cement, Cactus — combining memoir and reportage.
http://knownturf.blogspot.com

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