Manahil Bandukwala – Asian Heritage in Canada

Manahil Bandukwala is a Pakistani-Canadian poet, writer, editor and visual artist based in Ottawa. She earned an undergraduate degree in English and Women’s and Gender Studies, followed by an MA in English from the University of Waterloo. Bandukwala’s work has been published an numerous literary journals. With her sister Nimra, she is co-lead of Reth aur Reghistan, a sculptural storytelling project that explores Pakistani folklore. Bandukwala is very active in some micro-press initiatives that produce collaborative chapbooks and poetry anthologies. For example, she along with six other Ottawa-based poets, including Ellen Chang-Richardson, will be releasing the chapbook Towers, in May 2021 from Collusion Books. Bandukwala is Coordinating Editor for Arc Poetry Magazine, and Digital Content Editor for Canthius.

Poetry

Monument

Kingston: Brick Books, 2022.
e-book (Access restricted to members of the university community)

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)

MONUMENT is a conversation with Mughal Empress Mumtaz Mahal, which moves her legacy beyond the Taj Mahal.

MONUMENT upturns notions of love, monumentalisation, and empire by exploring buried facets of Mumtaz Mahal’s story. The collection layers linear time and geographical space to chart the continuing presence of historical legacies. It considers what alternate futures could have been possible. Who are we when we continue to make the same mistakes? Beyond distance, time, and boundaries, what do we still carry?

Awards and Honours

2023 Gerald Lampert Memorial Award (League of Canadian Poets)(Finalist)
2023 Alcuin Award–Poetry for excellence in book design (2nd prize) Design by Natalie Olsen, Illustration by Manahil Bandukwala