{"id":175,"date":"2012-06-14T10:58:38","date_gmt":"2012-06-14T10:58:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/library.ryerson.ca\/asianheritage\/authors\/gurjinder-basran\/"},"modified":"2024-10-01T11:34:54","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T15:34:54","slug":"basran","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/authors\/basran\/","title":{"rendered":"Gurjinder Basran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Gurjinder Basran studied creative writing at Simon Fraser University and the Banff Centre for the Arts. She lives in Delta, British Columbia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everything Was Good-bye: A Novel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Salt Spring Island, B.C.: Mother Tongue Press, 2010.
Toronto: Penguin, 2012.
PS8603 .A789 E93 2012<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (from Mother Tongue Press website)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Everything Was Good-bye<\/em> centers around Meena, a young Indo Canadian woman growing up in the lower mainland of British Columbia and traces her life as she struggles to assert her independence in a Punjabi community. Raised by her tradition bound widowed mother, Meena knows the freedoms of her Canadian peers can never be hers, but unlike her sisters, she is reluctant to submit to a life that is defined by a suitable marriage. Though a narrative moving between race and culture, it is ultimately a story of love, loss and self acceptance amidst shifting cultural ideals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Awards and Honours<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

2010 Search for the Great B.C. Novel Contest (Winner)
2011 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize-BC Book Prizes<\/a> (Winner)
2012 Chatelaine Book Club<\/a> selection<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Help! I’m Alive: A Novel<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Toronto: ECW Press, 2022.
will order<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

After video footage of Jay\u2019s death is shared on social media, a suburban Vancouver community is left to try to make sense of what happened to Jay and whether his death was an accident or a suicide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Help! I\u2019m Alive<\/em> explores the aftermath through the eyes of four people all suddenly confronted with who they have been and how they should be in the wake of such loss. Jay\u2019s former best friend, Ash, wonders what happened to their friendship and questions the relationships he has now; Winona, Jay\u2019s troubled girlfriend struggles with guilt and abandonment; Anik, Ash\u2019s older brother, is on a search for the meaning of life but hasn\u2019t left his basement apartment in months; and Pavan, Ash and Anik\u2019s mother, finds Jay\u2019s death lays bare all her personal and maternal anxieties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unflinching but life-affirming, Help! I\u2019m Alive<\/em> is a Gen Z and Gen X coming-to-terms story about loneliness and connection, love and suffering, and the moments that bring us together and drive us apart.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Someone You Love is Gone<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Toronto: Viking, 2017.
PS8603 .A789 S66 2017<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Simran is unable to move on. Grappling with the growing estrangement of her sister and daughter as well as the disintegration of her marriage, she wonders how her life has come to this. As the life she has carefully constructed unravels, she is forced to confront one of her most painful childhood memories–her parents sending her younger brother away from home.
Woven throughout are memories of Simran’s mother as a young woman in 1960s India. Her world had seemed beautiful and full of hope then. But when an unexpected event occurs, the results will have repercussions for generations to come.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Fiction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Wedding<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre, 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher’s Synopsis (From its website)<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Set in Vancouver and Surrey, BC, The Wedding<\/em> exposes the inner lives of the wedding party, guests and event staff in the lead-up to a lavish wedding. This novel, centered around the impending marriage of Devi and Baby, illustrates the union of two people, two families and all the ways in which an entire community bears witness, ensnares and uplifts itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like all great Bollywood films, The Wedding<\/em> is rife with family drama, steeped in tradition and an ode to love in all its forms. With humour, nuance and honesty, The Wedding<\/em> spills the chai\u2014exploring desire and expectation, suffering and judgment, class and race\u2014all in search of a happy enough ever after.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Selected Criticism and Interpretation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Chilana, Rajwant Singh. “Gurjinder Basran.” In South Asian Writers in Canada: A Bio-Bibliographical Study<\/em>. Surrey, BC: Asian Publications, 2017, 194-195.
Z1376 .S68 C45 2017<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Links<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Basran’s personal website<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher Douglas & McIntyre<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher ECW Press<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher Mother Tongue Books<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Publisher Penguin Group Canada<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gurjinder Basran studied creative writing at Simon Fraser University and the Banff Centre for the Arts. She lives in Delta, British Columbia. Fiction Everything Was Good-bye: A Novel Salt Spring Island, B.C.: Mother Tongue Press, 2010.Toronto: Penguin, 2012.PS8603 .A789 E93 … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":16,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-175","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19112,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/175\/revisions\/19112"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.torontomu.ca\/asianheritage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}