Author Ashwini Deware at Singapore, Bali literature festivals

Journalist-turned-author Ashwini Deware's debut book "Batik Rain", a collection of short stories, which explores the theme of cross-cultural conflict and rootlessness, is set to be featured at upcoming literary festivals in Singapore and Bali.
Deware, shortlisted for the 2014 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award, has been invited to launch her book and chair panel discussions at two of Southeast Asia's most prestigious literary festivals, according to information shared by her publicist.
While the five-day Ubud Writer's Festival is scheduled to begin on October 1 in Bali, the Singapore Literary Festival. has been slotted to begin on October 31.
"Award-winning author Cyrus Mistry will release Batik Rain in Bali on October 1," the author said.

Stories meander from the lush rice fields of Bali to the charming bylanes of Hyderabad, Pune and the leafy avenues of Washington DC in the book by the Moscow born author, who is now in her 40s.
Soul-searching forms the theme of the first story, "The Homecoming", which explores the emotional relationship between a US-returned software engineer and his mother, a prominent politician from Pune, whose passion for her profession creates a rift between them.
In "Anthem of Guilt" Deware takes the reader through the twists and turns of a young man's guilt-ridden conscience, his love-hate relationship with India, a country he left eighteen years ago but can't get out of his system.

Published by Haranand Publishers, the book explores the state of rootlessness that individuals experience, of loss and abandonment, as they journey in search of self.