Forthcoming events
WOW Writes Together
Sunday December 20 | 6:00pm
Go to Eventbrite to register for a free ticket by using this link.
As we bid adieu to what can only be described as a challenging, painful year, it would be wonderful to look ahead to a better, brighter future. We will carry with us the hope, the love, the tenderness and also the pain we have experienced since the Pandemic brutally altered our landscape. These variables are our wealth, a harvest that we will use to sow again a better tomorrow. I would like us to ponder over the meaning of wealth. What does wealth signify to us – is it a monetary or an emotional or experiential term? How do we receive it, how do we distribute it? We can have an interactive session where I will provide some writing prompts to help us create our own unique form of wealth. I will also be reading from my poetry collection, A Dinner Party in the Home Counties and explore how different poems define wealth.
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Past events
Mancunian Ways Anthology Launch
Friday October 16 | 8:00pm Zoom
Altrincham Word Fest
Saturday 3 October 10.30-12.30 on Zoom.
Finding the Voice: poetry writing and performance with Reshma Ruia
In this writing workshop helped participants find their creative voice and prepared them for sharing their work with a larger audience. The workshop employed writing prompts on a wide variety of poetic/short story themes.
I discussed techniques used to enhance performance, such as intonation, tone, tempo, and volume.
South Asian Heritage Month
18 July – 17 August
Proud to feature in South Asian Heritage Month – celebrating and raising the profile of British South Asian history, arts, culture & heritage.
GetawordinEdgeways
Thursday 11 June | 8:30 – 10:30pm
An online evening of poetry and stories. A webinar for people to sit back and enjoy this most ancient, and current, of arts from the comfort of their living rooms!
SOUTH ASIAN LITERARY FESTIVAL
Online literary festival, founded by Dr Pragya Agarwal, bringing authors of South Asian origin together in a four-day celebration from 28-31 May.
All events are FREE and live via zoom. All timings are in British Standard Time (BST).
Join me on Saturday, 30th May, 3.30 to 4.30 pm when I will be discussing short stories with Jenny Bhatt and Sayantani Dasgupta. The event is free but please register via Eventbrite.
Altrincham Word Fest
Poetry/Short story workshop for Performance, Altrincham Town Hall, 25 Market St, Altrincham WA14 1QT
Sunday 17 May | 2.00pm
This writing workshop will help you to find your creative voice and prepare you for sharing your work with a larger audience. The workshop will employ writing prompts on a wide variety of poetic/short story themes. I will discuss techniques used to enhance performance, such as intonation, tone, tempo, and volume.
Verve Poetry Festival
Birmingham Hippodrome, Patrick Studio, Hurst St, Birmingham B5 4TB
Thursday 20 February | 7.30 – 10.30 pm
Opening Verve 2020 was a Spoken Word Night to remember – a night of nights – a Spoken Word SUPER night.
Four of the best nights around the country were each asked to bring a poet of their choosing. Word Wise from Derby, hosted by Jamie Thrasivolou, brought Matthew Clegg. Verbose from Manchester, repped by Zoe Turner, featured Reshma Ruia. Milk from Bristol with host Maleika Kegode brought Birdspeed. Edinburgh’s Loud Poets and their host Kevin McLean presented Katie Ailes. The night was hosted by Verve’s Sean Colletti.
It was an honour to represent Manchester and Verbose at this acclaimed poetry festival and read from A Dinner Party in the Home Counties and see my book in such distinguished company.
The Book Launch for A Dinner Party in the Home Counties
The Poetry Café, 22 Betterton St, London WC2H 9BX | Monday 9 December | 7.00 – 9.00 pm
I was joined by guest poets Mimi Khalvati, Todd Swift, Rishi Dastidar and Yogesh Patel.
Verbose: Fire and Water
Freds Ale House, 843 Stockport Road, Manchester, M19 3PW | Monday 25 November | 7.30 – 10.00 pm
I read from my latest collection A Dinner Party in the Home Counties.
Lit Up Festival: Macc Stories
United Reformed Church, Park Road, Macclesfield SK11 7NA | Saturday 23 November 2019 | 6.00 – 8.00 pm
Six writers came to Macclesfield one day in Autumn, each in search of inspiration… Reading a commissioned story at a live literature project. I produced a new short story based on something related to Macclesfield and read it live at the festival.
‘Why six Manchester writers will be telling weird and wonderful tales in Macclesfield’ – Visit Manchester
National Creative Writing Industry Day 2019: Friday 1 November
Geoffrey Manton Building, MMU, Manchester
Panel participant ‘Writing in the Face of Doubt’.
The Talleyrand, 1030 Stockport Road, Levenshulme M19 3WX
Friday 18 October | 7.00 pm
Poetry reading in Levenshulme in aid of Safe Passage who are currently helping refugees find sanctuary.
Durham Book Festival: Sunday 13 October 2019 2.30 – 3.30pm
I read from and discussed our latest anthology, May We Borrow Your Country with other members of The Whole Kahani Collective, Kavita A. Jindal and Nadia Barb.
Durham Town Hall (Burlison Gallery), Market Place, Durham DH1 3NJ
This Glorious Noise: This Glorious Noise – 2
Tuesday 13 August 2019 | 6:30 – 8:00 pm
The Nehru Centre | 8 South Audley Street, London W1K 1HF
Readings from: Yogesh Patel, Debjani Chatterjee, Ravi Shankar, Jessica Mookherjee, Reshma Ruia and Kavita A. Jindal.
I received my Word Masala Award for the debut collection to be published by Skylark in October.
At the Manchester launch of Arachne Press’ latest collection ‘Story Cities: A City Guide for the Imagination‘ we had readings from several of the contributors including: Sarah-Clare Conlon, Cath Holland, Dave Murray, Cherry Potts and Reshma Ruia. Story Cities is a collection of new flash fiction in multiple genres about the things you see, experience and feel in the city. This is not your usual city to one particular city, but rather to all cities, to any city…
Date and Time: Thursday 27 June 2019 | 7.00-8.30pm
Location: Blackwell’s Bookshop, University Green, 146 Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9RN
I was at the birthplace of the Suffragette movement, the Pankhurst Centre, Manchester, on Thursday 7 March 2019 for an evening filled with readings and debate as we launched the 100 Voices, a collection by 100 female identifying authors from all over the UK.
The inspiring collection features a hundred women’s stories which were crowd-sourced and broadcast on the acclaimed 100 Voices podcast last year.
From 7 March, a book of the stories will be available for readers to support through the publisher Unbound.
Poetry Open Mic. Wednesday 6 March. Altrincham Word Fest 2019.
‘I write poetry to capture what it means to be human-flawed, imperfect, constantly seeking, never quite finding, never quite arriving.’
Verbose Manchester spoken word night at Fred’s Ale House on the theme of ‘Labels’, Monday 25 February 2019, 7.30-10.30pm.
Radio Interview with Susan Leigh on Trafford Sound, Tuesday 5 February 2019, 2-4pm.