Creative writing reveals humanity across cultural conflicts

Dr Sreedhevi Iyer, the Writer-In-Residence at Lingnan University’s Department of English, has recently published a collection of short stories entitled Jungle Without Water and Other Stories.  It touches on how we view and understand race, colour and love, and what happens to us when we shift ourselves in different environments.

 

People in these stories inhabit different stages of movement – those who have emigrated, those who want to, and those who regret it.  The stories also depict our human prejudices around how we move from place to place and culture to culture.

 

Some interesting chapters include “The Lovely Village”, “Circular Feed” and “Green Grass”.  In the article of “The Lovely Village”, citizens of an unnamed settlement build a strong wall to keep newcomers out.  Refugees at a detention centre in “Circular Feed” protest by standing on the roof of their living quarters, delineating how alienation works across cultures and equality.  The story of “Green Grass” describes a fight between an inter-racial couple during their honeymoon in the husband’s homeland.

 

Dr Iyer’s new book received commendation from famous writers for her dedication to revealing humanity through creating writings.

 

“Dr Sreedhevi Iyer deftly maps the human shifts of our time in a way few writers can, with an ear for the prejudices, accents and hopes we carry with us.  This is a clever and compelling twenty-first century writing, and we need more of it,” reviewed by Australian novelist Nick Earls.

 

“Dr Iyer is a wonderful storyteller, and this debut collection shows an incredible knack for locating and revealing fractures, faultlines and tensions – cultural, familial and historical – in any given moment,” commented by Australian author and journalist Benjamin Law.

Creative writing reveals humanity across cultural conflicts