megashyam-blog

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KHUSH Organization

Khush is an organization in different cities across the world that looks to help South Asians in the LGBTQ Community. They are a political and sociail support group that constantly thrives to make a difference in the community.

There are different websites for Khush depending on the city:

http://khushdc.blogspot.com

http://khushtexas.org/

http://www.dailyxtra.com/toronto/arts-and-entertainment/khush-show-love-4962

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Selvadaurai speaking.

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Connection to Our Class

Shyam, being a queer himself, is relevant to our class because he gives us a new perspective on being homosexual. He has a different culture and society that he incorporates into his writing that will challenge our thinking once we read Funny Boy.

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On Sexuality

E: In The Hungry Ghosts, the lead characters Shivan and Mili struggle to come to terms with their sexuality. What advice would you give to LGBT students, and particularly South Asian LGBT students, who are battling with their sexuality?

SS: I think it is hard for South Asians because they have the added burden of coming from very traditional cultures that are not very open to the idea of being queer. I think people struggle to make the decision about whether to come out to their families or not. But, whether you do or not, you should come out and live your life. You have only one life, and it sometimes goes faster than you think. And what’s the point living for everybody else? You don’t need to in this country. It doesn’t require you to. Survival is not dependent on your conformity.

E: This book appears to portray gay intimacy far more candidly. Was this deliberate? Or was it something that came about?

SS: It just came about. I certainly wasn’t going to pretend it wasn’t happening, because gay men, especially when they are young and coming out, have a lot of sex. So, I thought it is just natural. It’s just the way it. I did not put it in to be gratuitous or to shock.

E: Is violence against the LGBT community a significant issue in Sri Lanka?

SS: Yes it is [an issue], but it is not a significant issue. But it is a present issue. It is not as bad as say, Pakistan or countries like that. But it is bad, not terrible.

E: Are you involved in any way with LGBT rights in Sri Lanka and South Asia?

SS: Well, I’m not involved in actually participating in the movement because it is an ongoing movement. I certainly lent my name to the organization when I did my launch of The Hungry Ghosts this year. I did it through Equal Ground, which is a lesbian and gay organization [in Sri Lanka] because I wanted to support them. I go to their pride events when I can.

E: What can students do to help, both here and abroad, deal- ing with LGBT rights?

SS: I think to be aware of [LGBT rights], and to be aware of the countries that have problems with them, and to push for change.

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Critics Reviews

“Many Roads Through Paradise includes stories of ordinary affections and obsessions, as well as those that presciently signal the cleavages between Sinhala and Tamil people that would lead to a bitter, violent conflict.” —IndianExpress.com

The Hungry Ghost - “An absorbing and personal novel that feels like an author’s coming of age, and a work of considerable stature.” —Groundviews.org

Cinnamon Gardens - “A near-miraculous capturing of life and love (both gay and straight), family tensions, political upheaval, labour unrest and feminism in the Ceylon of the 1920s…” —Edmonton Journal

Swimming in Monsoon Sea -  “A coming-of-age story that transcends labels and deserves to be called literature, pure and simple.” —The Washington Post

Story Walla - “[O]nly those with an already intimate knowledge of South Asian diasporic fiction in English could fail to come away with an enriched perspective on the role of literature in a world shaped by migration and encounter.” —Quill and Quire

Funny Boy - “Shyam Selvadurai writes as sensitively about the emotional intensity of adolescence as he does about the wonder of childhood. He also paints an affectionate picture of an imperfect family in a lost paradise, struggling to stay together in troubled times.” —The New York Times Book Review

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1996 Interview with Indian Currents Magazine P2

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1996 Interview with Indian Currents Magazine- Part 1

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Other Works

-Story-Wallah! was a compilation of fiction stories from a variety of South Asian writers, it was published in 2004.

-Cinnamon Gardens takes place in 1920’s Sri Lanka, focuses on classism towards the end of colonial rule.

-The Hungry Ghost based on a Buddhist Myth, is about family, regret, and the past.

-Swimming in the Monsoon Sea is a coming of age story taking place in 1980’s Sri Lanka. Published in 2005, it won many awards

#selvadurai

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“Coming Out”

-Appears to be no way to find the essay online, just summaries of it and excerpts.

-In 2003, Selvadurai published an autobiographical essay in the Time Asia titled “Coming Out”.

-The essay talked about political and personal struggles that him and his partners had to face.

-Although previous works drew from his real life experiences, this was the first non-fiction biographical piece he published.

#selvadurai

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Funny Boy

-Selvadurai’s first novel, and coincidentally his biggest

-Focused on the struggle of a queer adolescent child growing up in a time period of Sri Lanka where there was a lot of conflict between Buddhist Sinhala and Hindu Tamil.

-Not an autobiography, but it does draw on instances from Selvadurai’s own life.

-Gives some insight to queer struggles in the world outside of Western culture.

#funnyboy #selvadurai

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Funny Boy reading

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Biography

There’s not much about Shyam Selvadurai’s early life on his website.  Shyam Selvadurai was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1965. 

Ethnic riots in 1983 drove the family to move to Canada when Selvadurai was nineteen. 

He studied creative and professional writing as part of a Bachelor of Fine Arts program at York University.

Currently, he lives in Toronto with his partner Andrew Champion. 

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Shyam Selvadurai

By: Matt Graziano and Kalimah Bolden