The Department of Asian Studies, along with the Better Tomorrow Speaker Series, is co-sponsoring the first keynote event of the Center for South Asian Studies Spring Symposium on Climate Change and South Asia: a public, in-person talk by author Amitav Ghosh.
| Please join us for a searching conversation on the violent history of capitalism and colonialism and how empire set in motion environmental crises, from global warming to mass extinctions, that threaten to tear the modern world asunder. |
| In his latest work of nonfiction,The Nutmeg’s Curse, Amitav Ghosh critically examines the mechanistic worldview underlying capitalism and imperialism, which turns the natural world and human life into resources to be exploited. Showing how human and environmental histories are interwoven from the early days of European colonialism to the present, he calls for respect for nature as an agentive force of its own. An engaging storyteller and incisive essayist, Amitav Ghosh has authored over 15 books, bringing the global histories of imperialism and environmental crisis to life through finely-drawn, memorable characters and deeply researched stories. With strong roots in South Asia, his pathbreaking work has continuously demonstrated the global connections that shape our shared histories. He was named one of the most important global thinkers of the decade byForeign Policymagazine in 2019. Amitav Ghoshwas born in Kolkatta and grew up in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. He studied in Delhi, Oxford and Alexandria and is the author ofThe Circle of Reason, The Shadow Lines,In An Antique Land,Dancing in Cambodia,The Calcutta Chromosome,The Glass Palace,The Hungry Tide,andThe Ibis Trilogy, consisting ofSea of Poppies, River of SmokeandFlood of Fire.The Great Derangement; Climate Change and the Unthinkable, a work of non-fiction, appeared in 2016.Gun Islandwas released in September 2019. Ghosh’s first-ever book in verse,Jungle Nama: A Story of the Sundarban, was published February 2021. His latest book,The Nutmeg’s Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis, was released in October, 2021. His essays have appeared inThe New Yorker,The New RepublicandThe New York Times.They have been anthologized under the titlesThe Imam and the IndianandIncendiary Circumstances. His works have been translated into more than thirty languages. He has received numerous book awards, such asFrance’s Prix Médicis, India’s Sahitya Akademi Award and Ananda Puraskar (1990); the Arthur C. Clarke award in 1997 and International e-Book Award at the Frankfurt book fair (2001); Crossword Book Prize, a major Indian award (2005); shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize (2008) and awarded the Crossword Book Prize and the India Plaza Golden Quill Award. He holds two Lifetime Achievement awards and four honorary doctorates. In 2007 he was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India’s highest honors, by the President of India. In 2010 he was a joint winner, along with Margaret Atwood, of a Dan David prize, and in 2011 he was awarded the Grand Prix of the Blue Metropolis festival in Montreal. In 2018 the Jnanpith Award, India’s highest literary honor, was conferred on Amitav Ghosh – the first English-language writer to receive the award. The same year, he was given the inaugural Utah Award for the Environmental Humanities. This event is part of theCenter for South Asian Studies Spring Symposium on Climate Change and South Asia(April 18-20, 2023), and is co-sponsored by the Better Tomorrow Speaker Series,the Department of Asian Studies, Halekulani Hotel, UH Press, the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa Library, the HawaiʻiCommunity Foundation, and Kamehameha Schools. Reserve a spotat this in-person event with Amitav Ghosh at UH Art Auditorium. Register for the Zoom webinarsto attend panels and virtual keynote events of theCSAS Spring Symposium on Climate Change and South Asia. |