Shahnaz Habib

A compendium of fascinating and evocative new writing on railway travel and history. Telling of little known journeys and uncovered histories on railway routes around the world - from the UK, Europe and Africa to North America, the Middle East and Asia. From Myanmar's highlands to the British Pennines, from slow travel between coffee plantations in Borneo to a cross-continent odyssey on African railways, from the pioneers of the American West to European trains in war, this is a new prism through which to explore human lives, and global landscapes, politics and history. The Untold Railway Stories is a testament to both the joy and impact of train travel - to the ambition and ingenuity, and also to destruction and sacrifice within its history - and is published to coincide with the 200th anniversary of first passenger railway line.

Longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medals of Excellence This witty personal and cultural history of travel from the perspective of a Third World-raised woman of color, Airplane Mode, asks: what does it mean to be a joyous traveler when we live in the ruins of colonialism, capitalism and climate change? The conditions of travel have long been dictated by the color of passports and the color of skin. For Shahnaz Habib, travel and travel writing have always been complicated pleasures. Tracing the power dynamics that underlie tourism, this insightful debut parses who gets to travel, and who gets to write about the experience. All the while, Habib threads the historic but ever-evolving dynamics of travel into her personal history as a child on family vacations in India, an adult curious about the world, and an immigrant for whom round trips are an annual fact of life. Woven throughout the book are inviting and playful analyses of obvious and not-so-obvious travel artifacts: passports, carousels, bougainvilleas, guidebooks, trains, the idea of wanderlust itself. Together, they tell a subversive history of travel as a Euro-American mode of consumerism--but as any traveler knows, travel is more than that. As an immigrant whose loved ones live across continents, Habib takes a deeply curious and joyful look at a troubled and beloved activity.

'A ruthlessly honest and funny observer' New York Times 'Should be required reading' Los Angeles Times What does it mean to be a joyous traveller when we live in the ruins of colonialism? The conditions of travel have long been dictated by the colours of passports and the colour of skin. For Shahnaz Habib, travel and travel writing have always been complicated pleasures. In Airplane Mode, Habib threads the history of travel through her childhood stories of family vacations in India, as an adult curious about the world and as an immigrant for whom round-trips are an annual fact of life.

Winner of the New American Voices AwardLonglisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medals of Excellence This witty personal and cultural history of travel from the perspective of a Third World-raised woman of color, Airplane Mode, asks: what does it mean to be a joyous traveler when we live in the ruins of colonialism, capitalism and climate change? The conditions of travel have long been dictated by the color of passports and the color of skin. The color of one's skin and passport have long dictated the conditions of travel. For Shahnaz Habib, travel and travel writing have always been complicated pleasures. Habib threads the history of travel with her personal story as a child on family vacations in India, an adult curious about the world, and an immigrant for whom roundtrips are an annual fact of life. Tracing the power dynamics that underlie tourism, this insightful debut parses who gets to travel, and who gets to write about the experience. Threaded through the book are inviting and playful analyses of obvious and not-so-obvious travel artifacts: passports, carousels, bougainvilleas, guidebooks, trains, the idea of wanderlust itself. Together, they tell a subversive history of travel as a Euro-American mode of consumerism--but as any traveler knows, travel is more than that. As an immigrant whose loved ones live across continents, Habib takes a deeply curious and joyful look at a troubled and beloved activity.

Aina ei voi tietää, mikä on totta, mikä taas valhetta, huijausta tai kokonaan olematonta. Tämän kokoelman kymmenessä novellissa nykypäivän Intiaa, nopeasti kehittyvää mutta silti pitkien perinteiden leimaamaa yhteiskuntaa tarkastellaan milloin suurennuslasilla, milloin kaukoputkella - ja toisiaan kuin kaleidoskoopin läpi katsellen. Aito huijaus, kymmenen intialaisen nykynovellin kokoelma, esittelee kymmenen kirjailijaa: Tabish Khair, Parvati Sharma, Shahnaz Habib, Radhika Jha, Jaspreet Singh, Anjum Hasan, Mridula Koshy, Janice Pariat, Philip John ja Manjula Padmanabhan. He ovat kotoisin eri puolilta Intiaa ja edustavat eri kirjallisuudenlajeja arkisesta realismista fantasiaan. Yhteistä heille on se, että he kaikki kirjoittavat teoksensa englanniksi eikä kenenkään tekstejä ole aiemmin suomennettu. Antologian on koonnut ja suomentanut Titia Schuurman. Tarinoiden hahmot kotirouvasta sotavankiin ja sanomalehtimiehestä vampyyriin joutuvat kukin omalla tavallaan arvaamattomiin tilanteisiin, joissa matto tuntuu liukuvan niin henkilön kuin lukijankin jalkojen alta. Olipa kyseessä sitten arkipäiväinen yllätys tai olemassaolon perusteita ravisteleva tapahtuma tai havainto - yhtä kaikki se pakottaa kokijansa tarttumaan tilanteeseen omalla, omintakeisella ja usein yllättävällä tavallaan.