A deserted woman has an affair with a Hindu god while her husband lusts for jewels that are guarded by cobras. A widower retraces the last European holiday he took with his wife. Excursions are made into the personal and political absurdities of language and naming. Whether it’s a bus tour in Mumbai, a café stop in Lausanne, or a sunset walk along the Bay of Bengal—Ven Begamudré’s journeys are filled with longing, desire and a tenderness that persists beyond reason. This is The Lightness Which Is Our World, Seen from Afar.
Ven Begamudré was born in South India and moved to Canada when he was six. He has also lived in Mauritius and the United States. He lives in Regina, Saskatchewan. He has an MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina. He has been writer-in-residence for the University of Calgary’s Markin-Flanagan Distinguished Writers Programme, the University of Alberta’s Department of English, the Canada-Scotland Exchange, Regina Public Library, McMaster University’s Department of English, and the Yukon Public Libraries. He has also taught fiction workshops at the Sage Hill Writing Experience.
His previous books include two novels, two story collections and a biography. He edited Lodestone: Stories by Regina Writers and co-edited Out of Place: Stories and Poems.
He has received the F.G. Bressani Literary Prize for Prose, the City of Regina Writing Award, and prizes from various literary magazines. His second story collection, Laterna Magika, shared the City of Regina Book Award and was a best book finalist in the Canada-Caribbean region for the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize.