After five years of serving as the administrator of the forums and 2 years as Editor-in-Chief of PaperCuts, and now that it has become official on the forums, I take this opportunity to bid farewell to the Lounge. I have been accepted at a postgraduate program for creative writing in the UK and will be attending in the fall, fingers crossed.

It will therefore be completely impossible to give this blog, the forums and the site their due. As a result, I am stepping down.

From what I understand, the blog will change and update itself to a new vision incorporated by a new Editor-in-Chief, a new administrator and a new creative director, each of them separate individuals. I wish my co-founders the best of luck in continuing this brilliant idea and co-creation and look forward to what the future holds.

Tally ho, my lovelies!

– MP

Things have been a little slow on this blog, our Facebook group and pages (although recently, that part isn’t entirely our fault!), twitter pages and website and for that, we apologize. Please know that we are reviewing competition results for our first members only Flaunt It, If You’ve Got It writing competition and associated Desi Awards.

Now that the cover’s ready and designed for Volume 6, the issue will be published shortly as we contemplate further policy changes for our ezine submission format.

Meanwhile, the next pick for the Isloo book club is Kafka’s Metamorphosis, a meaty philosophical classic and possibly the first heavy read our participants have selected. Details on the whens and where’s of the event will be announced on this blog, on our website and (if Facebook’s accessible in Pakistan again), on our FB group and page.

We are alive! Things have just been in hibernation mode these past few weeks…

– TPTB

With a solid turnout for the book club meet for The Five People You Meet In Heaven, and the meeting lasted just over an hour. Because the book itself was such a light read, the discussion was light enough.

We also chose a new selection, with an overwhelming majority: Harper Lee’s classic, To Kill A Mockingbird. We’ll be meeting on May 22nd to discuss the book.

A Facebook event will be created shortly, where interested participants can RSVP. This is an Islamabad/Pindi event.

The Lahore Book Club is meeting on May 8th, to discuss The White Tiger. You can RSVP to that event, here.

🙂

– TPTB

To remind our readers, we’re meeting up on Sunday, April 18 @ 5 PM sharp at Civil Junction (F-7/3; adjacent to Hotspot and next to Gellato) to discuss The 5 People You Meet In Heaven.

We will also, as always, be picking out our next selection in this session so please come with your book lists mentally prepared, or bring your picks along with you.

This also marks our first departure from The Paper Microphone / The Niche Cafe in 10 months. We continue to be on the lookout for new and interesting venues, to compliment our message and voice.

If you’ve got any suggestions, please email them in to info@desiwriterslounge.net.

🙂

-TPTB

Realizing this blog hasn’t been updated for a while to reflect our jumping activity scene, here we are again.

Lahore has proven itself with a marvelous turnout to discuss In Other Rooms, Other Wonders and is well on the way to becoming a staple at the city’s literary scene. Desi Writers Lounge has finally got a foot into that door.

Meanwhile, our Isloo book club and readings continue along with a reintroduction of our game nights. Details on that below. Please note: all our events will take place at The Niche Cafe, formerly The Paper Microphone, above Bukhari Furriers, Main School Road, F-6 Super Market.

Book Club: On Sunday, April 18 @ 5 PM sharp, we meet to discuss Mitch Albom’s The Five People You Meet In Heaven. The book is easily available at Saeed Book Bank and all other bookstores in the twin cities. For those of you interested in online purchases, you can find the book at Liberty Books. You can RSVP to the event here

Game Nights Word games galore as Game Nights kick right into gear on Saturday, March 24 at 6 PM at The Niche Cafe (details above). Pick your poison from Boggle, Balderdash, Taboo, Scrabble and Pictionary as you play to win a cash pot at the end of the night. Winner takes all. There are no second places, and no, everybody’s not a winner! 🙂 Consider it healthy competition for old fashioned gamers. The entry fee is Rs 200 with 50% going to the cash pot, and 50% as a cover for the event.

Readings will restart in the beginning of May. No dates yet, but as always, you can present your material at readings@desiwriterslounge.net.

That’s it for now.

– TPTB

We’ve been a little lazy in updating the blog with the recent events, so we’ll make this short and sweet.

March 15, 2010: Our writing competition finally ends; we have been disappointed with the entries thus far and because of the limited number of entries received, will look for just the one winner instead of the promised 5. If we get 6 entries, choosing 5 is kinda pointless!

March 28, 2010 (Islamabad): We meet on Saturday, March 28 to discuss Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter at 6 pm at the Paper Microphone Cafe, our usual spot for our events.

April 3, 2010 (Lahore): On Saturday, our Lahore chapter meets to discuss Danial Mueenuddin’s In Other Rooms, Other Wonders at a venue and time yet to be decided. Details on that soon, but meanwhile there’s a date and a book pick. So if you haven’t already read the book, now’s the best time to read…or reread it.

And that’s what the next few weeks look for Desi Writers Lounge. If you’d like more details on the Lahore events, email us at lahore@desiwriterslounge.net (that’s right, the city has its very own email address!), because we take you seriously…

Meanwhile, our FB page and group are linked to on the right and for general queries, we can always be reached at info@desiwriterslounge.net.

Plan out your calendars!

– TPTB

This winter, we’ve got a couple events lined up extending our official reach into Lahore and hopefully, soon into Karachi as well. Meanwhile, a heads up to our Lahore and Isloo members: we’re coming your way!

Book Club (Islamabad): On February 21st, the Isloo chapter meets after discovering the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in old Barcelona, the setting in the New York Times bestseller The Shadow of the Wind (Carlos Ruiz Zafon). We will also pick out our next selection in this session, so bring your picks along with you. The Shadow of the Wind is available in all bookstores in Islamabad/Pindi, most notably Saeed Book Bank. The book is also available online through Liberty Books or free (as an ebook) via DWL’s Dropbox folder (click here to download).

Book Club (Lahore): And on February 27, we bring the book club to Lahore…also with The Shadow of the Wind as our first selection. The book is available in all major bookstores in the city, and is available online through Liberty Books as well as our online dropbox folder as an ebook. Click here to download.

2010 Reading Series (Isloo): We’re all set to restart our reading series for 2010 on February 27, which coincidentally is the same date as the Lahore book club meeting. As always, we are taking in material now up till February 23. Material can be sent in to readings@desiwriterslounge.net. We hope to hear from some of our newer members during the course of the series.

Writing Competition: Encouraging our entire membership to participate in the competition, a reminder that the deadline is March 15. There is no word limit to the pieces you send in, which can be anything from a poem to a short story to a runt, with varying themes, as long as they contain all words of your respective titles. For more details, click here. You can email in your work to entries@desiwriterslounge.net.

Facebook events for all the above will be created a little closer to the date.

If you have any questions regarding the above, place them in the comments below.

So now that we’re all set to start 2010 off in style, we’re hoping you’re as excited as we are to join us at any of the above.

Bottoms up, peoples!

Hello Everyone,

So by common favor, the ice breaker has been cooled (we couldn’t resist) off in favor of selecting a book first and then meeting up to start discussing that. Dates of course, will be pushed in favor of late February or early March, depending on how fast we select.

Tally ho!

– TPTB

DWL Lahore will have its “official” launch some time in mid-late February as we kickstart activities in the city, with a book club ice breaker meeting. The ice breaker will be used as a way to literally break the ice as we get introduced to our membership in the city, and they get introduced to one another, along with welcoming additional members and readers into our fold.

With both the Lahore ice breaker and Islamabad Book Club meet behind us, we turn our attention towards new possibilities.